This year’s Chocolate on the Beach Festival, held Feb. 21-24 in Pacific Beach, was “Out of This World.”

Festival organizer Stephanie Allestad estimates 3,500 people visited the vendors and demonstrations this year. The tally has not yet been completed, but she said more than half of those accounted for so far came from outside Grays Harbor County.

The three nonprofit beneficiaries will be the Green Lantern Lunch program, Museum of the North Beach and KXPB-LP 89.1. Each one can apply for grants of up to $2,000, she said, and “I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to get the full amount for the third consecutive year.”

Many volunteers were forced to cancel because of flu or strep throat. “A lot of people stepped up and did extra shifts,” said Allestad — who conducted a couple of demonstrations herself after a vendor dropped out.

The 2020 festival, themed “The Magic of Chocolate,” will take place Feb. 27 to March 3. Allestad said the board is seeking a nonprofit to partner with to add a “fun run” to the mix next year. For information, email her at ghfd8chocofirelady@gmail.com.

(Kat Bryant | Grays Harbor News Group) Chocolate on the Beach organizer Stephanie Allestad conducts a demonstration on making beer bread (with chocolate beers, of course) on Saturday.

(Kat Bryant | Grays Harbor News Group) The PDX Superhero Group from Portland provided cosplay characters from several sci-fi movies, including Groot and Nebula from “Guardians of the Galaxy.”