While I feel like the Long Grove Chocolate Festival seems to have a little less great vendors as they have in past years, we still like to go here every year. Highlights, for me, include the parking for donations at the friendly Church of Long Grove lot on Robert Parker Coffin Road, chocolate martinis at Enzo & Lucia's, chocolate covered strawberries and cider donuts, drinks on the patio at Buffalo Creek Brewing and of course, we love that this fest is dog-friendly. While I feel there are too many vendors offering home improvements, like new windows or bathtubs, I get that the fest needs vendors to support their efforts. The businesses of Long Grove are always lovely to visit with employees and staff who appreciate their customers. An annual tradition we proudly support. read more

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This festival is basically a summer street fair and it's quite nice for that. Despite the name of the event, just don't come expecting a lot of chocolate themed offerings. It's an oft mentioned comment in the reviews and it's true. With the kiddos in tow though, it's a nice summer outing for activities like their reptile show, some face painting, some kids' arts and crafts, browsing for kids' knick-knacks, and a bit of street food. They also had a separate setup of carnival rides for pay. There were only a couple of chocolate related offerings I saw - a chocolate martini drink, and a couple of chocolate snacks and such. They also had some small music stage acts that we did not try to see. Admission is $5 for adults (plus a $2.14 online purchase fee) and it's free for age 12 and under. There was limited free parking in their smallish public lots but there was a $5 donation lot a couple blocks away that would be your best bet. The fair is set up with only a modest amount of walking. The carnival rides involve purchasing separate ride tickets out of an unmanned dispenser which worked just fine. Rides are about $3-4 pp. This fest makes for a fine and delightful summer outing in quaint Long Grove if you just set your bar down appropriately. read more

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I'm a chocolate beast so when my friends talked about going to Chocolate Fest, I was fully onboard. I wish I could say it was the best thing ever, but it was just an alright experience for me. It's hard to find parking here later in the day, but if you get here first thing you can find free parking on the street or in the school's parking lot. Chocolate Fest consists of mostly booths from various local & nonlocal places (I would say mostly non local), some with chocolate offerings but a lot just had merchandise they were selling. It's a fun event and you can find some cool things to buy, but overall it's not chocolate centric which is a bit sad. I was hoping to see some really inventive food options tat incorporate chocolate but it all seemed quite standard and I honestly was not blown away by anything I experienced. For $5 you can buy a tasting card and try 6 tasting portions at various locations. See my picture for the options this year. My friends and I got chocolate macaroons from Sweet Whimsy Bakery, a chocolate flavored cigar (real one, not candy!) from Neumann's, a Chocolate Mint Tea Bad from Potpourri (it was very tasty tea!), Chocolate Baklava from Long Grove Cafe, Chocolate Mousse also from Sweet Whimsy Bakery and something else which is escaping me right now. Chocolate Fest was fun but I can't say it's something I would go to again. read more

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This festival was awful. I bought my chocolate in a candy store, not at any of the booths, which essentially rendered even having a festival a moot point. Please scour this sad little town from the face of the earth. read more

My girlfriend and I went a couple years ago expecting tons of chocolate. All we got were tons of people and many businesses promoting bathtubs, home improvements, knives, and a few local jewelry makers. There were very few chocolate vendors, but the mass of people more than made up for it (not). We did wind up going to the local confectionery and despite the massive crowds inside the place (the Fire Marshall would not have been pleased), the experience was pretty good. I suggest visiting it at some point when the festival isn't going on, saving yourself a few bucks and not having to deal with the crowds. read more

So, now that the event is over, no one returns calls or messages or anything. While my sister and her children were there last weekend, they forgot to pick up a diaper bag (It looked like a backpack) at the henna kiosk. When they got home and realized their issue, they used messenger (on Facebook) and someone replied. No one could find it. The next day, my niece tried to contact someone on the same Facebook page and has received NO reply. Not even an "I'm sorry, we haven't been able to locate it." I mean, seriously, everything has been replaced already, so that is not the point. It just would have been nice if someone would have taken the time to respond back to her. read more

While this review is of Chocolate Fest, you can say the same for Strawberry and Apple Fest's since its essentially the same event. In my opinion, a money sucking exercise that doesn't benefit the Long Grove retailers, who desperately need it, but the event company who conned the village and state tourism dollars. Being a 30 plus year resident of the area, I've seen Long Grove from its heyday in the 80's and 90's to the "big box effected" shell of retail that it is today. The Fest parks gypsy food vendors and almost every home improvement company into booths on the street, blocking the retailers who pay monthly rent only to be shut out of the biggest crowds. The kicker this year was the $5 per person admission charge. What do you get for $5? A coupon for $5 off at a retailer when you spend $25. Good luck finding anything to spend at the retailers, let alone a retailer. read more

I haven't read the other reviews for this fest, but I have a feeling I know why it only has 2/5 stars. A CHOCOLATE fest should have lots of CHOCOLATE, right?? Nope. Out of the, maybe, 30-40 tents set up, only THREE featured chocolate. Really??? This place doesn't deserve to call itself a chocolate fest. One of those three tents, one was really good, with a bunch of chocolate options like chocoate bark with chili & dried jalapenos, huge chocolate covered apples, chocolate covered bacon, white chocolate peppermint bark, etc. This is the only tent that had a line & I can definitely see why. One of the ladies working it said they were getting so much business, the fest made them move their tent all the way to the end of the line of tents. A bit pricey, but worth it. Another chocolate tent was right beside the Long Grove confectionary & sold only a few things. Third have more chocolate options, but not as many as the one with the line. A couple of the food tents had chocolate covered cheesecake, bacon & strawberries. I was super disappointed in the lack of chocolate. At least we went early on the first day & didn't have to pay admission. I do admit the food tents looked really good. They had a stage with live music & few shopping tents. Way too many advertisement tents with business selling roofing or bathroom renovation stuff - always a buzz kill at a fest. Seriously, who actually goes to those? Aside from the tent with all the chocolate, they did have a Puffs of Doom tent, which has awesome cream puffs. Those were the only two tents I liked & bought stuff from. I probably wouldn't go back unless they promised to feature more chocolate tents/vendors. Long grove, I love you, but you need to step up your game a bit. read more

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My Fiancé and I missed this last year so we made it a point to go this year.... Talk about a depressing ass experience. Overcrowded, which it is what it is. Pay the $5 cover and the first tent/booth thing you're greeted with is like jams and jellys. Next to that is 1 chocolate booth that has a line like you're waiting for a ride at Disneyland or some shit. Noticed one local shop mentioned "chocolate inside" sign and all they had was this tiny table of chocolate candles.....such a joke. It's filled with mostly businesses trying to promote themselves and hand made arts and crafts. Literally like 3 spots where you can get actual chocolate, that is.....if you wanna wait in those lines. Overpriced Overcrowded Very misleading We were wondering why people were walking back to their cars all bummed out and depressed....well now we know why lol. Will never go back, also the gas station owner was like "you see me pumping any gas!? This fest is a waste!" Just a miserable bastard man... Don't call it Chocolate Fest if you're not going to have the supply for the demand idiots. Call it Long Grove fest. Such a scam guys....stay away! read more

Do not waste your time attending this. This should not even be called a chocolate festival it should just be a basic street festival. There were hardly any stalls selling chocolate. For the stalls that were selling chocolate items, the crowds of people waiting were so long. Also I felt like the long grove confection shop was made to be the main attraction. You can go there any day of the week! There were more stalls selling food, home improvement projects and crafts. I walked away with apple cider donuts. Does that sound like a chocolate festival to you? I think not. read more

I went here with my friends, 5 dollar donation, then 5 dollars to get a ticket to then play the worst game of scavenger hunt ive ever played. This was all a ruse for each shop to be looked at and in return they would give u the following..... 1. a brownie bite obviously from jewel 2. a thimble worth of chocolate martini 3. a chocolate pretzle 4. a tea spoon of chocolate ice cream We did have the chocolate covered cheese cake and it was good but for being called chocolate fest there was a serious lack of CHOCOLATE!!! Im just glad i went with my friends or i may have turned around immediately.... lol read more

The Archer Lot parking lot is cut in half since half the parking lot has amusement park rides. I come to the fest to get the apple cider donuts from Long Grove Confectionary. This year, Morkes has a stall selling donuts in the place where Long Grove Confectionary used to have a stall. Long Grove Confectionary is now in the Towner Green area (across the street from Village Tavern). I came early on Friday when admission was free. Inside the Chocolate Experience Tent, there are two chocolate vendors selling chocolate: Puna Chocolate, and Barcacao Chocolat (http://barcacaochocolat.com/). There were some activities in the tent that were available for an additional fee. There was face painting, someone making balloon figures, and a wax hand vendor (you make a wax mold of your hand). read more

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First time attending this, and the last time.. disappointing, boring, and hardly any chocolate. It was like a carnival without the carnival. You had to buy tickets to buy unhealthy food such as funnel cakes, fried twinkies, hot dogs, burgers, etc.. there are restaurants, which were just as packed as the streets. There was like two chocolate stands, one chocolate store and a candy store. All the products were overly priced and can be purchased at other stores outside of the fest. Check out the winery, it might be the best part of the fest! read more

The Long Grove fests (Chocolate, Strawberry, Apple) are always fun and a good excuse to visit the antique village. I hadn't been to Chocolate Fest in a very long time so it was a joy to finally check it out again. There were definitely a lot of chocolate-inspired booths lining the Long Grove streets, along with regular street food. My first stop was the Sweet Ride Chicago truck, a food truck I've been DYING to visit!!! I bought a red velvet whoopie pie and it was phenomenal. Next I bought some yummy street tacos, which were served on small fresh corn tortillas and had a flavorful salsa. And for dessert (besides the whoopie pie) I ordered a nutella crepe with strawberries. So good! I can't wait for strawberry and apple fests. I always have to make a stop at Apple Haus for those flavored donuts during those weekends. Parking has gotten better over the years and the little town will never lose its charm. read more

We decided to venture out to Long Grove Chocolate fest yesterday and lucked out with it not raining.....YAY!! By "we" I mean me, my husband, and of course the dog. We arrived around lunch hour and surprisingly found a free spot on the street. When we walked up to the fest they now have it completely roped off to ensure NO ONE doesn't pay the five dollar per person admission fee. After paying we entered the fest and it was so sad seeing how there just wasn't as many people as there used to be when this fest was in it's prime. The place is literally a ghost town when these festivals aren't occurring with only a handful of stores and shops. I had always wanted to go to Seasons of Long Grove for their brunch buffet or afternoon tea, but never dined there. I was shocked and sadden to see the place is now closed with a green sticker on their entrance. They had some good vendors including a pet vendor that we purchased a few items from. We spoiled our pup with sweet potato treats and got a cute Chicago Bears magnet. A lot of the food vendors were moved around to different spots. Also, one end where majority of the food is they had it set up like The Taste of Chicago with food and drink tickets that must be purchased beforehand. That kind of stinks and means these food vendors may have to give profits to the City of Long Grove and also so revenue can be tracked easier. They cut out some great food vendors including the Chinese, and Gyros vendors. They had neighboring restaurants close by providing food including Smokin T's, Luke's of Mundelein, and Prairie House Tavern. We wished they had burgers given out from Prairie House because their burgers are AMAZING, but sadly they did not. They did have dark chocolate raspberry dream bars for 4 tickets. I LOVE anything chocolate with raspberry and it did not disappoint. Fresh raspberries along with dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. As a chocolate lover this was probably the best chocolate item here! The chocolate covered bacon wasn't too great for 6 tickets. It was mushy instead of crispy bacon and was disappointing. We also shared a mediocre hot dog from Luke's. We also went to the Long Grove Confectionery tent to get one chocolate covered strawberry and Apple Haus Apple Cider Doughnuts. The chocolate strawberry was delicious and the doughnuts as usual were outstanding! We ordered half a dozen doughnuts so that we could have some for breakfast the next couple days. All in all less crowds mean ample parking spots, and no lines for food. We'll come back again as long as the fest is still there lol. read more

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I don't get it. This festival is the same exact thing as Apple Festival. Thus, it warrants the exact same review. I have to echo others' reviews of the same kind of festival. And, as others have pointed out, save yourself the headache of parking, crowds, and long lines. There's nothing in Long Grove's stores you can't get during non-festival days. Unfortunately for Long Grove, most of the buildings at the main intersection are vacant. Long Grove is more depressing-looking than it is interesting. The only reason I can't give the Festival(s) a one star review is because of the salsa tent. I don't remember the name of the place off the top of my head, but they've got some worthwhile products. They're a four-star review in and of themselves, but you can get their products without having to go to Long Grove's Festival(s). If you actually have some kind of sick infatuation with opening your wallet for very little payoff, let me know. I'll gladly take your money, let you park in front of my house, and pay me to wait two hours on my driveway for a donut. I'll even warm it up in the microwave for you! read more

I wish I had read the reviews here before I trucked my family out all the way from Uptown to the LG Choco-fest. For semi-chocoholics such as ourselves, we were envisioning if not Wonka-esque valleys of truffle and sweet rivers of fudge, at least a generous handout of all things chocolate. But, for our $5 admissions, we got...well, nothing really. Unless you count free parking. We entered to find a poorly laid out festival with arts/crafts inferior to that of the City, and with no interesting food booths really at all. But don't worry, everything is still vastly overpriced. $6 for 5 freaking thinly-layered chocolate strawberries on a skewer? It seemed like all the booths were quite intent on not giving out a thing, strange considering you are paying for admission. At the end of the afternoon my wife and I looked forward to choosing some choice and exotic pieces from the confectionary, but the women working there were so serious, unamused and tired-looking it kinda took the fun out.... The only positive of spending upwards of $10 in gas to buy overpriced sweets was the Long Grove downtown is a real pleasant place to be, with brick sidewalks, tulip gardens, ponds, etc. read more

I was very disappointed this year with chocolatefest. They seemed to get smaller this year, and where was the pony rides?? Bouncy house?? It was lacking in the kids activities. The amount of chocolate vendors, wAs one. There were shops, but the problem is they were "closed for renovations". I really hope next year will not be like this, it wasn't worth it this year. Maybe applefest will be better? read more

Chocolate Fest was a real downer. A $5 entry fee, it was mandatory at the north entrance on Old McHenry Road....and for what?? The festival is a joke, and Long Grove should be ashamed to put on such a low end event. The Village should not wonder why the downtown has failed...it should be filled with upscale restaurants, young chefs from Chicago, interesting crafts, unique boutiques to entertain a more younger crowd. Time for trip back to the future Long Gove!! read more

I'm not sure what's with all the bad reviews but I absolutely loved Chocolate Fest. I thought that it gave a good opportunity for local businesses to get some recognition with the scavenger hunt and I loved the quaint town of Long Grove. I really hope other people will recognize how much of a gem this town is compared to the big name corporations taking over many Illinois towns nowadays! Will be coming back next year or maybe sooner for Apple Fest! read more

I have been a Long Grove Festival fanatic for the past 3 years: Chocolate Fest, Strawberry Fest, Apple Fest, Christmas Fest --- been there, done that, and loved it. This year's Chocolate Fest was a bit of a disappointment. - $5 parking fee (unless you find free parking on the streets). That's fine. It's for the Jaycee's. - $10 VIP parking fee if you wan to park closer to the festival - $5 donation at the gate. (Where does that money go, by the way?) May I get a receipt of my donation so I can submit it with my tax returns next year? I understand it's a "donation" and not mandatory but only a jerk would NOT donate while going through the gates of the festival All that $ out your wallet before getting into the festival. More disappointment when you get INTO the festival: -No more Apple Haus. It has been replaced by M. Belle's Pie Shop. We went in there but there were only 2 pies displayed. A lot of potential customers came in and were confused. Even one lady asked "Do they serve any food in this place? There's not much displayed." (M. Belles --- you missed the boat on this marketing opportunity. This could have been your chance to "WOW!" potential customers and encourage them to come back next time but it was a bit disappointing to come to an empty-shelfed pie house.) I miss the smell of the Apple Haus donuts. Granted, M. Belle's opened only 3 days ago. I will re-visit in a month or two to see how this business is. -Not many chocolate-related foods. I only found the following while there: chocolate covered strawberries kebab ($6), chocolate covered bananas, chocolate covered cheescakes, chocolate ice cream from the Peppermint Stick restaurant, anything chocolate inside the Long Grove Confectionery, chocolate fudge from a booth, chocolate martinis, & chocolate donuts. I expect to be saturated with "chocolate wowness" in terms of food if I'm going to a Chocolate Festival. The items offered were "normal chocolate food". (We passed by the Oberweiss booth excited to get some of my fave Oberweiss chocolate ice cream. They were not even serving anything. I was not sure if the booth was for advertising purposes only.) -A lot of businesses have closed down in downtown Long Grove The good: +Several entertainment stages so you still get good music as you wander about +The cool/cloudy weather so we were not sweaty/disgusting while walking about read more

What a HORRIBLE experience. Horrible planning, there was no place to park. There were no police directing traffic. After going to 2 lots that were full and spending an hour trying to park, we just left. Don't waste your time. read more

With chocolate in the name one would think chocolate fest would contain chocolates! Am I right? Well wrong! Unlike one previous post that highlighted the quaint town vibe and that it was a gem of a town which don't get me wrong, Long grove is a nice place. The purpose of the visit with my family was to have some chocolates. We did not attend quaint town fest or tiny gem town fest or long grove fest. We attended Chocolate fest, where there supposed to be chocolates! I didn't make the name up, its the name given by the organizers! For heaven sakes just call it taste of Long Grove or something else. To be fair the time had by my family was good but I'm not writing this review about the time we had but for the misleading advertising. We came here for chocolate and were treated with overly crowded streets and three stands for chocolate that had lines extending to Wisconsin. The stores were fine and the food okay but I would hope the event organizers either recruit more chocolatiers to participate or just change the name altogether. Chocolate fest = Fail. read more

My husband and I went to the chocolate fest with one of my friends yesterday. It was fun, even though it was crowded. It was fun visiting the different booths. Also, we went to the Long Grove Confectionary and bought some sweets. read more

Like many others that came, my boyfriend and I decided to go to this event because of the seemingly interesting Facebook page. We were noobies to the area and broke college students, hoping to find a little kick off to our summer vacation. Short version of my review: Long Grove Chocolate Fest: a dud. Not an actual "Chocolate Fest." Cute town, but no longer in its prime. $5 free chocolate samples? Not exactly worth it. Overall as a street fest? Entertaining in ways and has a lot of potential for fun. Just a bunch unnecessary booths here and there. In order to "get the most" from the fest...you need to be ready with some cash in hand you're willing to blow off. Family friendly, but the event seems to be mostly geared toward older adults. Mostly a lot of vendors trying to sell and advertise. Disorganized. Parking not so great despite "free parking." Gets overcrowded easily. Wide variety of food either way. Just barely any chocolate. Detailed version below: We looked at previous yelp reviews from past years to see if it was worth it. There weren't as many recent ones so we decided to go see for ourselves. It was an experience at nevertheless. We decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and check it out, while still being under the impression of going to a "CHOCOLATE Fest" hoping that it stepped up its game since past years. Nonetheless the previous reviews held true to form. I'll admit, if it was considered as any other type of fest or something like "Taste of Long Grove," then I might've given it a higher rating. But as it was advertised as a Chocolate fest, it was rather disappointing. As it was our first time attending anything remotely near a chocolate fest, we had high expectations such that there would be rows of booths with different kinds of chocolates and small free samples to get people to try and buy them. But...There were maybe like 3 booths with actual chocolate. But basically had the same thing at each one. If anything, we had more pretzels and dip than actual chocolate. The only chocolate sampling that we had was this chocolate covered toffee bark from one of the actual Confectionary stores when you first arrived. Random side note but the old owners were really nice and sweet. As disappointing as it was (cause lets be honest, we only came for free chocolate samples) I still tried to see the light in the fest. We went early so it wasn't as crowded. The people selling and running the booths were overall nice to us, but they were the typical "let me waste 10 min of your time by explaining my product that you probably don't care about but I'm bored so hopefully you take pity on me and buy it." The street food being sold was decent. (Hotdogs, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered bacon, DQ, Turkey legs, corn on the cob, Chinese food, cheese curds, pizza, etc) All the booths were spread out and placed randomly, none having related themes to one another. I wish that at least for the booths that did have chocolate in them, they were more near each other. But everything is placed at different locations. Overall, Long Grove Chocolate Fest was basically a bunch of random booths selling/advertising what the rest of the other stores and shops located in the area had. (Jewelry, Roofing and Shingles, Small Restaurants, Wine, Dips, etc). Wouldn't come back unfortunately. read more

Why should I pay $5 to see nothing when it used to be free to park and it was much better than then now the village had a lot of nice thing like the donuts and Christmas ornament shop now the village went down the drain. any other local town festival you don't have to pay to park. I hope 53 goes right through it it would be a plus. read more

Let's be clear...there isn't a $5 admission fee. It is a $5 donation and last I checked, donations aren't mandatory. Yes, as others have mentioned, there is less free parking. Luckily, we were able to score a free spot along the street. I am so glad because had we paid for parking, I would have been very upset. I think we were at the fest for a max of 30 minutes. Sorry Long Grove, but your fest blew this year. I am so confused as to why/how they can keep calling this fest a "chocolate", "strawberry" or "apple" fest when it is the same stinking fest for all 3. I barely saw any chocolate offerings. There was one booth that had chocolate donuts and another that had chocolate strawberries (this is at Strawberry Fest so how is this special?). I also saw "Mackinaw Island" type fudge being sold but that was it. Where was the chocolate? My bf came up with the idea that if you are to have a food booth, you need to sell/offer at least one chocolate specific item. Make things interesting Long Grove!!! The whole set-up just seems a bit jumbled too. Saw the random "Welcome" Booth where they were selling sampling tickets but wasn't interested in that. Also, the guy who has the salsa booth...you've seen him before, he is at every single Long Grove fest...well his pretzels were so extremely stale...it was nasty. And why do we have a gutter vendor...hot tub vendor....?? Are those really things people want to see at a "summer-ish" fest? I don't think I will be back for Strawberry or Apple fest....or a Chocolate Fest in the future. Long Grove used to be a great place to spend the day at but with all of the vacant stores, same ol' fest year after year...it is just depressing and predictable. read more

since this is the last day for this year, I hope to warn people not to waste their time next year. We went expecting to sample chocolate. What we saw was bedsheets, newspapers, cars, bathfitters, remodelers, and maybe two booths of chocolates but not even from long grove shops. The shops themselves were too small to hsndle the crowds. Very disappointing. read more

There is nothing "chocolate" about the chocolate festival. This is the 1st time I went there with my toddlers expecting every stall will have chocolate. I was utterly disappointed. There were only 3-4 stalls that actually sold chocolate. rest served hot dog, pizza, chinese food etc. Please change the name to "food festival" or "taste of long grove" instead of "chocolate festival". Please don't fool people. read more

We have been going to the apple fest for almost 25 years. Where are all the stores? We just got back from the one for this weekend and it looks very run down. They just got done putting in sidewalks. They couldn't finish before this? Had all summer to do this. The food tents were moved to a different area which was fine but can we pleeeease have more tables and chairs to sit at? No one wants to walk around holding all their food while trying not to get bitten by bees. They had plenty of room for more tables. How about not worrying about putting in sidewalks and buying more tables and chairs. Hopefully they will be putting in more retail stores. I don't think anyone is going to come out that way for a beauty bar or cigar store. Bring back the Christmas store and other stores this place used to be known for. Maybe a vintage ice cream parlor. Also why was the covered wooden bridge taken down. Very sad. read more

Not a chocolate fest, barely any chocolate. They have a scavenger hunt that consists of little jewel Osco store bought candy.... One chocolate candy shop and the annoyed employee told me she doesn't know ingredients since they don't make any of their products.... There was one booth selling chocolate cheesecake and Chocolate grapes but it must have been bad since every time my friends and I walked passed there were no one in line. however there were a bunch of drunk angry parents hitting their kids or kicking their dogs. no wonder the town is going under :/ read more

Such a let down. You would expect great selections and unique treats especially having a bakery in town. Nothing unique and very over priced for quality of places. Yes there were a few things and of course the confectionary offers a good selection but Sweet Whimsy was a let down for a French pastry shop. Such a cute little town to walk and see but missing a great bakery and so sad to see there are many stores closed down. Bring back Long Grove with the unique and cuteness that it had at one point. Bring a place where you can sit comfy and relaxed with friends with a good cup of coffee and dessert or treat. read more

I visited the chocolate fest yesterday for the first time and it was fun especially the bubbles that kept my daughter entertained. Shopped a few different stalls and overall was a good event. read more