Mushroom Festival
Mission:
The Mission of The Mushroom Festival is to promote the mushroom, educate consumers about the health benefits of mushrooms and to promote tourism in Southern Chester County, all while financially supporting local and regional charities through a grant process.
About Us:
A small group of mushroom enthusiasts decided to have a festival to celebrate Kennett Square's number one cash crop with the hope of raising funds to give as scholarships to local high school students. In 1985 that became a reality as Kennett Square hosted its first Mushroom Festival. It was a one day affair and just one block long.
Twenty-eight years later the Festival stretches more than half a mile and features culinary events, growing exhibits, farm tours, children's entertainment, and nearly 200 vendors with attendance calculated at up to 100,000 guests.
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania has long been known as "The Mushroom Capital of the World," with more mushroom growing operations concentrated in the Southern Chester County area than any other area in the United States. Over 65 percent of the mushrooms consumed in the United States are grown right here!
The Mushroom Festival promotes our favorite crop, MUSHROOMS, Kennett Square and tourism in Southern Chester County. Over 100,000 visitors come from far and wide to experience our "Small Town America" Festival.
The Mushroom Festival is an all volunteer organization whose proceeds are distributed to a wide variety of charities and organizations benefiting the residents of Kennett Square and the surrounding communities. In addition to local non-profit organizations, we also support the City of Hope and its cancer research programs. From the 2012 Festival, $65,000 was given back to the community in the form of Mushroom Festival grants to local non-profit organizations. In total The Mushroom Festival has given over $500,000 back to the community in the last 10 years.
Our Festival is made possible by the generous financial support of our mushroom industry, and many businesses and organizations. We would like to sincerely thank them along with the businesses that have donated goods and services.
