Paula Earnest of Vienna Tuesday views the entries in the 2017 Gingerbread Festival at the Blennerhassett Hotel. The entries will be on display through Dec. 27. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

PARKERSBURG — More than 40 entries are in the 2017 Gingerbread Festival at the Blennerhassett Hotel where judges this week will evaluate the decorative and edible exhibits.

All proceeds from the $25 entry fee and the money raised through the People’s Choice competition will go to Habitat for Humanity of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Everyone entered was an amateur, but the quality of the entries is nothing short of professional, according to Nicole Slattery, hotel marketing director and an organizer of the Gingerbread Festival.

“You can see from the caliber, they’re pretty amazing,” Slattery said.

The entries, of which there were 42, will be judged this week and the winners announced on Friday, she said. The names of the creators have been removed pending completion of the evaluation by the judges.

Snoopy takes a snooze on his doghouse in an entry in the 2017 Gingerbread Festival at the Blennerhassett Hotel. Judges are adjudicating the entries this week and winners will be announced on Friday. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

The People’s Choice winner will be announced at the end of the festival on Dec. 27. The winner of the People’s Choice is determined by the change dropped in the banks at each entry, which adds up over several weeks, Slattery said.

“A little change can go a long way,” she said.

The gingerbread exhibits will be on display through Dec. 27.

Hours are while the hotel is open, which is around the clock, but the preferred time is 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, Slattery said. The hotel never closes, she said.

Paula Earnest of Vienna and her husband, Wally, on Tuesday were among the viewers.

Two doves are nesting on a poinsettia in an entry in the 2017 Gingerbread Festival at the Blennerhassett Hotel. Everything is edible. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

“We always come down to see this,” she said.

The quality of the entries is exceptional, Mrs. Earnest said.

“It’s just amazing to see what they can do,” she said.

The Gingerbread Festival was last held in 2015. The format was changed this year to make it more like the annual Festival of Trees for the Easter Seal Society, which also is held at the hotel.

Entries and awards for the 2017 festival will be in three divisions: Adult, 18 and up; Junior, 13-17; and Child, 12 and under. Prizes will be awarded to the top three houses in each category as determined by the judges.

A snowman in the front of a gingerbread house entered in the 2017 Gingerbread Festival at the Blennerhassett Hotel. Proceeds of the event will benefit Habitat for Humanity. (Photo by Jess Mancini)