Fungi Town Hay on Wye

Hay prepares for a mushroom makeover

New festival offers food for thought, for the soul and for the belly

2–4 October 2026 | Hay-on-Wye

Hay-on-Wye, famous for its bookshops, literary festival and late ‘King’ Richard Booth, is adding fungi to its list of reasons to visit this autumn as the town once again becomes the UK’s first Fungi Town.

Following last year’s event, which attracted more than 2,000 visitors, Fungi Town returns from 2-4 October 2026 with another three-day celebration of the extraordinary world of fungi.

The event brings together mycologists, growers, artists, cooks, enthusiasts and curious visitors for a weekend of science, culture, food and discovery. Fungi Town explores the whole fungal kingdom, from mushrooms and toadstools to yeasts and moulds.

Highlights include:

• Talks on the cultural history of magic mushrooms, the wonder of stinkhorns, medicinal mushrooms, fungi conservation and how rethinking decay can transform your life.
• Leading fungal experts from organisations including Kew Gardens, Cardiff University, the Royal Horticultural Society, the National Museum of Wales and the Lost Gardens of Heligan.
• Fungi-inspired cooking, poetry, mushroom growing, paper making and fungi hunts.
• Films, food and drink, a musical ‘Puffball’, a street parade and a town-wide mushroom shop-window competition.

Events will take place at Hay Castle and The Globe at Hay, as well as in shops, restaurants and other venues across the town.  Fungi Town is open for experts and beginners alike, offering the chance to discover some of the natural world’s most remarkable and least understood species.