Harvest and food festivals are always good family fun. As a child my parents took us to such memorable festivals as the Mitchell, Indiana Persimmon Festival (www.PersimmonFestival.org) and the Owen County Apple Butter Festival (www.IndianaFairsAndFestivals.org/members). I still dream about the filled persimmon rolls and dense, carmelized pudding with whipped cream at the persimmon festival, and I want my daugher to have similar experiences and memories.

Our favorite local food festival is the Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Mushroom Festival (www.MushroomFestival.org) -- an appropriate fest considering Kennett is "The Mushroom Capital of the World." The festival began in 1985 as a pretty small operation but now it has exploded into a massive event. They have live music, rides, 170 vendors, a mushroom cook off, grower displays, an antique car show and heaps more.

Thousands of people flock to this yearly September event.

Many of the items sold by vendors are fun and mushroom related.
There are always lots of campy arts and crafts for the home and garden.

The food alone is worth the visit. We always seek the vendor with the fried portobellos and artichokes with aioli. Mushroom soups and salads are also favorite fare. Not everything is shroomy though. This year we also saw crabcake sandwiches, homemade sausage, authentic Mexican tacos and Mexican ice cream. My husband chose corn ice cream with chili powder sprinkled on top. It was interesting but not my cup of tea.

One of the best restaurants in the area, Talula's Table,
always offers delicious mushroom creations.

The food vendors offer diverse fare and the food looked and smelled delicious.

There are lots of mushroom displays and exhibits.
Interesting edible species of all shapes and colors are fun to look at and taste.

Lovely baskets of all types edible mushrooms were on display.

The Mushroom Exhibit house is where mushrooms are displayed and the soup cook off is held. It's amazing that such a huge festival can revolve around the humble mushroom.