The 6th Annual Cumberland Fungus Fest is coming – Oct 2-5, 2025
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
Fungus Fun All Weekend
Admission ($50 for adults and $25 for 18 & under)
Includes exclusive access to register for guided walks as of September 19th!
Saturday Oct 4
9-11am
Harmonic Arts, outside
Kids Fungus Painting Party with Vancouver Island Regional Library
9am
Lower Cultural Centre
“So, You Want to Eat Wild Mushrooms…”
An excellent primer with Kent Brothers
9-11am
Big Tent
Fungus Lino Printing with Dawn Copeman
Drop-in & Learn to make your own lino block with a fungus fest theme and print away! Drop in Activity
10am
Lower Cultural Centre
Yabai! The Shadow Culture of Mushrooms in Japan
Did you know that psilocybin mushrooms were legally and openly sold in Japan until 2002? A recent business trip to Japan led David to an unexpected investigation into the elusive and enigmatic history of mushroom culture in Japan. Yabai!
11am
Magic Under the Trees
Making Morels
Fungus Clay Fun making Morel pendants with RootZ
11am
Lower Cultural Centre
Microbial Ecology: The Hidden Wildfires of Strathcona Park We Never Talk About
Join life-long, award-winning naturalist, Loys Maingon, for this fascinating look at the hidden life of the treasured park.
11am
Big Tent
Origami Party + Intro to Mushroom ID with Erin Feldman and Heather Soo
Make some mushrooms, learn some basic ID and then head out for a walk in the field with this fungus knowledge holders!
Additional Registration Required
(pass holders will be emailed registration links)
9am
The 3 Meter Guided Walk with Andy MacKinnon
How far will we get? How many amazing fungi will we find along the way? Join Andy for this Saturday morning foray into the lower reaches of the Cumberland Forest.
9:30 am
The Cumberland Forest Bio Blitz with Jenn Laing
All Ages Welcome. Children without festival passes welcome. * There is no extra fee for this event, however space is limited so reserved ticket is requested.
10am
Mushroom ID 101 with Vail Paterson
Learn all about mushroom ID, how to do it, what tools are the most useful, and how to contribute to the MycoMap BC project. Perfect walk for beginners!
10:30am
Guided WALK with Heather Scott & Erik Hrabovsky
Heather Scott of Halcyon Wild Foods and Erik Hrabovsky – What makes a forest mushrooooomy? Explore the “Echoes in the Ecosphere” and learn more about ecosystem biodiversity.
11am
GUIDED WALK EcoSystem Decoding with Erik Piikkila
Join Erik to decode ecosystems past and present on Mama Bears Trail of Tears. We will the explore the legacy of logging and the rich 2nd growth ecosystems that surround the historic Village of Cumberland.
11am
Guided Photography Walk with Yellow Petal Photos
Slow down and see this moment in time. Whether you’re using a DSLR, smartphone, or a simple point-and-shoot, the workshop is about being present and curious, not being perfect.
Bring along your camera (or phone), and any personal tools that resonate with your creative or spiritual practice — like a journal, oracle cards, or light-refracting objects. Every workshop is co-created with the energy of those who attend.
*** There is no extra fee for this event, however space is limited so reserved ticket is requested.
NOON
Magic Under the Trees
Foragers Tea Party with RootZ
A fungus inspired tea-party where you’re invited to drink wildcrafted polypore teas! Curious detectives of all shapes and experiences are invited to listen for secrets that thrive within rooting wood, and taste their fruitful benefits. There’s mysteries to solve here that call our keenest senses into playful discovery ~ Although a tickle-trunk of costumes can be expected, all attending are welcome to arrive dressed up for such an occasion. Together, as curious mycophiles and mycelial-minding Forest guests, we celebrate through the songs, stories and the healing teas that connect us.
*Pack a travel mug/thermos to taste teas and bring your own snacks
NOON
Harmonic Arts
Real Mushrooms, Real Connection
Yarrow Willard of Harmonic Arts and master herbalist, shared his passion for natural world, medicinal mushrooms, and building community.
NOON
Lower Cultural Centre
Womens Health, Indigenous Medicine
Vanessa Sharkey of CorVee Foragers shares a wealth of wisdom and teachings.
NOON
Big Tent
Mother | Mycelium
An open discussion with Andi Grace Rose for those on the path of mothering: mamas, aunties, mothers to be, or anyone to whom the work of mothering resonates. We will discuss the ways our mothering is woven with mycelium. Do you forage with your children? Use fungi to support the health and well being of your family? Are you curious about microdosing while pregnant, breastfeeding or parenting? What has the forest taught you about motherhood and cultivating family? All lines of inquiry welcome.
1pm
Harmonic Arts
Psychedelics Panel hosted by Adrian Oberg
Adrian is a community consultant, counselor and co founder of the Victoria Association for Psychedelic Studies. Panel includes Amanita Allies, and others!
1pm
Lower Cultural Centre
Mark Worthing: Protect BC Fungi Now!
Without integration of Fungi in local and global conservation frameworks and targets we risk rendering both Canada’s National Determined Contributions (NDC’s) in global climate agreements and also our National Biodiversity Strategies (NBSAPs) and Action Plans Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework obsolete.
1pm
Big Tent
Better Left Standing
With Heather Scott. Reevaluating our standards towards resource extraction and the economic and non-economic values of leaving our forests standing.
Additional Registration Required
(pass holders will be emailed registration links)
NOON
GUIDED WALK w/Loys and Allison Maingon
Join Allison and Loys for a guided walk through the Japanese #1 Townsite and Perseverance Creek loop. Life-long naturalists and educators, Loys and Alison are hard-working volunteers dedicated to the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems.
12:30pm
Mushroom ID with Erin Feldman and Heather Soo
Intro to Mushroom ID in the field with Erin Feldman and Heather Soo. Uncover the secrets of the forest floor and more!
1pm
GUIDED WALK Fungi First Hand with Kent Brothers.
Experiencing fungi first hand with Kent Brothers. There’s only so much you can learn from print, video presentations, & AI chatbots.
1-4pm
Weird Church
Fungus Film Fest
Join us for this mini Film Festival as a part of the 6th annual Cumberland Fungus Festival hosted by the Cumberland Forest Society. Free for Weekend Pass Holders
Popcorn, drinks for sale and donations welcome to renovations and repairs.
1-1:05pm: “Mushrooms” (3.5 mins)
1:10 – 2:30 Fantastic Fungi (1 hr, 20 min)
2:40 – 2:55pm: “Those Wild Wild Mushrooms” (15mins)
3:05 – 4:00pm: “A New Understanding: the Science of Psilocybin” (54 mins)
Special thanks to our enthusiastic sponsors!
2pm
Big Tent
Partnering with Fungi
Erik Hrabovsky – How we can partner with fungi to save our forests, lands, place and water.
2:30pm
Lower Cultural Centre
What Mushrooms Have Taught Me About Therapy
with Adrian Oberg
2:30-6pm
Harmonic Arts
Spores, Baskets and Radial Woven Experiments
Facilitating Artist: Juliana Bedoya, Plants Are Teachers (plantsareteachers.org)
Some mushroom spores under a microscope look like tiny woven worlds. And some mushrooms or even spore prints can look like woven baskets.
Drawing inspiration from these living patterns, community-engaged environmental artist Juliana Bedoya leads a hands-on workshop weaving with ivy, broom, and other plants harvested in the Cumberland area. Participants will experiment with foundational principles and basketmaking techniques to create woven sculptural radial shapes or small baskets.
Along the way, we’ll reflect on how woven forms, like spores, carry intention, resilience, reciprocity, and seed connection across our shared and troubled world.
3pm
Big Tent
Foraging, Medicine and Indigenous Knowledge Traditions
with CorVee Foragers
3:30pm
Lower Cultural Centre
Fungi, Forests and More!
with Andy MacKinnon
4:30pm
Big Tent
Death Panel
Death, Dying, and Decomposition, Fungi and the Threshold
Additional Registration Required
(pass holders will be emailed registration links)
2pm
Field Sketching 101 with Lyndsay Fraser
Whether you’re hoping to improve your field sketching techniques, looking for an excuse to get back into art, or have never attempted to draw and are convinced you can’t, this workshop is for you! These drawing exercises will help you capture the important details of what you see; it’s not only fun, but these techniques can help you improve your ID skills too! All supplies provided, but feel free to bring your own pencils, paper, or sketch pads if you have them.
2pm
Guided Walk with Dawn Copeman
Join Cumberland Forest “Observationist in Residence”, slime sold and conk enthusiast and Village historian Dawn Copeman for a lively walk and talk in the beautiful Cumberland Forest
3pm
GUIDED WALK with Yarrow Willard,
Master Herbalist and owner of Harmonic Arts, shares his passion for natural world, medicinal mushrooms, and building community on a wander through the forest!
3:30pm
Guided WALK with Heather Soo
Discover the “Mycelium of Resilience” and explore the connections between forest health, carbon, and fungi!
4pm
GUIDED WALK Andy MacKinnon‘s Quest for Fungi!
It’s like a quest for fire, except it’s fungi, and it more of a saunter than a quest. But it will be filled with fabulous fungi facts and fancy!
EXTRA TICKET REQUIRED
5:30pm doors, bar and auction
6- 9pm event
Lower Cultural Centre
HARVEST DINNER & SQUARE DANCE!
Join the Cumberland Forest, LUSH Valley and the Western Family String Band for the annual Cumberland Forest Feast on Saturday October 4th at Buchanan Hall in Cumberland.
This locally sourced and skillfully prepared multi-course feast celebrates nature, farmers, growers, foragers, local bounty and community connection. The feast is omnivore but there are plenty of options for the vegetarians to enjoy!