The third annual Purchase Area Coffee and Chocolate Festival brought thousands of visitors to Calvert City, Kentucky, with new hosts.
The festival happened recently at the Calvert City Civic Center with over 30 local vendors participating in the festival selling coffee, baked goods and art. More than 3,500 people visit the event yearly—a thousand more than Calvert City’s population.
A Centered Space has hosted the festival for the past two years but owner Dayla Lihon handed the “spoon” to Blair Travis. Travis is Calvert City’s director of marketing communications and business development and said the event reminds her of a miniature farmers market.
“I think that it’s a wonderful time for folks who make home goods— have their home kitchens—they can bring items and sell them here,” Travis said. “It’s just a great opportunity for local vendors to get their names out there.”
Paducah Coffee Company, a wholesale roasting company, has participated in the festival every year since it was established. Co-owners Connor Thompson and Erin Hancock said their business does not have a retail space, but being at events like the coffee and chocolate festival helps raise awareness of it and connect it with other local businesses and people.
“It’s been very successful for us each year,” Hancock said. “Each year, we meet new people, and make new connections. We are then able to (collaborate) with other small businesses.”
Baked by Caryn was another vendor that participated in the festival. Owner and Paducah native, Caryn Lyles said she has a nontraditional bakery, and she likes to highlight that she bakes gluten-free goods.
“[I] like to show them that like I do gluten-free stuff, and that it tastes just as good (as) everything else,” Lyles said.
Ownership of the festival was not the only “first” it had this year. It was also the first time the event did not require an entry fee. The first festival held brought in 4,000 people and last year brought 3,500. Travis said she hoped not requiring an entry fee would draw more visitors to the festival.
According to the City of Calvert’s Facebook page, next year’s festival has already been planned for March 7 and 8.
