Festival will grow on you

By Lachlan Ellis

With all the events and festivals held in Moorabool, you might think there wasn’t ‘mush-room’ for more – but a new festival will be held in Ballan in April.

The Moorabool Mushroom Festival will be held at the Mechanics Institute Reserve & Ballan Community House on April 15 and 16, and was made possible thanks to a grant from Moorabool Shire Council.

Run by not-for-profit community organisation MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology, the Moorabool Mushroom Festival will feature expert speakers, workshops, art displays, and more.

President of MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology, Ema Corro, said the Festival would complement the range of festivals already held in Moorabool, and provide something for everyone, not only those interested in mushrooms.

“Our group started about four years ago. We’re sort of a citizen science group, we do a lot of workshops, mushroom growing and foraging, things like that…but we also do citizen science, teaching people to identify and record mushrooms. We also do some more complex scientific work, like looking at eDNA and things like that,” Ms Corro told the Moorabool News.

“At the Festival we’ll have a pretty wide variety of speakers, people from scientific backgrounds but also foragers and experts in mycology, hands-on workshops, hopefully a marketplace and exhibition as well. We’re hoping to get the community involved and make it a community event, so if anyone wants to get involved, they can contact us through our website.”

Moorabool Shire Mayor Cr Rod Ward said Council was proud to support the event.

“Council supported the Moorabool Mushroom Festival through its Community Grants Program in the August 2022 round of funding, with a $3,000 grant awarded to the not-for-profit community organisations MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology,” Mayor Cr Ward said.

“The event will increase awareness of environmental sustainability, encourage community capacity building through science and environmental education, and increase community connection through participation in social activities, with the aim of establishing an annual event for the community to enjoy.”

For more information and to express your interest in attending, running a stall, being part of the art exhibition, speaking at the event or running a workshop, head to myco.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/45355.