Michigan morels and the Boyne City Mushroom Festival


morel mushroom by Latitude 45

The 2008 Boyne City National Morel Mushroom Festival takes place May 15-18, 2008. This year is the 48th annual, and the 4 day celebration of the morel mushroom includes a morel seminar and guided mushroom hunt on Friday and of course the Boyne Valley Lions National Mushroom Hunt on on Saturday (be sure to display your finds on the Mushroom Pole too!). In addition to concerts with Da Yoopers and others, there's a carnival, euchre & poker tournaments, zany car race and plenty of fun for kids.

One of the highlights of the weekend is the "Morel Taste of Boyne" featuring a Chef's Challenge along with the area's finest restaurants in the big tent on Saturday afternoon serving different morel dishes and also presenting morel cooking demonstrations. This is the largest morel cooking (and eating) event in the world!

You can grab your sweetie and get warmed up with The Mushroomers Waltz and if you're hungry,Lake Magazine has a recipe for morel & hazelnut soup that looks very simple but very tasty! Chef Eric Villegas of the TV show Fork in the Road offers a recipe for midwestern risotto of carnaroli and minnesota wild rice, morel mushrooms and white truffle oil that looks more complex but every bit as tasty.

MichiganMorels.com reminds you that you can eat any mushroom ... once. They offer tips to help keep you safe, but the biggest tip is to hunt with someone who knows what they're doing! Boyne City Mushroom Festival historical photoSpeaking of hunting, here's a video interview of morel expert Tom Nauman that gives you a couple useful tips for morel hunting.

If you can't attend the Mushroom Festival and can't get to any morel-filled woods, you can still get morels (and leeks and other tasty treasures) courtesy of Michigan-based Earthy Delights.

Visitors will want to visit the Boyne City Chamber of Commerce and/or try Absolute Michigan keyword "Boyne" for lodging and other information. I thought it was pretty funny that the best article online about the Boyne City Mushroom Festival is from a Pittsburgh, PA newspaper. It's from May of 2003 but has great background on the festival with a focus on the National Mushroom Hunting Championship. Check out Boyne City mushroom championship has no lack of morels.



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This is program that compares articles on Absolute Michigan. Sometimes the results are a little odd.

13 Comments

  1. Posted May 3, 2007 at 5:31 am | Permalink

    My MORELS & MORE weekend outings have taken place every year, 3-4 weekends, for almost 30 years. They are ideal for experienced and novice morel hunters alike. Everyone leaves feeling like a "morel pro" after the weekend of information, guided hunting, some fine Leelanau Peninsula wines and various morel dishes.
    I'm sure your viewers would enjoy knowing this opportunity exists.

  2. Ed Hammond
    Posted January 9, 2008 at 2:26 pm | Permalink

    I'm from Boyne City, and I was wondering, Who are the guys in the picture?

  3. Posted January 9, 2008 at 5:30 pm | Permalink

    That's a good question - we got the photo from the folks at the Boyne City Mushroom Festival. They might know!

  4. gary
    Posted March 13, 2008 at 4:48 pm | Permalink

    Can anyone please tell me where I can order the mushroom bags called schroom bags. Thank!

  5. Posted March 13, 2008 at 5:34 pm | Permalink

    Maybe you mean the Shroom Sack from Morel Mania??

  6. Steven Smelser
    Posted March 15, 2008 at 4:57 pm | Permalink

    I make pin on buttons for festivals If you need any plese e-mail me Thank You Steve The Button Man Company

  7. barbba
    Posted April 19, 2008 at 2:33 pm | Permalink

    I prefer the blonde morels. Can you ship me a couple pounds. Respond please with revelant information where I can purchase. I thank you.

  8. Bill Goodwin
    Posted April 20, 2008 at 3:44 pm | Permalink

    April 20, 2008My wife and I had a mess of morels about 4 days ago!! Boy!! They were good!! No kidding! This early in the season already!! Last year, as every year, we halved them, rinsed, shook all the water off, froze them on cookie sheets, put in ziplocks for the freezer. 4 days ago we took them out, DID NOT wash them, DID NOT thaw them, just room thawed PARTIALLY, dipped them in Bisquick with garlic powder, fried them in hot buttered skillet....they were just like we picked them that morning!!

  9. Carl Craft
    Posted May 8, 2008 at 8:03 am | Permalink

    Donna (wife) and i are planning on going to the moral fest this year at Boyne.
    Since we have never hunted moral on the west side of MI we need maps of public lands,where morals are found.
    Any help whould be greatly appricated.
    Thank You.

    Carl & Donna Craft
    Leslie,MI

  10. Posted May 9, 2008 at 7:19 am | Permalink

    Hey Carl, they definitely will point you at places to find morels if you go to the Morel Fest.

    Here's some maps of Michigan public lands from the State of Michigan.

  11. Janel
    Posted May 13, 2008 at 5:01 pm | Permalink

    I am from around the Indian River area. Can i expect the morels to be across the state to the east of Boyne or are they concentrated on the west side?

  12. Posted May 13, 2008 at 8:44 pm | Permalink

    You can expect them on both sides of the state (and the UP)!

  13. JIM RAMEY
    Posted May 14, 2008 at 6:31 pm | Permalink

    IS THERE PLENTY OF LODGING,WHEN THE FEST. IS GOING ON? HOW ABOUT SOME PHONE NUMBERS TO THE MOTELS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH JIM

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