Hay-on-Wye, the world-famous ‘town of books,’ is making a bid to become the UK’s first FUNGI TOWN with a mushroom makeover on 3-5 October 2025. The event, which is part of a nationwide celebration for UK Fungus Day, seeks to put Hay on the map as a major destination for lovers of mushrooms, toadstools, and lichens.
Fungi Town will bring together leading scientists, artists, growers, writers, and foodies to celebrate fungi in all their fascinating forms – through science, art, food, health, philosophy, and play. Hosted in Hay Castle, and spilling out across the historic border town, the programme will feature:
- Talks by leading scientists and experts;
- Art workshops and fungi-inspired exhibitions;
- Fungi-themed stalls and produce;
- Film screenings, including Fungi: Web of Life and the UK premier of Follow the Rain;
- Live music as part of the Puff Ball;
- Displays of wild toadstools and mushrooms, and cultivated exotic fungi;
- Children’s activities, family-friendly talks, and mushroom hunts;
- Mushroom food and mushroom cocktails;
- Kombucha making, pickling and wild cooking workshops;
- Mushroom-themed shop window displays.
Ed Fox, a co-founder of the event told us….
“There’s a lot of love for fungi around at the moment but very few places where people can come together tocelebrate and learn about them.
When we held a pop-up event in Hay Castle last year, we were blown away by the public response and knew there was an appetite for something bigger. Since then the event has mushroomed and we’ve had an incredible response from businesses, experts and enthusiasts, as well as from shops, restaurants, and people in town.
Our plan is to fungify the whole of Hay – a bit like The Last of Us, but friendlier and without the zombies! We hope visitors will discover something of the beauty and wonder of fungi but, above all, that they go away with big smiles on their faces.”
Fungi Town will run from 3-5 October in Hay-on-Wye and all events and activities will be free unless otherwise stated. Go HERE to see the full programme, and for information about visiting and staying in Hay.
Fungi Town has been made possible thanks to funding from Bannau Brycheiniog Sustainable Development Fund, Herefordshire Community Foundation, Mycopunks and a generous community of individual donors. It is part of the nationwide celebrations of UK Fungus Day (4th October).
