ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Hundreds of people filled Expo New Mexico Saturday for the 14th annual Southwest Chocolate & Coffee Fest. It’s the largest festival of its kind in the U.S. and features 220 vendors from across the country.

“We’re from northern Colorado. It’s our first time coming down to this event, so I’m really excited,” said Jennifer Behrmann, What The Fudge Co. owner. “We pride ourselves on having like 20 flavors, at least on every event we show up, and all of our fudges are known for being really smooth and creamy.”

For this weekend, Behrmann made special flavors like milk chocolate amaretto, milk chocolate churro, and espresso fudge.

Lena Armstrong-Strober and Dean Strober came up with the festival in 2009.

“We like chocolate and we like coffee ultimately, we’re like, what kind of event would we want to go to?” Dean said. “And really, it was the local chocolatiers and coffee roasters who helped us create this from the start.”

One of those local vendors is The Brew.

“I am a third-generation coffee grower from Colombia that has been in Albuquerque for 24 years, and my whole model is to share my love for coffee,” said Juan Certain, owner of The Brew. “So what I have here right now is an espresso bar with all these amazing drinks that we’ve created as recipes. And then all of my coffee that I pick up ground or whole bean.”

The Brew has been open in downtown Albuquerque for about a decade, but Certain says festivals like these let him meet even more community members.

“It’s always such a pleasure to be able to communicate with the community and see what they have to say and be part of it,” Certain said.

The fest will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 at the door.

For more information about the vendors, click here.