Annual Memorial Day weekend festival celebrates fungi

Published in the May 11-25, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE MARDI GRAS

By Lauren Newcomb

Festival-goers enjoy stroll through booths of vendors during last year's Mushroom Mardi Gras.  Morgan Hill Life file photo

Festival-goers enjoy stroll through booths of vendors during last year’s Mushroom Mardi Gras.
Morgan Hill Life file photo

The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras has been transforming Memorial Day weekend for 37 years into a veritable festival of music, food, arts and entertainment, all in the celebration of the fun fungi and to raise scholarships for local students. Seeing that Morgan Hill is the “Mushroom Capital of the Western United States,” the cuisine and kids combo perfectly fits the festival’s theme.

Festival-goers will browse a variety of vendors showcasing ‘shroom souvenirs and other items. They’ll also expand their knowledge at a mushroom educational exhibit as well as culinary demonstrations by celebrity chefs. Two stages of live entertainment are sure to satisfy a wide range of musical tastes, including dance music, country and blues, as well as the tunes of local bands.

“We try to make it a family-fun festival,” said Sunday Minnich, executive director of the Mushroom Mardi Gras for the past 12 years. “We have everything from things for the adults to do, which includes live entertainment and plenty of shopping, to Munchkin Land for the kids, which has rides, games and kids attractions.”

Photo by Marty Cheek

Photo by Marty Cheek

Other attractions include pony rides and a petting zoo, as well as a rock-climbing wall, “Eurobungy” trampolines, and a Spider Zone, which are sure to appeal to kids and teens alike.

While walking among the various vendor booths, festival-goers might encounter the Disney characters Anna and Elsa, of the hit film “Frozen” Saturday, and Aladdin and Jasmine, of “Aladdin” Sunday. The boy from Neverland, Peter Pan, will also be present, handing out balloons and taking pictures with kids. The Mushroom Mardi Gras’s very own mascot, Mardi the Mushroom, will also be happy to pose for selfies.

The Mushroom Mardi Gras is the second largest event in Santa Clara County, drawing 70 to 80 thousand visitors during its two days. (The Gilroy Garlic Festival held for three days in July last year saw 95,095 guests, according to that festival’s website.)

“I love it because it’s a great event, and it’s for a good cause,” Minnich said. “The majority of the funds we raise go to scholarships for high school seniors to further their education.”

Photos by Marty Cheek  (Left)Acrobatic stilt-walker pair Tangeled Threads entertain the crowd at this year’s Mushroom Mardi Gras festival.  (Above) Erica Clarkson, visiting the Mardi Gras from Belmont, dances with Morgan Hill resident Maya Delacruz, age 6.

Photo by Marty Cheek

It also provides many grants to the elementary and middle schools in the MHUSD, and monetary donations to school groups and clubs that help with the festival.

This year, the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras is giving 55 scholarships to high school seniors: 25 to Sobrato, 25 to Live Oak, three to Central, and two to the community adult school.

“We have a special scholarship this year in memory and honor of our founding father, Brad Spencer, who died in July,” Minnich said. “The Brad Spencer Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to one deserving individual from Sobrato and one from Live Oak.”

In 1980, Spencer was chief of the Morgan Hill Fire Department which, because of city budget cuts, desperately needed to raise funds for fire services. After being inspired by the Dickens Christmas Fair in South San Francisco, Spencer organized the Mushroom Mardi Gras.

“After a few years, the city contracted with a different fire department and they decided to continue the festival, but with 100 percent of the proceeds going to education and scholarships,” Minnich said.

A new event for this year, the Mushroom Mayhem Kids Cooking Contest, will take place at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Teams of high school students from Live Oak, Sobrato, Central, and Oakwood will participate in the contest where they will get culinary creative and make-up a dish based on mushroom ingredients. Local chefs will judge the outcome for taste and presentation.

Photos by Marty Cheek  Alivia Irvine (left), 5, and Trinity Lucero, 8, learn about mushrooms at the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill’s mushroom education booth. Mary Seehafer and Tim Hennessey share a Mansmith steak sandwich at the Mardi Gras.

Photo by Marty Cheek

Another new attraction at this year’s festival is a premium wine tasting event as a separate, ticketed event held Saturday and Sunday starting at 11 a.m. “Twenty-five dollars will buy 12 tastings in an elegant, private setting with a tent, cocktail tables and seating, and a souvenir wine glass,” Minnich said.

Moving indoors this year into the Community and Cultural Center is the Mushroom Expo. The Morgan Hill FFA group is managing the Expo, and it’s sponsored by the Western Mushroom Marketing Association, which provides the display for people to learn about how mushrooms are grown.

“Also moving indoors are the cooking demonstrations, so the chefs can provide samples to the people who come and watch the event,” Minnich said.

The live entertainment will take place on two stages. The amphitheater will serve as the Mardi Gras Stage Saturday where headliner Take 2 will perform. The Mardi Gras hosts KJ All Stars: The Experience Sunday.

“Both of them play high energy dance music, so hopefully they’ll get people out on the dance floor,” she said.

Morgan Hill Life file photo The Bay Area All Stars Band rocks the house at the Mushroom Mardi Gras this year. They will perform at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 26 at the Downtown Amphitheater.

Morgan Hill Life file photo

The second stage, known as the Depot Stage, will host local bands and entertainment, one of which is a Heart tribute band. Sunday, a few local kids groups will be doing demonstrations in between bands, such as a gymnastic demonstration by the Little Gym of Morgan Hill.

There will be a special artists’ area in the parking lot of the Community Center with booths filled solely with special handcrafted gift and décor items and works of art. Of the 300 vendors at the festival, about 120 of them are arts and crafts vendors. The rest are composed of food vendors and market booths, as well as the home improvement and school groups that are part of the business expo.

With Memorial Day Weekend fast approaching, any individuals or businesses that want to be sponsors are encouraged to contact Minnich. “Sponsors help keep the festival free and family fun,” she said, “and that’s all we want, for people to have a great experience at our free festival.”