A chocolate fix will be available a few days before Valentine’s Day at the Hospice of Southern Kentucky Chocolate Festival on Sunday.

More than 1,000 people typically flock to Sloan Convention Center for the event, the major fundraiser for Hospice.

VIP tickets for the event, which include early access, have sold out.

Adult tickets at the door are $14. Tickets for children ages 6-12 are $6, and kids 5 and under are free. In addition to chocolate goodies for adults, there will be a children’s table filled with candies to take home. The event is from 2 to 5 p.m.

“I think 1,200 to 1,400 is the average crowd for the event,” said Jennifer Brashear, marketing director for Hospice. “I think we made about $33,000 last year.”

Hospice helps improve quality of life for those in the end stages of life, regardless of their ability to pay.

This is the 30th year that Hospice has hosted the event, which has grown in the past decade. This year’s theme is Mardi Gras, with a parade of indulgence.

“We do have some live entertainment this year,” Brashear said. “Yanzee Murphy will bring some of his friends. He plays all kinds of music from bluegrass to country and others. Tony Rose (anchor of the “Tony Rose Morning Show” on D-93) will be back as the emcee.”

There also will be a lineup of celebrities for the cookie-eating contest, a silent auction that features a ring provided by a private donor, a Bowling Green Hot Rods ticket package, restaurant gift cards, a furniture gift card and goodie baskets, she said.

Children may have their faces painted and photographs taken with any of the characters roaming around the event. There also will be a photo booth.

As of earlier this week, participants expected to attend include Gigi’s Cupcakes, Purity Dairies, Cambridge Market, Chaney’s Dairy Barn, Chick-Fil-A, Olive Garden, Starbucks, Timesavers

with Boyce Pie Queen, The Charleston (a planned wedding venue), Cake BG, Chuck’s Liquor Outlet and some sororities and even nursing homes.

Chef Mike Riggs of Southern Kentucky Community and Technical College will provide a cookie demonstration and hand out samples.

Aside from Chaney’s bringing ice cream with Mardi Gras colors, Brashear is not sure what the other vendors will bring.

“They just sort of surprise us,” she said.

Mike Hughes, owner of Cambridge Market, knows what he is going to bring to the event.

“We’re going to do assorted chocolate cheesecakes and mini-chocolate seduction charts – sort of like the pies we have,” Hughes said. “I will bring like 15 cheesecakes and 400 of the little small chocolate tarts.”

He will put the no-bake cheesecakes together Friday.

“They are very popular,” he said. “I probably do 15 of them just for the store each week, and at Christmas with catering we might do 50.”

Hughes has been doing the event for 15 years or so. He said it’s difficult to gauge how much new business he might receive from providing the sweet treats for free.

But it doesn’t matter.

“It’s a good thing to be doing as far as the charity itself,” he said.

— Follow City Editor Robyn L. Minor on Twitter at @bowserminor or visit bgdailynews.com.