Chocolate lovers will have a chance to get more than their fill of sweets Sunday.

Hospice of Southern Kentucky will host the 32nd annual Hospice Chocolate Festival at Sloan Convention Center, where dozens of local businesses will provide samples of their chocolates.

McKinze Willard, Hospice’s marketing director, said the event is a fundraiser for the group’s efforts to provide end-of-life care to people with “a life-limiting illness” free of charge.

“We need support from the community to extend our reach into the community to help people who can’t pay for hospice services,” she said.

“It started out as an event called ‘Simply Sweet’ and as it grew and grew, it became a full-blown dessert festival,” she said.

The event will be from 2 to 5 p.m., though people with VIP tickets can get in an hour early, according to hospice soky.org.

Regular tickets for adults are $15, and $7 each for children ages 6 to 12. Children 5 and under can get in free. VIP tickets are $30.

This year, the event boasts more than 50 vendors, a record for the festival, Willard said.

The festival will have a circus theme that is intended to foster a nostalgic, family-friendly atmosphere, she said.

“We have a lot of activities for the kiddos and they get a free bag of candy, so it’s a great family-friendly event,” she said.

Willard said the festival has been a popular attraction in the community for years.

“We’ve had a really positive response from families saying they want something fun to do in February,” she said.

Carl Chaney, owner of Chaney’s Dairy Barn, which has had a table at the festival for years, said he’s happy each year to see the turnout at the event.

“The community gets behind it so greatly and it is a wonderful organization,” he said.

Chaney said he continues to support Hospice because he had a positive relationship with the group that provided hospice care when his father was dying.

“I’ll never forget how wonderful they were and how they treated him and how they treated us,” he said.

Each year, Chaney’s Dairy Barn offers a new ice cream flavor specifically for the festival.

This year, to tie in with the circus theme, Chaney will unveil “The Greatest Ice Cream on Earth,” which is chocolate ice cream with white fudge, animal cookies and sprinkles.

The festival gets crowded every year as people come to try the dozens of chocolate samples being offered, Chaney said.

“There’s so many people that come through there,” he said.

“It’s absolutely crazy. It is so great to be able to go around and see what everyone’s got.”