Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - On January 5, 2018, Vallarta Botanical Garden will host a Festival celebrating Chocolate, known in the Nahua language as Xocolatl - and everyone is invited!

The cacao bean, the basis of cocoa and chocolate, is one of Mexico's many culinary gifts to the world. Cacao beans come from a small evergreen tree native to Mexico's south tropical region commonly known as the cacao tree, or by its scientific name Theobroma Cacao, which literally means "food of the gods."

The Olmecs (1500-400 BC) were the first to grow cocoa in Mexico. In the course of centuries, the cocoa culture spread to the Maya (600 BC) and Aztec (1400 BC) civilizations. The Mayans used the cocoa pod to create a drink around the year 600. The cacao beans were ground and then mixed with water, ground corn and chile pepper. Often flavored with vanilla, this drink was known as "chocolate." The Aztecs prepared a concentrated bitter beverage called techocolat, whose consumption was reserved exclusively for the emperor, nobles and warriors.

For these civilizations, cocoa was a symbol of abundance that was used during religious rituals dedicated to Quetzalcoat, the Aztec god, and Chak Ek Chuah, the patron saint of Mayan cocoa.

Since cacao trees are abundant at Vallarta Botanical Garden, what better place to celebrate one of Mexico's most traditional ancestral delights?

Make plans now to come out to the Garden's Festival de Chocolate, where you can learn more about "the food of the gods" while enjoying:

• Chocolate tours
• Folkloric dance performances
• Chocolate samples
• Food specials
• Chocolate drinks
• and much more!

Admission is $200 pesos per person, which includes Garden entry fees.