If you like to eat mushrooms, listen to live music, see fall foliage, mingle with the community, and have a good time, look no further than The 31st Annual Mushroom Festival at the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. The festival begins at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday October 23rd and will end at 5:00 p.m. the same day. Admissions are $5.00 and the proceeds go to the funding of Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. This is their largest fundraising event of the year.
To get to the festival you can either take the free shuttle from Civic Stadium (where the Ems used to play), which will be leaving at the top of every hour, or you can drive to the festival where there will be free parking.
There will be over 350 kinds of mushroom on display, which is the largest on the west coast, that have been foraged over the past few weeks by the Cascade Mycological Society (CMS) and LCC.
Peg Douthit-Jackson, event coordinator at the arboretum, said that because it has been a very dry summer the foragers are hoping that they will find some rare species that thrive in dryer climates.The foragers have also reported that the fruiting of mushrooms in the Coast Range and Cascade foothills has been strong.
The best thing about mushroom festival is the food. Local vendors will have carts set up and they will be making special mushroom dishes. There will be sampling too.
Douthit-Jackson said that Holy Cow Cafe, which has been coming to the festival since its first year, makes a delicious mushroom soup. She said that some people will come to the festival just for this soup.
Other attractions include sales with items like mushrooms, plants, t-shirts, arts, crafts, and books. There is a scarecrow contest, hay rides, guided nature walks, and crafts for children.
Live music will be played all day and the set list includes:
10:00 Against the Grain
11:00 Clambake Combo
12:00 Kingdom County
1:00 Cat Like Reflexes
2:00 Satori Bob
3:00 The Huckleberries
4:00 The Stagger and Sway
Last year I had the opportunity to go to the mushroom festival, and I had a blast. Bring your families and friends, support a good cause, and appreciate one of nature’s delicacies. I’ll see you there.
