Happenings in the Valleys
Fungi, Forays, and Fine Dining: The Eagle Mushroom & Wild Food Festival Returns August 21–23
There's a particular kind of magic that happens when late-summer rains hit the high country and the forest floor starts pushing up chanterelles, boletes, and the occasional prized porcini. For the past sixteen years, the Town of Eagle has celebrated that magic with the Eagle Mushroom & Wild Food Festival, and this year's edition — the 17th — arrives August 21–23 at Brush Creek Pavilion with new energy behind it. |
New Leadership, Same Legacy
If you've never made it to EMF, you're not alone — despite running since 2008, it's remained something of a well-kept local secret. That's starting to change. Last year, Hamilton's Mushrooms — led by Hamilton Pevec, president of the Western Colorado Mycological Association — took over as festival director, and the partnership is now official and ongoing. Pevec has described the timing as serendipitous: a chance to infuse new energy into a legacy event that locals have quietly loved for years without much fanfare. Expect that momentum to carry into 2026, with an "elevated" lineup and a noticeably bigger presence from Hamilton's team as speakers, foragers, and organizers. |
What's on the Schedule
The festival spreads across three days in and around Eagle, with something for total novices and seasoned mycophiles alike: |
Friday Meet & Greet at FOODsmith — free and open to all, with light bites, a specialty mocktail, and a chance to mingle with speakers and foray leaders before the weekend kicks off.
Guided Forays (Saturday & Sunday) — led by notable mycologists and foragers through the White River National Forest, hunting for whatever the season has produced.
Free Mushroom ID Tent, open noon to 8:30 daily — bring in your own foraged finds and get them identified by working mycologists.
Lecture Series & Pecha Kucha Talks — this year's programming digs into fungal biodiversity, myco-forestry, medicinal mushroom research, and even psilocybin science. Featured speakers include Britt A. Bunyard, editor of FUNGI Magazine, and Gabrielle Cerberville, the forager behind the viral @chaoticforager IG account.
Hands-On Workshops — cultivation, wild fermentation, wild-food cooking, and extraction techniques, for anyone who wants to take the knowledge home.
Funga Film Fest — a curated evening of mycology-themed short films (venue TBA).
Mycology Market Place — vendors and makers from across Colorado slinging mushrooms, grow supplies, art, and food, free and open all weekend.
The Culinary Highlights
For those who'd rather eat their mushrooms than identify them, two events stand out: |
FOODsmith Cooking Class with Allana Smith — a hands-on class making wild-mushroom dishes from scratch, followed by eating what you cook. Space is limited.
Wild Sage Culinary Experience — the festival's marquee dining event, a four-course wine-pairing dinner from Wild Sage Chef Kevin Nelson built entirely around foraged and cultivated fungi. This one's a perennial sellout.
The weekend wraps with a Family Pizza Night & Closing Party, a casual, kid-friendly send-off after three days of forest walks and fungal deep-dives. |
Good to Know
Space is limited for the forays, workshops, cooking class, and the Wild Sage dinner, so early ticket purchases are worth it if any of those are on your list. Tickets and the full schedule are available at EagleMushroomFest.com. |
Whether you're a lifelong forager or just mushroom-curious, EMF is a genuinely unique way to spend a late-summer weekend in the valley — equal parts science lecture, cooking class, and mountain celebration. |
EagleMushroomFest.com
