TOWN OF PINE HILL FALLS MAINE · INCORPORATED 1891

Pine Hill Falls Town of Pine Hill Falls, Maine

We were expecting you.

Fall Mushroom Festival

Every year, on the second Saturday in November, the whole town gathers on the Town Square. Since 1955, not one resident has ever missed it.

71st Annual Fall Mushroom Festival

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Our History

The first festival was held in November 1955, on the Town Square, in front of Town Hall. That day, the whole town posed on the steps for a photograph. The print still hangs in the Mayor’s office.

The festival has never been canceled, postponed or cut short. Same tables, same pie recipe, and the photo is always taken in the very same spot.

Black-and-white photograph from 1955: the residents of Pine Hill Falls, smiling, on the steps of Town Hall
First Mushroom Festival, November 1955. Front row, center: the Mayor.

Festival Schedule

Saturday, November 8, on the Town Square

  1. 10:00 a.m.

    Opening

    The trestle tables go up on the Town Square. The first pies come out of the ovens.

  2. 11:00 a.m.

    Best Pie Contest

    The pies are lined up on the tables. The judges walk by, taste, and say nothing.

  3. Noon

    Gathering on the Square

    The whole town meets in front of the gazebo. The Mayor arrives, and the band plays.

  4. 1:00 p.m.

    Town Photo

    The whole town poses on the Town Hall steps, green hoods on. No one is missing.

  5. 2:00 p.m.

    The First Slice

    This year’s new residents eat the first slice, in front of the whole town. It’s a great honor.

  6. 3:00 p.m.

    Festival Lunch

    Hundreds of mushroom pies, enough for everyone. Everyone eats their fill.

  7. Nightfall

    Closing

    The band goes quiet. Everyone heads home.

The festival’s long trestle tables covered in mushroom pies, in front of the gazebo

The Best Pie Contest

Every pie follows the same recipe, the one from 1955. The mushrooms are gathered each fall by Mr. Hendricks, chanterelles and hedgehogs, from a spot in the woods nobody will tell you about.

Contest Rules

  1. One pie per household.
  2. Homemade crust. The filling is provided by Town Hall.
  3. Every slice is weighed on Dot’s scale, so everyone gets the same.
  4. The judges do not explain their decisions.
A white kitchen scale with a steel plate, holding a slice of mushroom pie

The Green Hood Tradition

A hand-knitted forest-green wool hood with three openings, lying on a table next to its knitting needles

On festival day, everyone wears a hand-knitted green wool hood with three openings, each edged with a tight little stitch. They’re knitted all fall long, by the fire or on the porch swing.

Nobody remembers how the tradition started. It’s part of the festival, like the band and the first slice. There’s one for everybody, new residents included.