BC communities and organizations host many dozens of events over the course of a year, most of them in the autumn.
The majority of these events get listed, sooner or later, on the Fungi Events forum at the UBC Botanical Gardens site. Check this site regularly to find out where you can join others to learn about local mushrooms.
Also touch base with your local mushroom club or natural history club–these organizations often have informative presentations at their regular meetings. In Victoria, connect with SVIMS, the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society. In Vancouver, the place to meet up is VMS, the Vancouver Mycological Society.
We will list certain fungal events on these pages, especially those that involve the authors of Mushrooms of BC.
Will 2025 bring us lots of mushrooms? We hope so. But even if it doesn’t, there are lots of educational events on the docket.
The events that are past now have been pinked out. We’ll leave them visible, though, in case you want to query sites about 2025 plans.
The South Vancouver Island Mycological Society (SVIMS) will be sponsoring several speaker events and members-only forays in the fall of 2025. Watch for announcements on the SVIMS web site. The talks are on the first Thursday of each month at the Pacific Forestry Centre.
Strathcona Wilderness Institute Mycology Workshop, September 20-21, 2025. Andy will be one of the resource people.
Bamfield Fungus Fest, September 25-28, 2025. Andy will be a speaker and walk leader.
The Cumberland Community Forest Society hosts the Cumberland Fungus Fest on October 2-5, 2025. Andy will be a speaker and walk leader.
The Raincoast Education Society offers the course Mushrooms of the West Coast in Ucluelet from October 10-12, 2025. Andy MacKinnon and Shannon Berch will be course facilitors.
The annual Whistler Fungus Among Us festival happens on October 16-19, 2025. Andy and Kem will be leading walks as part of this festival.
The Fall Continental Mycoblitz runs from October 17 to 26, 2025. Everyone is invited to grab their cameras or smartphones or tablets and make iNaturalist or MushroomObserver records of mushrooms. These can be vouchered and sent in for sequencing.
The SVIMS annual Cowichan Foray happens on October 24-26, 2025 at the Cowichan Lake Education Centre. Andy and Kem and others will be leading walks and helping with the IDs. Details available on the SVIMS web site when they are posted.
The annual Mid-Island Mushroom festival happens on Sunday, October 26, 2025 from 11 am to 4 pm. It is at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre.
On October 29 (lecture) and 30 (field/lab day), 2025, Kem and Andy are offering a hands-on mushroom workshop, Mushrooms of Greater Victoria through University of Victoria Continuing Studies.
The first weekend in November be a mushroom extravaganza in Greater Victoria. The IMAX Theatre at the Royal BC Museum will be screening mushroom films. Kem and Andy will be doing a Beacon Hill Park walk for the Royal BC Museum at 10 am on Saturday, November 1. The annual SVIMS mushroom show will be at the Royal BC Museum on Sunday, November 2, 10 am-4 pm.
On November 8 (lecture at 2 pm) and 9 (field/lab day), 2025, Kem and Andy are offering a hands-on mushroom workshop, Mushrooms of Greater Victoria through University of Victoria Continuing Studies.
Saturday, November 8, 2025, 10 am, The Land Conservancy of BC is hosting a mushroom walk led by Andy and Kem. At John Dean Park.