Maine has lobsters. Wisconsin has cheese. Chicago has pizza.
Kennett Square, for its part, has blessed the nation with mushrooms. Lots and lots of mushrooms.
The borough’s cash crop will be on full display this weekend, as The Mushroom Capital of the World will swell to a population almost 20 times larger than usual for the 31st Annual Mushroom Festival.
More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the two-day event, from Sept. 10-11, to enjoy food, art, live music, and a variety contests.
Speaking of contests, the National Fried Mushroom Eating Contest Presented by Buona Foods (of nearby Landenberg) is the most-visited event of the weekend.
Indeed, what hot dogs have become to Coney Island on the Fourth of July is what mushrooms are to Kennett Square the weekend after Labor Day.
On Saturday, professional eaters and aspiring amateurs will square off, testing their “gastronomical boundaries,” writes Carla Lucas for the Festival’s website. “The electric atmosphere of the frenzied fungus followers will hit an all-time high when the food warriors start their eight-minute fury of feeding.”
The fan-favorite event is up for grabs this year. Molly Schuyler, a pro and the contest’s winner the last three years, will not be in attendance, much to her chagrin.
The 5-foot-7, 125-pound mother of four, a resident of California, owns the world record, set in 2014, by downing 11.5 pounds of fried mushrooms. Schuyler is also a two-time champion of Philadelphia’s Wing Bowl (2014, 2016).
Fortunately for the other contestants, her slender, albeit intimidating specter won’t loom menacingly over the competition this year.
“I’m really disappointed; I’m going to miss not being there,” Schuyler told VISTA Today. “As a competitive eater, you sometimes have to eat a lot of disgusting things, like pig brains, so you get excited any time a contest involves eating something you like. And I love fried mushrooms. They’re delicious.”
In addition to an overall champion, a local champion – he/she must reside within 15 miles of Kennett Square – will be crowned for the first time ever.
Schuyler’s advice to those challenging her mushroom-eating supremacy?
“Don’t chew,” she said. “You won’t have enough time.”
Another Saturday event is the Antique and Classic Car show. Also, special Sunday events include the Soup and Wine Fest and the Mushroom Run and Fun Gus Walk.
There are cooking demonstrations, the Growers’ Exhibit, entertainment and rides for children, the Painted Mushroom Silent Auction, and the Old Fashioned Carnival on both days of the Festival.
New this year, the Amateur Mushroom Cook-Off is a qualifying event of the World Food Championships. The winner of the Amateur Mushroom Cook-Off will win a Golden Ticket to compete in the World Food Championships in November.
Be sure to drop by the Cute-As-A-Button (Mushroom) Baby Photo Contest and drop some pocket change to vote for your favorite photos. All proceeds will benefit the A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital this year.
Once the Street Fair closes on Saturday evening, the Special Events Tent opens for a special Christine Havrilla and Mason Porter concert.
Louise D’Amico, whose support of the Festival throughout the last 30 years has helped make the event what it is today, is this year’s Honorary Chair.
As it has in the past, D’Amico’s family’s business, ToJo Mushrooms, will have its trucks throughout the Festival filled with mushrooms from all of the area’s growers and ready for guests to take home.
In April, the Mushroom Festival presented grants to 47 local organizations at the Grant Recipients Reception at the Kennett Square Inn. The ceremony and check presentation was the culmination of the previous year’s Festival, and it kicked off this year’s event. The Festival awarded $85,000 in grants and donations, bringing its total awards to $805,000 since 2000.
Click here for details, schedules, a brochure, and map of the 31st Annual Mushroom Festival.
