Kennett Square Mushroom Festival canceled for 2020

KENNETT SQUARE » For the first time in its history, the annual Kennett Square Mushroom Festival — scheduled this year for Sept. 12-13 — is canceled due to increasing safety concerns expressed by its board of directors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board’s decision to cancel this year’s festival coincides with the global cancellation of nearly all large-scale, highly-attended events of its kind around the world. Locally, however, Volunteer Executive Director Kathi Lafferty said that the decision to cancel this year’s festival also stemmed from the financial impact the virus is having on the local mushroom industry.

“The mushroom industry has been hurt significantly, so it was very difficult for us to ask for sponsor money from our friends in the industry,” Lafferty said. “We’ve also found out that the typical events that our vendors participate in have also been canceled, so although it was difficult, we came to the decision out of an abundance of caution for everyone’s health and safety — to just come back even stronger next year.”

The festival, which was to celebrate its 35th year in 2020, began in 1986 when a small group of mushroom enthusiasts wished to hold a public event to celebrate the impact of mushroom growing and mushroom product distribution in Kennett Square, which has long been known as “The Mushroom Capital of the World.”

From those beginnings, which encompassed a twoblock distance, the Mushroom Festival has grown to a milelong venue that draws an average of 100,000 visitors to Kennett Square on the weekend after Labor Day in September, as well as a full line-up of events, exhibits, contests, children’s entertainment and more than 250 vendors.