Vendor Areas
Tasty food, beautiful artwork, mushroom-dyed silks, jewelry and more can be found throughout the venue.
Food and Mushroom Vendors
Fantastic Flavors for Foodies
Have you ever smelled candy cap mushrooms (Lactarius rubidus)? When dried, candy caps smell like maple syrup, butterscotch, fenugreek or burnt sugar!
A compound called "Soloton" is responsible for the aroma in these foods. Fungiphiles use candy caps to flavor chocolate, pastries, ice cream and more!
And freshly picked Matsutake (Tricholoma murrillianum) smells like cinnamon to some people, and the taste of cooked matsutake is often described as earthy and spicy, nutty and sweet with an aroma of pine and cedar.
Another popular edible mushroom is our state mushroom, the California golden chanterelle (Cantharellus californicus). When cooked, people think it tastes fruity, like apricots or peaches, with a hint of pepper.
Learn all kinds of interesting information about edible mushrooms at the Fungus Fair while you sample a variety of wild mushroom delicacies for sale by vendors at the Fair, and/or purchase mushrooms to try at home. Some of the vendors below include recipes on their websites, and you can also explore FFSC's Mushroom Recipes.
For 2026, the Fair's food vendors include:
Indoors
King of Mushrooms, Todd Spanier
Outdoors
Benni Pops (Santa Cruz Fungi)
Shared Cultures, @sharedcultures
FUNGI Magazine, Britt Bunyard
Be sure to also check out the menu for our annual After Hours Dinner, presented by Chef Chad Hyatt. (A separate ticket is required.)
Clothing, Craft and Services Vendors
301 Center St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
Take home beautiful prints, ceramics, blown glass, and/or clothing that features your favorite mushrooms. Enrich your mind and spirit with related onsite services.
For 2026, the Fair's craft and service vendors include:
Outdoors
Mushrooms in Bloom, Sara Stinson (@mushroomsinbloom)
Fossil Forager (@fossil.forager)
Indoors
Light Energy Glass, Jeff Hinkle
MacLean Custom Screen Printing, Robin MacLean
Forage and Dye
The Local Naturalist, Andrea Dingedein (@the_local_naturalist)
J Calcagno Pottery, Jeannine Calcagno
Mayumix Botanical Design, Mayumi Fujio
Ancient Hands Tile, Steve Baranoski
The Deep Read, Laura Martin, UCSC Humanities Institute
Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz
The 2026 Santa Cruz Fungus Fair T-shirt will be available for sale at the FFSC Store. This year's shirt features a glow-in-the-dark version of the 2026 Fair logo!
Books, Stickers and More
Get great prices on useful field guides and more at the FFSC Store. FFSC also sells posters, stickers, books and other mushroom-related items at the Fair for fundraising and to promote interest in mushrooms.
The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History will also be on hand with fascinating educational items for sale.
Interested in Becoming a Fungus Fair Vendor?
We usually finalize the list of vendors 3 or 4 months before the fair (early October). If you sell mushroom-related items and you'd like to be considered for the 2027 Santa Cruz Fungus Fair, please use the Contact FFSC form and select "Other" as the topic. Let us know why you think you'd be a great fit!
