Starting on Friday, Oct. 9, and running through Sunday, Oct. 11, mushroom foragers will be coming to Packwood for the second annual Gifford Pinchot Fungi Festival, hosted by the Pinchot Partners Forest Collaborative.
The festival will highlight the culinary, ecological and artistic aspects of mushrooms, with a variety of speakers discussing those different aspects, guided forest foraging tours, mushroom usage workshops, a treasure hunt, a vendor market, live music and more.
While some events are free to attend, including the vendor market, live music and kids’ activities like “spor-y time” book readings, ticket purchases are required for most of the speakers, the foraging tours and workshops.
Speakers include:
• Daniel Winkler, the festival’s keynote speaker, with his presentation “Choice Edible Mushrooms of the PNW”
• Alan Rockefeller, discussing mushroom photography
• Langdon Cook, talking about “patch-to-plate” foraging
• Tess Barlow, explaining fungi-based dyes and dyeing silk scarves
• Aaron Hilliard, giving the “Mushroom Wonderland” presentation
• Janene Ritchie, discussing the benefits of forest bathing
• Sue Manning and Paul Whitney, with their presentation titled “Fungal Fornication + oyster mushroom bag-making”
• Sarah Richelle Starnes, holding sound journeys and forest yoga sessions
• Chris Adams, demonstrating art and drawing while foraging in the fields
• Amelia Nora, discussing mushroom toxins
• Junie B. Fungal, presenting on women in mycology
• Christina Brischetto, hosting the kids’ foraging adventures and “spor-y time” reading events
Live music will be performed by DJ Zephr on Friday, and The Return of Deadgrass on Saturday.
For a full schedule of speaker times and events, visit the Pinchot Partners Forest Collaborative’s website at https://www.pinchotpartners.org/fungi-festival.
Additionally, for those looking to participate in the treasure hunt, clues (GPS coordinates) have already been posted on the Gifford Pinchot Fungi Festival’s official Facebook page, which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3ycb44ev.
Events throughout the weekend will be held at two different locations, Longmire Springs Brewing, 112 Norman Way in Packwood, and the Packwood Community Hall, 12935 U.S. Highway 12.
Tickets start at $250 plus a fee for adults for a full weekend pass with access to all Fungi Fest events, with discounts available for seniors, students and U.S. military service members.
Individual day passes are also available on Saturday and Sunday for $125 plus fees for adults, and “build your schedule” ticketing options are available for those who only want to pay to attend certain workshops or speaker presentations. To view ticket pricing options, visit https://tinyurl.com/23nx4vea.
Proceeds benefit the Pinchot Partners Forest Collaborative — a local nonprofit focused on bringing together different perspectives to discuss and create projects in the region incorporating the fundamental principles of ecosystem management, according to its website. To learn more, visit https://www.pinchotpartners.org/about.
