iN PHOTOS: Why Okanagan, Kamloops socials are lit up with amazing hot chocolates  

The fifth annual Okanagan Hot Chocolate festival has kicked off for the next month, and participating cafes and restaurants are bringing heat and flavour to the winter months with decadent hot chocolate creations.

Hosted by Foodietown.ca and sponsored by Valrhona French Premium Chocolate, the festival runs from Jan. 17 to Feb. 15 this year with almost 60 vendors participating.

Hot chocolate lovers can follow a Flavour Map of participating vendors throughout the Okanagan Valley to find the festive drinks.

Some folks were able to snag a limited number of Flavour Passports from Okanagan businesses on Jan. 17,  which gives them a chance to collect stamps for each drink they try and once they have a dozen, enter the passport for a chance to win $450 in local gift cards and swag.

Kids can enter a colouring contest for a chance to win a Big White Gift Basket with toque, goodies and tubing passes, along with a $50 gift card to Once Upon a Bookstore and a colouring set. There’s also an Instagram Photo Contest where people can post photos of themselves sipping a hot chocolate from a participating vendor for a chance to win $300 in local gift cards, coffee and swag.

All the details on the contests and vendor locations can be found here.

The hot chocolate festival in Kamloops runs for the month of February, when participating cafes and restaurants will compete for the gold, silver and bronze titles for YKA’s Best Hot Chocolate 2026.

Customers can try hot chocolates from participating vendors and rate them on an app they download onto their phone. Every rating goes into a draw for prizes and a portion of every drink purchased goes to the Mount Paul Community Food Centre.

So far there are almost 20 vendors signed up and there is still time for more to join up for the competition. The launch of the voting app is on Feb. 1.

Go here for all the event details and vendors for the YKA Hot Chocolate Festival 2026