A large percentage of Americans’ experience with mushrooms doesn’t extend beyond what they’ve eaten on a pizza or an omelet.

But there’s a growing community interested in the wide array of mushrooms with culinary and medical uses. Last weekend, a gathering outside of Tamaqua attracted hundreds of them.

Mycofest, held at Stonehedge Gardens, featured speakers, vendors, food, art and music all oriented toward mushrooms.

“It’s nice to be with like-minded folks and geek out about mushrooms, get new ideas, and relate what we’re doing with mushrooms,” said Willie Crosby, who sells mushroom extracts and growing supplies through his business Fungi Ally.

Taking its name from the science of fungi, mycology, Mycofest highlighted the growing interest in finding wild mushrooms, and growing mushrooms for use in food and medicine.

More and more restaurants are going beyond the traditional mushrooms on their menus to add varieties like giant oysters and chanterelles. And more people are turning to mushroom extracts for health issues and cognitive function.

Mycofest has taken place since 2015, but it was the festival’s first year at Stonehedge. The venue was appropriate due to its long history of promoting holistic wellness, and its proximity to wooded areas for “forays” - the term for a mushroom hunt.

Throughout the weekend, attendees identified and gathered dozens of mushrooms from places like Tuscarora State Park.

They learned tips for finding and identifying mushrooms from experts like Mycosymbiotics founder William Padilla-Brown. The fungi they found ranged from the familiar caps of the bolete family, to the bright, fanlike “chicken of the woods,” to a cordyceps militaris growing out of the body of an insect.

Back at Stonehedge, they filled tables with their finds, labeling and categorizing them. Around the table, the conversation flowed about the types of mushrooms. For many of the attendees, that interaction with the community was a highlight of the event.

“Mushroom hunters don’t stop talking about mushrooms. We gather in groups and we talk about them. Everyone in here, you can have a different type of mushroom conversation with,” said Daniel Foshee, founder of mushroomnerds.com.

Nearby, researchers lectured about different ways mushrooms are being used in the United States and around the world. Topics included nootropic mushrooms taken to benefit the brain, and the use of psychoactive mushrooms by African cultures.

Artists gave live demonstrations. Musicians like Hila the Killa, the Mammals and Fungi Flows sang music with a message toward protecting the environment.

The festival highlighted the growing industry that the popularity of mushrooms has created. The spread of information online, and documentaries like Fantastic Fungi have extended the interest in mushrooms beyond the small community of die-hards.

Beneath one tent, a barista added mushroom extracts to drinks that would be found at a regular coffee shop. Nearby a Brooklyn-based company sold cans of tea with cordyceps as a replacement for caffeine.

A chef from Georgia served vegan, mushroom based meals.

The vendors also reflected the growing demand for mushroom-based medicines as an alternative to other supplements.

Herbalist Arielle Hayat said that fungi have long been used in traditional medicine in places like Japan. More Americans are now realizing the value of mushrooms like reishi and Lion’s Mane for treating stomach problems and seasonal depression, and boosting cognition.

Many vendors at the festival were offering extracts from reishi, Lion’s mane and cordyceps - which has stimulant properties.

“It’s more useful than using some sort of synthesized chemical compound,” said Amanda DeRocher, who sells extracts from mushrooms and plants foraged near her home in Northern Michigan under the brand Flora + Fungi.

Around the event there was excitement about the opportunity to interact with fellow mushroom enthusiasts, and anticipation of what the future holds for mushrooms. Even people who weren’t vending at the festival were discussing ideas to create a business from their hobby, whether it is selling cultivated mushrooms to restaurants, or selling supplies for others to get involved in foraging. The hope is that more and more people will discover about mushrooms what they already have.

“Everyone here has lots of great ideas and visions for the future of our planet. I’m happy to be one of them,” DeRocher said.