By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com
YACHATS — After a two-year, Covid-imposed hiatus, the Yachats Mushroom Festival returns Friday for a three-day run that’s expected to draw considerable numbers of fungi-lovers.
Mycology experts from around the state are participating in the event, which includes educational talks, guided walks, workshops and mushroom identification tables.
“This is a great opportunity to come out for lots of free sessions,” said Regina Moore, a festival organizer and pharmacist who has lived in Yachats for 10 years. “We are very excited to be able to resume this wonderful event.”
Only a few weeks ago, it was far from unclear whether the festival had the financial backing it needed for success, Moore said. But sponsorship from businesses, including Yachats Brewing, and help from the Yachats Chamber of Commerce, paved the way for what will be the festival’s 21st staging.
All eight of the festival’s guided walks, which can each accommodate 12 people, have already been booked on the festival’s website, yachatsmushroomfestival.com. Moore said two additional walks will now be added for those who sign up onsite.
Festival events will be held at multiple spots around Yachats, starting with a free, guided night walk at 6 p.m. Friday to spot fluorescent species.
Educational presentations will unfold all day Saturday at the Yachats Community Presbyterian Church on West Seventh Street. Identification tables will be set up Saturday and Sunday at the Yachats Lions Hall on West Fourth Street.
Bobbi Price, the Yachats Chamber of Commerce’s new executive director, said she hopes the event generates sufficient momentum to keep it going in years ahead.
“It looked for a while like it would be difficult to pull the festival off even this year,” Price said. “But it’s such a great opportunity to draw people to Yachats in what is the off-season for tourism to make this a permanent part of what we do.”
A number of area restaurants are participating by offering a special selection of mushroom-featured dinners. In addition, the Yachats Farmers Market will be open both Saturday and Sunday, featuring many mushroom-oriented vendors.
Five screenings of “Psychedelia” – an hour-long document about psychedelic drugs and their new resurgence in psychiatry – will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Yachats Commons.
“This whole experience is really about providing information about mushrooms that will interest anyone from a beginner to an expert,” Moore said. “There’s a lot going on.”
For a full schedule and details, go the Yachats Mushroom Festival website here
