(The fifth annual FungiFest & Mushroom Show takes place this weekend | Photo courtesy of Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory)
Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory (SNCO) will host the fifth annual FungiFest & Mushroom Show on Saturday, October 9. The one-day event, hosted in partnership with the Central Oregon Mushroom Club, will return to an in-person event on the campus of SNCO after last year’s virtual event.
FungiFest is hosted in close partnership with the Central Oregon Mushroom Club, whose members provide the expertise to collect and identify hundreds of mushrooms for display at the show. In the days leading up to the event, dozens of volunteers equipped with mushroom collection permits participate in forays into the national forest to gather a diversity of mushrooms for the event. The mushroom club members are also present throughout the event answering questions about mushrooms from the public. Portland-based mushroom and community science enthusiast, Leah Bendlin, will participate as this year’s guest mushroom expert.
This event will feature guided mushroom walks, mushroom cooking demonstrations, crafts and activities for children, information and resources on mushroom hunting and identification, a mushroom marketplace and other activities for mushroom enthusiasts of all levels. More than a dozen specialty vendors will be featured in the mushroom marketplace, where event goers will have the opportunity to shop wild and farmed fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms and other mushroom culinary products, mushroom hunting tools, artwork and handicrafts, native plants and more.
Finally, there will be plenty of opportunities for mycophagy, mushroom eating, at FungiFest. Cookbook author and mycophagy researcher, Chef Zachary Mazi, will share his culinary skills through two mushroom cooking demonstrations at 11:15am and 1:15pm. Local food truck, Feast Food Company, will be onsite with a special mushroom menu using locally sourced mushrooms.
Sunriver FungiFest & Mushroom Show takes place on Saturday, October 9 from 10am-3pm. Tickets are $12/adult and $9/child and can be purchased online before Friday or at the gate on event day. Masks are required for all attendees ages 5+ during the event. For more information about FungiFest, visit: fungifest.snco.org.