The second annual Olympic Peninsula Fungi Festival runs from today through Sunday at the Clallam County Fairgrounds, with some events on Sunday at the Dungeness River Nature Center in Sequim.
The festival opens today at 1 p.m. at the fairgrounds at 1608 W. 16th St., with a vendors market and a beer garden. Dinner will begin at 5 p.m. and a concert with The Shift will start at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, it will open at 9 a.m. and continue until after the concert at 7 p.m.
On Sunday, the fairgrounds will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. while events at the Nature Center in Sequim, at 1943 W. Hendrickson Road, will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tickets prices vary.
General admission tickets of $70 pay for all events at the fairgrounds except for some workshops, which have separate tickets, according to David Rogers, organizer of the festival and owner of Maddie’s Mushrooms in Joyce.
Some aspects are free. The public is welcome to explore the merchants’ hall, food court and education barn, Rogers said.
This is the second year for the festival, which drew a large following its first year, Rogers said.
It’s expanded from last year.
“That’s why we moved to the fairgrounds, to accommodate the interest,” Rogers said.
The festival will feature lectures, hands-on workshops, guided forays and mushroom cuisine from local and internationally acclaimed experts.
Lectures will deal with foraging, DNA sequencing, Pacific Northwest mushrooms, animal/fungi relationships, mycoremediation and cultivation, among other topics.
Lectures will be presented by Alan Rockefeller, Robert Rogers, Lowell Dietz, Aaron Hilliard, Eva Gordon, Jennifer Rotermund, Graham Steinruck, Langdon Cook, Howard Sprouse, Daniel Winkler, John Bornsworth, Dr. Tom Locke, Larry Norris, Sarie Bettineski and Sam Shoemaker.
“No matter where you’re at on your journey with mushrooms, we guarantee this festival will inspire something new,” Rogers said.
For more information, see https://www.opfungi festival.com.
