Festival Photos

The Mushroom Festival through the years

The Mushroom Festival is celebrating its 36th year this year. During that time, the event has evolved into one of the best food festivals in the United States. It achieved this status by building on tradition, changing with the times, and always finding new ways to celebrate Kennett Square, the Mushroom Capital of the World.

Since we all missed the Mushroom Festival (and so many other things) in 2020, we thought we’d offer a photo essay that takes a look back at the Mushroom Festival through the years.

The Mushroom Festival started out as a small, one-day event in 1986. The idea at the time was to bring awareness to the mushroom industry and to Kennett Square. There were a lot of changes in the first few years of the festival. The name of the event changed. The location of the event changed. Organizers went through the process of finding out what worked, what didn’t, and what could be added to make the festival better.

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The Mushroom Festival through the years

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Like the Mushroom Festival, Kennett Square itself has changed a lot in the last 36 years. It goes without saying that the festival wouldn’t be a world-class event that it is today if it didn’t have a world-class hometown. The extraordinary evolution of the festival is mirrored by the extraordinary evolution of Kennett Square.

Once the festival started attracting larger crowds, organizers of the event made the decision to start allocating proceeds to dozens of nonprofit organizations that serve the community. With additional funding, these organizations are now able to provide assistance, guidance and opportunity to many more people.

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The Mushroom Festival through the years

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While the Mushroom Festival may have a serious purpose—to educate local residents and visitors about how mushrooms are grown and harvested, and about the nutritional value of mushrooms—the event is also all about the fun. Thousands of people look forward to the festival each and every year.

There are many different events and activities that the organizers carefully plan out to make sure that there is truly something for everyone to enjoy at the festival. We hope we’ve captured some of the fun of the festival on the pages of this photo essay, and we hope you enjoy the 2021 Mushroom Festival!