Obidos Chocolate Festival

One of Portugal’s yummiest festivals is held annually in a Portuguese city famous for chocolate.

Obidos Castle

Obidos is a small city in the Oeste region of Portugal, an hour from Lisbon. It’s incredibly popular with tourists because of the Obidos Castle. A fort was originally built in pre-Roman times. Today’s castle, strategically situated on a hilltop, dates to Medieval times.

Many of the city’s festivals, including the Chocolate Festival, are held within the castle walls, making for a unique atmosphere.

Walking the ramparts of the castle is a memorable activity. But, be aware that there are no guardrails, so watch your step!

If you’re staying overnight, there’s even a hotel in the castle.

Literary City

Obidos is a UNESCO Literary City.

Back in 2013, José Pinho transformed an old church into the largest bookstore in Obidos, the Livraria de Santiago. It’s inspiring to wander around and check out the shelves of books in the former house of worship. And, if you’re an English-only speaker, there are some titles in English (though most are in Portuguese, of course).

Obidos is filled with other interesting book shops.

Livraria Artes & Letras is housed in an old winery. They have rare and collectible books and you can have a shot in Ginjinha (sour cherry liqueur) while hunting for that special first edition.

Livraria do Mercado is a market and bookstore. Displayed alongside tin cans of fish are heaving shelves of dusty used books.

The Literary Man Hotel is a former convent with a collection of 75,000 books, many of them donated by guests. Not only is the lobby stuffed with books, but each room has its own mini library.

There’s even an annual book festival in Obidos. The Folio International Literary Festival is held in October and features appearances by authors, exhibitions, conferences, and concerts.

Obidos Chocolate Festival

While Obidos’ literary chops feed your mind, its chocolate satisfies another hunger.

Every spring, inside the castle walls, people gather to taste sweet concoctions made from the cacao bean. There’s demonstrations, competitions, and exhibits like the impressive hall of chocolate sculptures.

These are all quite interesting, but we’re here for the tasting!

Dozens of vendors sell bons bons of all types.

In 2025, something called Dubai Chocolate was the flavor of the moment. Fix Dessert Chocolatier invented the treat in 2021 and it has gained popularity through social media under the generic Dubai Chocolate moniker.

Pistachio paste is mixed with bits of phyllo dough and covered in chocolate. It’s quite tasty and I can see why everyone wants to try it.

Another treat to try is Bombokas (aka Bombocas). These chocolate covered marshmallow treats on a cookie base were likely first popularized in Brazil where they’re called Nhá Benta.

We also enjoyed visiting a courtyard where culinary and hospitality students were preparing and serving chocolate samples. We tried chocolate covered strawberries with coconut sprinkles and Brazilian brigadeiros (chocolate ganache rolled in chocolate sprinkles).

Ginja de Óbidos

Ginjinha, aka Ginja, is a sour cherry liqueur invented in Lisbon. I made a video of my favorite places to get Ginjinha in the city.

But, Obidos is also known for Ginjinha. It seems every shop in the city is selling the sweet and sour elixir. What makes Ginja de Obidos unique is how it is served. A shot of cherry liqueur is poured into a little chocolate cup. Down the shot and eat the cup! After all, what’s better than chocolate and cherries?

More chocolate and liqueur

Chocolate infused with liqueur is one of the best ways to enjoy it. We had some delicious Scotch whisky chocolates in Belgium that were quite memorable.

In Porto, there is a chocolate vendor who sells bonbons with a little shot of port wine you inject into the chocolate yourself!

At the chocolate festival we ran across a vendor selling chocolate truffles with tiny shots of all kinds of liqueurs. I opted for the chocolate ganache covered in chocolate dipped puffed rice with a shot of Beirão, a famous Portuguese herbal liqueur.

It was delicious! Next time, I’ll have to try some other flavors.

About the Author

Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel Truffle Hunt (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection That Bird. He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides to cities around the world on Destination Eat Drink, including an in-depth eating and drinking guide to Portugal. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms.