It started as a niche event with modest expectations: “I figured we’d get maybe three dozen people,” says Ryan Herrmann, longtime retail manager at Everything Mushrooms. “And like 300 showed up. People drove from around the region. In mushroom costumes.”
That was year one.
Now entering its fourth year, the Knoxville Mushroom Festival returns Saturday, May 31, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Everything Mushrooms. It’s free to attend and promises “a day of mycology miscellany.”
Whether you’re a curious cook, backyard cultivator or full-blown mycophile, the festival has something for everyone. Local growers Extraterrestrial Fungi, Green Yams and River’s Ridge Farms will be on hand with fresh mushrooms. Program highlights include speakers from Mossy Creek Mushrooms and Blue Ridge Chaga Connection, as well as a shiitake log inoculation demonstration by educator Jeffrey Collins-Key and a deep dive into monotub growing from Everything Mushrooms’ own Grendel McCabe.
Food vendors include SoKno Sourdough, Frog Juice Kombucha and more, and nearby Sevier Avenue restaurants and bars will get in the spirit with mushroom-themed specials. Also on deck: dozens of vendors with mushroom-forward wares—ceramics, woodcarving, teas, tinctures and more. Plus, live music by Knox Honkers & Bangers community marching band.
Last year’s attendance was slightly dampened by 100+ degree heat, but this year’s forecast is friendlier—and interest is up.
“There are like 2,700 people marked ‘interested’ on the Facebook page,” Herrmann says. “Even if a quarter of those show up … bananas.” (At time of publication, the number was up to 3.1K.)
Founded 14 years ago by Bob Hess and the late BJ Brock, the shop originally operated near Central and Broadway before planting its flag in South Knoxville. The retail storefront shares space with the shop’s lab, where they produce a range of edible mushroom cultures and spawn for home growing.
“When I first started here nine years ago, I wasn’t interested in mushrooms at all,” Herrmann says. “And within a year, it had taken over my entire brain. There’s just so much to learn.”
While the shop once did most of its business online, that’s no longer the case. “It used to be like 90% shipping,” Herrmann said. “Now it’s at least half walk-in, maybe more. People come in, and they know what they’re looking for. They already know how to do it. It’s wild.”
Interest in mushrooms has steadily grown, thanks to greater exposure and education, social media and documentaries like Fantastic Fungi. Once seldom-sampled species like Lion’s Mane or Chicken of the Woods now appear on local restaurant menus.
Herrmann advises beginners interested in wild mushroom foraging to start slow and stay smart. A reliable field guide is a must, though there are some handy apps now too.
“There are a handful that are super safe and easy to ID—and they’re the ones worth eating anyway,” he said. “Chicken of the Woods, Hen of the Woods, Lion’s Mane, Chanterelles, Morels. Those don’t have dangerous look-alikes. And there’s at least one for every season.”
Alternatively, you can just grow your own with supplies from Everything Mushrooms. A menu of available grow kits, plugs, spawn blocks and cultures is sprawling, including Shitake, Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Chicken of the Woods, Hen of the Woods, Lion’s Mane, Pioppino, Wine Cap, Enoki, Landscape Black Morel and six different varieties of Oyster.
“Mushrooms feel like they’re not from here,” Herrmann says. “There’s something very strange about them. They’re kind of creepy, but also fascinating. I think that’s part of the appeal.”
Know Before You Go
What: Knoxville Mushroom Festival
Where: Everything Mushrooms (1004 Sevier Ave.) View a parking map for the Sevier Avenue corridor here.
When: Saturday, May 31, from 3 to 7 p.m.
Learn more https://everythingmushrooms.com.