VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Princesses and superheroes gathered for the third annual Cupcake Festival.
The Virginia Cupcake Festival is Sunday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Mount Trashmore Park. General admission tickets are on sale now at the gate.
Dawn Allen, an event planner and owner of Unique Events by Dawn, organized the festival as a personal challenge several years ago.
“I’m a wedding and event planner. I do tons of weddings. I wanted to do something different, something with the community. My team and I were like, ‘what would be something fun?’ I was [thinking] there are so many festivals in this area… I was like, ‘What is something that hasn’t been done?’ You know what… Cupcakes! The first year, 2019, it was a free event. We had thousands of people come out. We sold out of cupcakes! It was crazy! We knew we had to keep doing it but obviously COVID hit us for the last couple of years. We brought it back again last year [had] a huge amazing turnout and we’re back again!”
Allen tells 10 On Your Side the first year of the festival they sold 7,000 cupcakes. All of the proceeds from the tickets sales go to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD).
The volunteer staff says it’s all about giving back and creating memories for families.
“We’re all moms and all of our kids have been to CHKD at one point in time,” said Allen. CHKD is a fantastic healthcare system for our kids. We just want to give back and support because they are doing a lot of good things.”
Local bakers including Crystal Marie’s Cake Creations, Carolina Cupcakery and Maddie’s Sweets brought hundreds of cupcakes to sell.
“This one is one of the best events that we’ve done so far, last year! We definitely had to come back this year,” said Crystal Gomez, a custom cake maker that specialized in 3D sculpted cakes.
“When I see people come to my tent and it’s just surreal… We started from absolutely nothing and here we are at the festival!”
Gomez and her family have completed a Food Network Challenge and plan to submit another. “We’re trying to do that again. So, we’re trying to put ourselves out there as much as we can,” said Crystal.
Her daughter, Sonia says her mom’s best cupcakes are “the Oreo cupcakes, the chocolate ones and the vanilla!”
The team plans to return for the cupcake festival next year.
“I love trying all of the cupcakes and finding crafts to do,” said Sonia.
On Saturday, the Virginia Cupcake Festival presents held the Princesses and Superheroes 5k & 1k Fun Run.
