The 43rd Morgan Hill Mushroom Festival, formerly known as Mushroom Mardi Gras, will take place May 25-26 in the city’s downtown.
The festival will take place throughout the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center’s grounds, and surrounded by a temporary fence. The site encompasses the CCC amphitheater and lawn, as well as the facility’s parking lot and Gavilan College and Community Playhouse buildings.
Festival hours are 10am-7pm May 25 and 10am-6pm May 26.
Entry to this year’s festival costs $20 for general admission; $17 for seniors and those who serve in the military; and $35 for a two-day pass. Children age 15 and under get in for free.
The festival’s organizer, the nonprofit Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, Inc., uses revenue from the event to provide scholarships to local students and grants for nonprofits, schools and youth groups. Over the last 42-plus years, the festival has awarded about $1.5 million in scholarships and more than $550,000 to local nonprofits, school groups and youth sports.
Visitors to this year’s festival will enjoy shopping at scores of arts and crafts and retail booths; gourmet food vendors, many producing mushroom-inspired dishes; beer and wine gardens; live music performances on two stages, including the CCC amphitheater; chef demonstrations; a mushroom expo; and strolling entertainment.
The festival’s Mushroom Exhibition will offer chef demonstrations, vendors and educational exhibits focusing on the fungi that have made Morgan Hill the Mushroom Capital of the Western U.S.
The event’s 2024 entertainment lineup includes “Hotel California, Eagles Original Tribute Band” as well as San Francisco dance and party band “The Party Starters.”
For more information and to purchase tickets in advance, visit the festival’s website at morganhillmushroomfestival.org.
Are they hiring people
Could a more boring name have been chosen for this event? Mushroom Mardi Gras was catchy and had a unique identity. Mushroom Festival is a big yawn. Also, charging $20 admission for an event that’s always been free to attend, especially in this economy? Sorry, I’m out and am very disappointed.
I live across the street from this event and wasn’t able to take my family this year due to the $20 per person entrance fee.