Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce our dates and events for 2024. Tickets will go on sale the last week of October, and as newsletter subscribers, you will have first access. For now, please mark your calendars!

The Joriad™ Truffle Dog Competition returns on Saturday, February 10 at the Lane County Fairgrounds (Eugene, OR), from 9 am to noon. This event, the only one of its kind in North America, sees dogs of all shapes and sizes compete to find as many truffle-scented targets within a given time, with multiple elimination rounds. Cheer on this year’s amateur truffle hunting teams and meet fellow foraging enthusiasts at this fun, family-friendly event.

Truffle Farming A - Z, an immersive gathering for new and prospective truffle growers, will take place Thursday, February 22 through Saturday, February 24 at Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR). The long weekend led by Dr. Charles Lefevre includes lectures, comprehensive case studies, and a day in the field touring established orchards.

The Oregon Truffle Festival will host a new weekend event for 2024: an intimate mycological exploration at Camp Westwind on the central Oregon coast in the UNESCO Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve. Enchanted and Entangled: A Truffle and Fungi Immmersion, will take place Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3 and will convene some of the brightest thought-leaders in the world of mycorrhizal fungi. This immersive weekend includes foraging adventures, hands-on workshops, mind-expanding conversations, and communal meals.

We are honored to welcome Merlin Sheldrake (London, U.K.), author of the bestselling book Entangled Life, as keynote for the weekend. Merlin’s mission to map the global diversity of fungi and establish fungi protections is fueled by his deeper belief that we as humans need to reexamine our place in the world and our participation with it. As a speaker and author, his passion has inspired people worldwide to explore the complex world beneath our feet and its critical role in the health of our planetary ecosystems. Merlin will be joined by a global cast of passionate experts for the weekend: forest ecologist Christine Fischer (Aranda de Duero, Spain), citizen scientist and mycologist William Padilla-Brown (Harrisburg, PA), foraging chef and mushroom farmer Robin Jackson (Vancouver Island, Canada), and truffle cultivation pioneer and forest mycologist Dr. Charles Lefevre, among others. Please note: Space is very limited and lodging will be on-site in shared cabins (up to four guests per cabin).

Our two-day Truffle Dog Training in Banks, OR on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10, is a training intensive where humans and dogs learn the fundamentals of scent training and practice in the field. Space is limited and this event always sells out.

Stay tuned for tickets going on sale the last week of October. We look forward to celebrating truffles with you again in 2024.