By Stacee Sledge
The Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival celebrates its fifth year at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey. Want to sample great eats and learn more about these fabulous fungi? Head on over Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Corey Lopardi is the chair of this year’s festival and also the president-elect of the Hawks Prairie Rotary, the event’s major sponsor.
“There’s something for everybody,” he says of the popular festival, which includes loads of mushroom-related educational and sampling opportunities for adults, but also a cavalcade of fun kids activities.
“Our Kids Zone has balloon twisters, dance groups, martial arts, alpacas, horse rides, rope mazes, bounce houses, face painting, and more,” he says. “We also bring in a replica car, the Tow Mater, from the Cars movie and the Lost Boys Pirates.”
“A lot of events have beer gardens, but we have a root beer garden for the kids,” says Lopardi. “Typically, the weather is really hot, so you’ll get to enjoy a root beer float.”
Two giant vendor tents round up handmade crafts, food, antiques, and more, giving festivalgoers plenty to peruse. Food vendors, unless they’re providing a dessert, are required to offer a mushroom dish.
One of the biggest draws of the festival is ongoing cooking demonstrations, which take place both days, bringing together an array of talented chefs from all over the Pacific Northwest, including Chef Amadeus (the winner of last year’s Food Network Extreme Chef Cooking Competition), Thierry Rautureau (the Seattle restaurateur also known as the Chef In The Hat), Dan Theissen, Cynthia Nims, and Leanne Willard.
Willard, director of Olympia’s Bayview School of Cooking, is looking forward to her second year cooking for the festival crowds and offering samples of delicious mushroom dishes.
“It was a really fun experience,” Willard says of last year’s event. “Ostrom’s supplies us with mushrooms and we bring recipes and do our thing.”
Last year, she whipped up mushroom thyme crostini, penne with wild mushrooms, and a mushroom salad with mint, which was unusual for using raw mushrooms, thinly sliced.
This year, Willard will whip up all new mushroom-themed fare, including mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese and sprinkled with a rosemary crumb on top. To hear all about her other dishes (and enjoy a taste!), you’ll have to go see her at the festival.
“People love to sit there and listen to what you have to say, because they get the goodies afterward,” Willard says with a laugh.
Details on all the chefs attending this year’s festival are available at the Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival website.
“We also have Cisco Morris who has been with us every year,” says Lopardi.
Last year, the festival saw over 8,000 people in attendance. Lopardi expects 10,000 this year.
Large crowds mean more money raised for charity, such as local preschools, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and backpacks for homeless children. Funds are dispersed through the Hawks Prairie Rotary.
“It’s great way for us not only to raise funds for our charitable donations but the festival in itself is a donation to the city and Thurston County,” says Lopardi. “It’s nice to be able to give back and we can do that financially, but also by putting on a fun family event.”
The City of Lacey and the Rotary Club of Hawks Prairie are the festival’s main sponsors, but many other organizations lend a helping hand, from Ostrom Mushroom Farms, Mixx 96, The Olympian, Pardiman Productions, and nearly two dozen more.
Ostrom Mushroom Farm, located directly across the street from the festival, offers tours for just $5 per person, with a limit of 30 people per tour. As this reporter can attest, the tours are informative and downright fascinating to any mushroom-lover.
“Both days we do two or three tours,” says Fletcher Street, Ostrom’s Director of Marketing and Sales. “It’s really interesting because it’s something different.”
A shuttle will take tour goers across the street, where Ostrom’s Food Safety Manager, Joe Cosare, will lead them on an enlightening tour.
“They’ll see the compost area and gain an understanding of what we have to do to actually grow the mushrooms, which involves less about sunlight and dirt and more about making compost and how we control the environment to promote the growth of the mycelium and then the fruiting of the mushroom,” Street explains.
“We also put a tray of mushrooms outside and show them how we pick and sort, and then they’ll see the packaging and shipping facility,” she continues. “They get a beginning-to-end idea of how we grow the mushrooms.”
Street suggests tour goers wear sturdy walking shoes. “Don’t wear your dress shoes,” she says with a laugh, “because it’s a working farm.”
General admission tickets on either day of the festival are just $5, and come with a collectible festival button. Children under 12 years of age are free.
And due to popular demand, this year’s festival introduces the first Mushroom & Wine Event, Saturday night at Lacey’s Harmony Hall from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include seven tastings of Washington wines paired with delectable mushroom hors d’oeuvres, plus live music, dancing, and a silent auction. Admission to both days of the festival is included in the price of the Saturday night event ticket.
Learn more about this year’s event and see photos of past festivals at www.pnwmushroomfest.com.
Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival
Regional Athletic Complex
8345 Steilacoom Road SE in Lacey
Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29
