In celebration of mushroom foraging in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, the 2nd Annual South Beach Mushroom Festival took place on Saturday at Grayland Community Hall.
This event gained traction by creating a theme for vendors to be intertwined into their handcrafted works — fungi, of course. This made the entire day feel cohesive, as sellers were able to show their work with a special touch to match the setting. With some of the vendors attending bringing their kids along to the event, it made for a family-friendly time. Food was available from Mr.Taco, serving fresh Mexican food. This event was hosted and organized by Erin Muir-Holerud, owner of Grayland Beach Outfitters, and sponsored by Windermere Westport, which was drawing each hour to win a prize, including a large mushroom called “king boletes,” otherwise known as a “penny bun.”
“My friend Barbara Smith, who runs the Quinault Rainforest Mushroom Festival, helped me immensely, and we put it on, and it was such a great event that we’ve decided to continue it,” said Muir-Holerud. “The event is sponsored by Windermere in Westport. And Abra (with Lichen Foraging) has been our little superstar. Her display was very educational. As it grows, we’d really like to see it become more educational, even though it was a vendor market. I couldn’t have done it without all of the help from this great community. That’s how you make a difference, if your guests get involved and you know what’s going on in your community. It’s got a long history, we call (Grayland) the Mayberry of the coast.”
Foraging is hard work, and the information you need to retain, and the eye you must have for hunting mushrooms in the woods, has to be keen.
Leading the foraging group on Sunday was Abra Lynn McMullen, an artist vendor and owner of Lichen Foraging, a group tour service that teaches new skills and connects you to the outdoors. The price range is $60-85, and the tours last from noon to 2 p.m. on weekend days for the next few months.
“I forage and do art on the side, and I love the mushroom festivals. I love being able to be in my element and be around other people that share the same interests that I do, and sharing the information that I have learned over the years is amazing to me,” McMullen said. “Foraging is a little bit of everything; it’s connected with nature, and it is something that I’ve always loved. It brings me back to childhood and foraging with my grandfather, but it is also terrific to know about foraging skills, not just with mushrooms, but with plants, herbs and different berries, so you can live off the land and have medicine from the land.”
Though the South Beach Mushroom Festival is a newer event, the idea of bringing in vendors, local mycologists providing educational facts, and scheduling tours to learn how to forage or simply do so as a group meant local hobbyists and enthusiasts had a place to turn the earth for the Grayland festival.
