Join a Fungi Foray with Jeremy Hegge of Partial Veil. Photo: Jeremy Hegge.
This year’s Fungi Feastival has more than 90 events that explore the science and art of fungi, plus growing, cooking and eating mushrooms and truffles.
There are activities for children, films with stunning photography and cinematography from around the world that can be enjoyed from the comfort of a chair, and a range of fungi forays up and down the Far South Coast with expert mycologists.
The region’s top restaurants have created lunches and dinners especially for the feastival, and there are cooking lessons from renowned locals at the top of their game.
Feastival co-founder Fiona Kotvojs said the culinary offerings included a truffle dinner at the Arlo in Mossy Point and fungi dinners at the Tidal Restaurant in Merimbula and The River Moruya, plus a truffle lunch at Mimosa Winery and Restaurant, at Murrah, south of Bermagui.
“Those are probably the best four restaurants in the area, plus we have the Dromedary Hotel in Central Tilba doing a vegetarian dinner and Cobargo’s Bank Cafe offering a vegetarian lunch,” Ms Kotvojs said. “The menus are really good. They are each very different and absolutely superb.”
Join a winter truffle hunt at Gulaga Gold and experience the thrill of uncovering one of the world’s most prized foods. Photo: Gourmet Coast Trail.
She is particularly excited about having The River Moruya and Tidal Restaurant on board. Tidal won bronze in the seafood category at the National 2025 Restaurant and Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence.
Another local star is Mimosa Winery and Restaurant head chef Matteo Ponti, who will be leading an indulgent truffle masterclass in Cobargo. He earned his first Michelin star at just 30 and is a former Knight of the Truffles and Wines of Alba, Italy’s highest recognition for truffles.
Erica Dibden of Tilba Dairy will share the craft of artisan cheesemaking in a camembert masterclass, or learn to make sourdough bread with Honorbread in Bermagui or at Pip HQ in Pambula. Local legend and chef Nelleke Gorton will teach how to make a sumptuous cheesy brie-and-mushroom brioche.
Around a dozen eateries have joined forces with special additions to their menus for a Fungi Tasting Trail from Mossy Point to Eden. The feastival’s hugely popular workshops on how to grow gourmet mushrooms and truffles are another highlight.
Join a two-day watercolour workshop with botanical artist and scientist Anna Voytsekhovich. Photo: Anna Voytsekhovich.
This year, Australia is hosting the international mycology conference. The feastival has secured two world leaders, one from Chile and one from the US, to speak in Moruya and Bega. They will speak about fungi and fire, including the role of fungi in bushfire recovery and in improving drought resilience. They will highlight how fungal partnerships beneath the soil can help plants access water and nutrients in challenging conditions.
There is also an introduction to mycology in the Mycology 101 session and a seminar on fungi’s role in native ecosystems.
Ms Kotvojs said each of the more than 10 mushroom walks and kayak trips was different. Some focused on citizen science and iNaturalist, others centred on fungi in Indigenous culture, some looked at science for children, and others were about how to identify fungi and where to look for them.
“If you did each of them, you would get different things out of them and there are different locations,” she said.
Nature’s Bounty is the latest documentary by photographer Stephen Axford and filmmaker Catherine Marciniak. They travelled around Zambia with a mycologist from South Africa who explained how different Zambian communities use fungi, how they fit in with food security and economic opportunities, and how fungi interacted with those different communities. Nature’s Bounty will be screened in Batemans Bay, Narooma and Tathra, where Axford and Marciniak will speak and answer questions.
It will also be shown as a matinee at Four Winds near Bermagui, along with three other short films, where Axford and Marciniak will talk. One was filmed in Patagonia in southern Chile, showing fungi in towering forests, while another explores the huge diversity of fungi in Yunnan in southwest China and how fungi tie in with the local culture, food and daily life. The fourth film is about how fungi changed Axford’s view of the world and where things fit, and taught him to slow down, take a closer look and discover the wonder of this mysterious kingdom.
With more than 90 events, plus art and photographic exhibitions, the Fungi Feastival promises something for the mind, body and spirit. There is enough to do and see for a whole week. Organisers hope people will help spread the word by sharing the event’s Facebook posts around their networks.
Fungi Feastival runs from 12 June to 12 July. Explore the expansive range of activities on the feastival website.
