Auckland Mushroom Festival

The Auckland Mushroom Festival turns Karangahape Road into a four-day fungi trail, weaving together food, science, art and community. Local restaurants serve up specially created mushroom dishes — Lebanese mushroom dumplings at Gemmayze Street, a huitlacoche-inspired quesadilla at Sagrado Cantina, a truffle tamal at Tempero and pasta specials at Coco's Cantina and Pici, among others. A micro-mushroom market brings together growers and local producers, while art and creative installations from Hannah Shim, Virginia Frankovich and Thomas Press are dotted throughout.

Families will make a beeline for the Mushroom Extravaganza presented by SMALL RAVE — a workshop where children can build their own fungi-inspired costume from a treasure trove of craft materials before joining a whānau and dog-friendly costume parade. The Spore Speakers series offers sessions on mushrooms and mental health, fungi photography and plant medicine, all facilitated by "Fungi of Aotearoa" author Liv Sisson.

The inaugural Giant Puff Ball evening rounds out the festival with live music, fashion, comedy and immersive visual projections hosted inside Hopetoun Alpha.