This week, more than 400 exhibitors are in Paris, France for the 2009 Paris Chocolate Festival. The theme this year is opera.

The event kicked off last night with a chocolate fashion show where dresses are created by a combination of top fashion designers and chocolatiers.

Walking the runway wearing the chocolate fashions were models, actresses, television personalities and opera singers.

The event, which runs from October 14-18th, will feature the latest innovations from chocolatiers around the world, and will include cooking demonstrations, a cocoa show dedicated to the cultures and countries that produce cocoa, tasting sessions and even an awards show.

Latest figures from the International Cocoa Organization show that total chocolate confectionary consumption in France has not increased as much as the United States over the past decade.

According to Nytimes.com, the French ate 50,000 tons more chocolate in 2006 compared to 1997, while the increase among North Americans was 197,000 tons.