The 47th annual Mushroom Fair at the Arcata Community Center on Sunday attracted another packed house of fungi fanatics or mycophiles (lovers or devotees of mushrooms), foragers or mycophagists (persons who actively seek out and gather mushrooms for food), and mycologists (mycology is the scientific study of fungi). There also might have been a mycotoxicologist (a scientist who studies toxins produced by mushrooms) in the room, as well as an ethnomycologist (a scientist who studies historical cultural uses of fungi as food, medicine, hallucinogens and other things).
“You can see the joy in everyone’s face,” said Mandy Hackney, board president of the Humboldt Bay Mushroom Society, who was wearing a huge handmade Strawberries and Cream mushroom hat (Hydenellum peckii). “Mushrooms are for everyone.”
Many attendees were there looking for help with mushroom identification — that important first step before eating one that you find. Mushroom identification expert Noah Siegel, co-author of Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast who returned for his 14th HBMS Mushroom Fair, offered this succinct advice during his presentation on “Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast.” He said, “Learn to identify the seven mushroom species that would kill you … and don’t eat them.” Because some poisonous mushroom species have several lookalikes, he stressed that no one should ever eat a mushroom unless they are completely certain of the identification.
The floor of the community center was covered with tables displaying more than 350 species of mushrooms. “We try to cover a range of Humboldt habitats, such as redwood forest, grasslands, dunes, tanoak forest, landscaped areas and mixed conifer forest,” said HBMS board member and fair organizer Kendall Williams. “The variety of habitats is what allows us to produce such a large and diverse display.
“A few years ago, HBMS members voted to pay yearly honor taxes to the Wiyot, Yurok, Karuk, Hupa and Wailaki tribes as acknowledgment of the lands where we collect for the fair and appreciation for those who continue to steward these lands since time immemorial,” said Williams.
In case you wondered what happens to the displayed mushrooms after the fair, Williams said it depends on the species. “Some large or dried specimens belong to longtime members and return to their educational collections. Edible mushrooms usually go home with the members who brought them. The mushroom dye artist selects what she can use, and the rest are composted.”
At the toxic (“some mushrooms make you sick”) mushroom species table, volunteer Joann Olson, founding member of HBMS, had this warning: “The deadly Death Cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides) was first identified in Humboldt County two years in Shelter Cove, likely arriving with imported landscape plants. My daughter Rebecca Twist has also collected a small one from a planter box in Eureka the last two years.”
Siegel said Death Cap mushrooms are considered an invasive species and are slowly creeping up the coast from the Bay Area to Humboldt County.
“Every year we see a huge range of mushrooms that people bring for identification at the mushroom identification table,” said Williams. “Some arrive in boxes or paper bags, some still attached to a chunk of lawn, and some are backyard curiosities that have been growing out of a fence or a planter. We hear questions that range from ‘Is this edible?’ to ‘Should I be worried that this is growing in my yard?’ This aspect of the fair is always fun because it shows how curious people are about the fungi they encounter in everyday life.”
In his deep dive “The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen,” a presentation on mushroom edibility, chef Chad Hyatt covered what makes a mushroom good to eat and how to bring out the best flavors while cooking with wild mushrooms. The Bay Area chef, who has a new cookbook by the same title, offered freshly prepared samples of mushroom ceviche, huitlacoche (corn smut) spread, chantarelle cream of mushroom soup, mushroom-based muhammara dip and a tarta de Sandiago (almond cake with candied mushrooms).
“We were also excited to finally host speaker Sara Calvosa Olson after her talk was canceled last year due to travel problems due to weather,” said Williams. “Her work centers around Indigenous food sovereignty and ethical land stewardship, which we feel are essential topics in any conversation about foraging and mushroom culture. We want to broaden the dialogue about responsible harvesting and care for the ecosystems we rely on.”
Calvosa Olson, who grew up in Salyer and Hoopa, first shared how recipes drawn from her Karuk and Italian heritage were blended into her collection of seasonal recipes in her 2023 cookbook Chími Nu’am: Northern California Foodways for the Contemporary Kitchen. She then covered the history of the displacement and criminalization of traditional food gathering. She next contrasted the positive aspects of traditional Indigenous food gathering with the often negative extractive aspects of “foraging” by nonlocals with no relationship or kinship to the people who live in the location.
Her advice to those doing “foraging” included: “Be aware of the history and people living where you are foraging, and engage with those people. Leave an offering in thanks for what you gather. Stop the spread of invasive pathogens, flora and fauna.”
The fair also featured a Mushroom Patch Making workshop by Anastasia Antimony using second-hand fabric, the usual presentation by Levon Durr of Fungaia Farm on cultivating your own mushrooms on logs, as well asfood trucks, a Food for People food-drive raffle, a kid’s scavenger hunt and a small vendor hall that consisted mostly of HBMS members. “Last year, we received nearly 100 vendor applications for fewer than 10 spots, and we are committed to keeping the vendor selection focused,” said Williams. “The food drive has been extremely successful, and it is important to us to support other local nonprofits during the holiday season.”
For more information, visit the HBMS website at hbmycologicalsociety.org and follow on Facebook (@HumboldtBayMycologicalSociety) and Instagram (@hbmycologicalsociety).
Mark Larson (he/him) is a retired Cal Poly Humboldt journalism professor and active freelance photographer who likes to walk.
This article appears in Holiday Gift Guide 2025.