THIS Easter will see thousands of visitors enjoy cocoa-themed treats on the streets of York as a festival celebrating chocolate gets underway.

Organisers are promising a chocolate lovers heaven, as the fourth annual York Chocolate Festival is held at a host of venues around the city from April 3 to 6.

Attractions will include a chocolate cookery school, a walk looking at York's chocolate heritage and an Easter egg hunt.

Sophie Jewett, the festival director, said: “This year, our Chocolate Festival is more hands-on than ever before, with a focus not simply on the delicious treats available to buy, but actually exploring chocolate and meeting the local chocolatiers, confectioners and bakers who make a living out of this wonderful ingredient,” comments .

“Visitors will be able to watch chocolate being made, taste some unusual treats, and create their own chocolate souvenir of their visit with live workshops at the Chocolate Fair, before wandering off to explore how cocoa-based confections shaped the city as a whole, from the birthplace of the Terry’s Chocolate Orange, to the continuing development of sweet treats by today’s artisan chocolate makers.”

Highlights of this year’s festival are:

• The chocolate cookery school – a chance to learn from York’s chocolate masters how to work with chocolate to create your own sweet treat to take away. Running daily in Parliament Street, with experts from many York chocolate businesses hosting hour-long workshops for adults and children. £5 per adult, £3 per child.

• Becoming a professional chocolate taster – York is one of few places left in the country where there are several companies that employ their own expert chocolate tasters. Learn about colour, texture, smell and the smooth glossy finish that make the finest chocolates… and learn to taste chocolate like a professional. Ongoing in Parliament Street.

• Make Good Friday, Great Friday with a chocolate model workshop at York Cocoa House (Blake Street). Discover chocolate as a medium for sculpture and design, and take away your own creation in an hour-long workshop, priced at £17.50 per person. Also repeated on Easter Sunday.

• Join the Lord Mayor of York on his annual Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Sunday (4 April) from 10am to 3pm. Collect a trail sheet from the Jorvik Viking Centre and join a city-wide quest for chocolate, with a special prize for everyone completing the trail. £2.50 per entry.

• Hear the story of the holy grail of Easter eggs – the solid chocolate egg – and discover how the expert chocolatiers create ornate Easter eggs up to three feet tall at York’s Chocolate Story, the visitor attraction dedicated to telling the story of York’s chocolate past and present. Pre-booking recommended at www.yorkschocolatestory.com, with tours priced at £10.50 for adults, £9.50 for concessions and £8.50 for children.

• Explore York’s chocolate heritage on foot with the York Walk Choccy & Sweetie Tour, Friday, April 3 and Sunday April 5 at 10.30am, starting from the Museum Gardens Gates at Museum Street. This 90 to 120 minute walking tour takes in many of York’s confectionary highlights, priced at £6 for adults and £5 for concessions.

More details on the full York Chocolate Festival 2015 programme, including how to book individual events, will be available online at www.yorkchocolatefestival.co.uk