Fairbanks, Alaska, is preparing for a mushroom-packed weekend, with the free-to-attend Fairbanks Fungi Festival on August 23 – 25.
On the build-up, there will be two events on Friday, 23. There will be an Alaska fungi lecture at UAF Murie Auditorium at 7 pm. There will also be guided lichen walks for beginners with Celia Hampton-Miller on Murphy Dome. This will be followed up on Saturday with Celia’s guided lichen walks for intermediates on the 24th!
The weekend kicks off on the 24th with two mushroom forays led by mycologist Gary Laursen. Each foray will last three hours, with a donation of $10 requested to fundraise for the festival. The forays will go ahead, rain or shine, and most fungi collected will be used at the festival education tables!
The main events will take place on the 25th at Ester Community Park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The festival will be launched with special performances by the Dene’ Eslaanh Dance Group at 11 am and is far too good to miss!
At 11:15, children are encouraged to meet at the welcome table in Ester Park for the Children’s Mushroom Foray, where they will head out on a fungi adventure trail. Kids are also invited to join in with arts and crafts all day at the craft and games tent. There will be four fungi games, two craft stations, and activities at the Folk School booth.
At noon, mycologist Christin Swearingen will share her vast knowledge of Interior Alaska fungi at the Mushroom Collection display. She will also explain how to successfully identify mushrooms to their correct taxonomic groups and point out the edible and poisonous mushrooms in the area.
Be sure to prepare your best mushroom wear, because at 1 pm there will be a costume contest on the main stage! It is open to all ages, and there will be prizes for the best mushroom-based outfit!
Aspiring gardeners should be sure to head to the mushroom cultivation workshop at 2 pm to learn about growing mushrooms for food all year round.
At 3 pm, Happy Trails will be playing funky, fun, and danceable music on the big stage for everyone to come along and dance.
At 4 pm, the Fairbanks Ladies of Wrestling have planned a fungi-themed match, with costumes just for the festival, that no one will want to miss!
But what about all-day activities?
Well, you’ll have to check out the Fungi Identification Display, which showcases all the mushrooms in the Fairbanks area, sorted and identified by Mycologists. All mushrooms are sorted by mushroom shape, and feel free to bring along a mushroom to compare and get identified!
Over thirty mushroom-related small businesses will sell their wares, including dry morels, crochet mushrooms, mushroom growing kits, harvest baskets, pottery, jewelry, and more. And if all that retail therapy makes you hungry, visit some of the food trucks, some of which have designed unique mushroom-based dishes for you to try!
We wish every attendant at the Fairbanks Fungi Fest a fun-filled day and hope you come away with a newfound appreciation for all things fungi!
