Always the last Sunday in October!
Food, Fun, Discovery, and More
The Mount Pisgah Arboretum (MPA) Mushroom Festival is one the largest mushroom festivals on the west coast. And, is definitely the largest annual educational event of the year for the Cascade Mycological Society (CMS). CMS along with Lane Community College (LCC), have been integral to this event since its inception in 1981. Read the History of the MPA Mushroom Festival to learn how then LCC Professor Freeman Rowe and CMS members-to-be began this fabulous festival.
CMS and LCC organize these displays and activities for the festival
- The Mushroom Display – The “star of the show”. We normally have between 450 to 525 mushrooms identified to species on the display. For each, there is an information card with the scientific and common names, edibility, key features, and habitat.
- In the week leading up to the mushroom festival, CMS members attend Mushroom Festival Collection outings to collect for the show. At the end of each outing, the mushrooms are sorted and placed in special boxes and taken to Lane Community College for storage in a walk in cooler until Saturday. On Saturday morning CMS members and our invited guest identification experts gather to setup the display. A mushroom is not placed on the display until it is identified to species (or group/complex). The video above gives you a glimpse into our Saturday setup day process.
- Edible and Poisonous Tent – See and touch many of the edible mushrooms you will find in our local forest. More importantly, see common poisonous mushrooms to avoid. Plus, we display edible mushrooms side-by-side with their look-alike mushrooms that you will want to avoid. Knowledgeable CMS members staff the tent to answer your questions.
- Expert Identification Table – Invited expert mycologists, such as Noah Siegel and Steve Trudell, will be on hand to identify mushrooms. They will also answer all of your mushroom related questions.
- Culinary Demos – Talks on the Terrace features culinary demos with delicious mushroom recipes by local chefs and fungi aficionados.
- Fun Fungal Facts – Learn everything you want to know about mushrooms, plus more that you never thought about!
- Medicinal Mushroom Display – Learn all about the nutrition, health benefits, and disease-fighting properties of mushrooms.
- Dyeing with Mushrooms – Learn how to use mushrooms to dye wool and silk, what mushrooms to use, and the colors you can create.
- The LCC Table – LCC students staff an educational table at the festival. They often have microscopes on hand for kids of all ages to peer through.
- CMS Booth – Want to learn more about CMS? Come talk to us at the CMS Booth. While there, you can purchase CMS merchandise (Cookbook, Earrings, T-shirts & Hoodies). CMS members always receive a discount.
To learn more about all of the activities at this family friendly festival. Click on Mushroom Festival from the Mount Pisgah Arboretum Events Page.
