This year’s Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival has once again exceeded expectations, raising a record amount of money for charities and attracting record number of crowds to all events.

This year, the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival raised more than $110,000, money that will directly assist a number of important national and local community charities including; Parents Centres New Zealand Inc, The Malcam Charitable Trust, The Otago Theatre Trust, Otago Peninsula Trust, Blue Light, Child Cancer Foundation, CCS Otago, Otago Community Hospice, Cure Kids, Dunedin Kindergarten Association, New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation and STOP – Save the Otago Peninsula.

One of the signature events of the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival is the Cadbury Jaffa Race which takes place on Baldwin Street – the world’s steepest street. This year, a record $92,000 was raised with all proceeds from tickets sold going to Parents Centres New Zealand Inc, The Malcam Charitable Trust and Otago, Southland and South Canterbury Primary Schools.

Cadbury Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand Mark Callaghan said he was delighted by the essential funds the Cadbury Jaffa Race raised for the local community.
“Parents Centre New Zealand Inc and The Malcam Charitable Trust both do wonderful work in the Dunedin community and we are delighted that through the Cadbury Jaffa Race, both organisations as well as primary schools in the region, will receive tens of thousands of dollars of additional funds to continue the outstanding community support they provide,” he said.

From July 11 to 17, more than 33,000 people attended the 50 Cadbury Chocolate Carnival events that took place in and around Dunedin, up more than 7,000 attendees on last year.

Mark Callaghan said the Cadbury Chocolate Carnival is a unique event that with the support of the Dunedin community continues to grow in importance every year.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the way the local community has supported the Cadbury Chocolate Carnival and helped make it the biggest celebration of all things chocolate in New Zealand.
“The attendance numbers are sensational, and we’re proud to work with the Dunedin City Council to deliver a wonderful week-long family event that celebrates the moments of joy chocolate can bring,” he said.

Attendance records at the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival have grown every year since it began in 2002, and this year’s huge increase signifies the importance of the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival as a major community event.

Dunedin City Council Events Team Leader, Marilyn Anderson said “The 2009 event attracted a high level of positive national exposure. There was also a discernable increase in the number of visitors, families in particular, who stayed in or visited Dunedin for the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival which was almost certainly due in part to that increased national and regional promotion and media coverage and, of course, the  continuing high quality of the event.  The Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival is now firmly established as Dunedin’s key Winter event and the partnership between the Dunedin City Council and Cadbury continues to prosper to our mutual advantage as evidenced by the public’s embrace of the event.”
Some of this year’s most popular events included:

•    Cadbury Jaffa Race and World’s Steepest Street Party
•    Cadbury Dairy Milk Gala Fun Day
•    Cadbury World Sensory Tours
•    Peninsula Day
•    Choc Art of Creativity Classes
•    Madagascar Live
•    Cadbury Moro Band Jam
•    Chocolate, Jazz and Shiraz Evening