LOVERS of all things chocolate will be in heaven next month at an indulgent festival overflowing with everyone’s favourite confectionary.

Cressing Temple Barns, one of the county’s oldest historical sites, is set to host its first chocolate festival on April 19, which will feature talks from chocolate experts, food and drinks stalls and hour-long, interactive workshops.

Here's everything you need to know about the family festival.

  • It will run for six hours from 10.30am to 4.30pm
  • It will give those with sweet-tooths the opportunity to taste some of the country’s finest chocolates and delve into the history of the chocolatiers behind their favourite sweet treats, when enthusiast and historian Valina Bowman-Burns explore the origins of chocolate.
  • Handmade chocolate makers, Chappel Chocolate House, will also lead a session that will see guests channel their inner Willy Wonka, as they learn how to temper and make a chocolate slab.
  • And Essex wine expert Neil Bull will also be on hand to suggest the perfect chocolate-complimenting tipples.

The younger chocolate-lovers will get their sugar rush from creating a tasty chocolate pizza and decorating a hot chocolate mug, and they’ll even be able to meet the Easter Bunny and hunt for chocolate surprises.

For families looking to take a break from the excessive chocolate consumption, a large outdoor cinema screen will be showing cinematic classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Tickets for the festival are available at visitparks.co.uk or by calling 0345 603 7624.

Tickets cost £6.50 for adults (or £7.50 on the door) and £2.50 per child (under 5s are free).