Overwhelming response to the first C4 Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition, neighborhood festivities, and free bean-to-bar tastings highlight a weekend built for all ages
PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ranger Chocolate Co., presenter of the Portland Craft Chocolate Festival (PDXCCF), will welcome Portlanders to the second annual festival this weekend, October 2–4, bringing together more than 45 Oregon makers, hundreds of chocolate chip cookies, neighborhood businesses, and families for three days celebrating craft chocolate and the community that surrounds it.
Now in its second year, the festival has grown in nearly every direction — more makers, more programming, and more opportunities for people to taste, learn, and meet the people behind the food.
But perhaps nothing has captured Portland’s imagination quite like the festival’s newest addition: the first-ever C4 Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition.
The response to C4 has exceeded organizers’ expectations, with hundreds of entries across Youth, Home Baker, and Professional divisions. On Saturday, the competition takes center stage at the festival, culminating in judging that includes Portland Mayor Keith Wilson.
“We knew Portland loved a good chocolate chip cookie, but the response to C4 has been incredible,” said festival founder George Domurot. “People took this seriously, but they also had a lot of fun with it. That’s exactly what we hoped would happen. It gives people another way to participate instead of simply coming to watch.”
A Weekend That Spills Into the Neighborhood
The festival itself takes place at the historic Olympic Mills Building, with more than 45 makers, exhibitors, and partners participating throughout the weekend.
On Saturday, the celebration extends outside as neighboring businesses join the festivities. Steven Smith Teamaker and Ranger Chocolate Co. will help activate the block, while Stumptown Coffee Roasters serves coffee throughout the weekend, and additional food and activities give visitors a reason to linger beyond the festival doors.
Saturday will also include the launch of a new collaborative bonbon collection from Steven Smith Teamaker and Ranger Chocolate Co., bringing together two Portland makers — tea and chocolate — in a project created just blocks apart.
The idea is simple: make the weekend feel less like a traditional trade show or food event and more like a neighborhood gathering.
From Cacao Bean to Chocolate Bar
On Sunday, Domurot will host two free mini bean-to-bar chocolate tastings during the festival, offering small groups an opportunity to experience chocolate from an entirely different perspective.
Guests will taste chocolate through stages of its transformation — beginning with cacao beans and nibs, moving through cacao being processed into chocolate, and ultimately tasting finished chocolate made from different harvests of cacao from the same origin.
The tastings are designed to make the process approachable and give visitors a chance to slow down, ask questions, and better understand how flavor develops from the cacao bean through the finished bar.
The mini tastings are included with festival admission and are part of a larger goal for the weekend: creating opportunities not only to taste chocolate, but to learn from the people who make it.
Portland Shows Up
The festival has been made possible through significant support from Prosper Portland and New Seasons Market, alongside a growing community of Portland businesses and cultural institutions. From restaurants like KANN to the Oregon Zoo and OMSI, organizations across the city have stepped forward to contribute, participate, and help welcome the community.
That spirit of participation extends throughout the weekend.
The Portland Craft Chocolate Festival is designed for all ages — a place to discover local makers, taste something new, learn about chocolate, meet the people behind the food, and simply spend time together. Families, serious chocolate enthusiasts, and people who are just curious are all equally welcome.
“This started as a celebration of chocolate and the people who make it, but it has become something much bigger,” Domurot said. “The response from across Portland has been incredible. We’ve seen it in the hundreds of entries submitted to the C4 Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition, in the businesses and organizations that have asked how they can participate, and in the excitement people are bringing into the weekend.”
“We want this to be a place where everybody can come together, try something new, and have a really good time,” Domurot added. “Portland has an incredible food community, but what makes it special is the people behind it. This weekend is really about bringing those people together.”
From Saturday’s cookie competition and neighborhood activities to Sunday’s bean-to-bar tastings, the weekend is an invitation to slow down, meet some neighbors, discover something new, and celebrate the creativity of Portland’s food community.
Portland Craft Chocolate Festival
October 2–4, 2026
Olympic Mills
107 SE Washington St., Portland, Oregon
Friday, October 2: VIP Meet and Greet, 5–7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, October 3–4: Festival and Maker Market, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tickets and complete festival information are available at pdxccf.com.
About the Portland Craft Chocolate Festival
The Portland Craft Chocolate Festival brings together chocolate makers, confectioners, bakers, and food lovers for a weekend celebrating craft, flavor, education, and community. Founded in Portland, Oregon, the festival creates opportunities for the public to meet makers, discover new products, learn how chocolate is made, and experience the creativity of the region’s food community.
The Portland Craft Chocolate Festival and C4 Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition are produced by Ranger Chocolate Co.
Caroline Arya, Marketing & PR Associate | info@pdxccf.com | 503-206-8924
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SOURCE Ranger Chocolate Co.
