MORGAN HILL
– Mardi Gras organizer Tilly Mayeda said she will be ready when
the gates open at 10 a.m. Saturday, but there have been times when
she wondered.
MORGAN HILL – Mardi Gras organizer Tilly Mayeda said she will be ready when the gates open at 10 a.m. Saturday, but there have been times when she wondered. The Mushroom Mardi Gras is a group effort, the result of hundreds of hours of work by the all-volunteer team, headed by Mayeda.
“There are always a few surprises,” she said, “but we can handle them.”
For 23 years the Memorial Day event has thrilled, amused, fed, watered and entertained thousands of visitors who live nearby and those from farther afield. This year promises to be no different.
Organizers have signed up popular musical headliners – Montrose for Saturday and Pete Escovedo and Sheila E. on Sunday. Warm-up groups will play on the Main Stage. Gary Hoey, Wishbox of Voices featuring Pat Travers, Alex Ligertwood, and Glenn Hughes play the Main Stage on Saturday. Brigitte DeMeyer and Gary Hoey will play Sunday.
Stefan Couture entertains in the lower-keyed Wine Tent both days.
The grounds of Community Park, on Edmundson just west of Monterey, will be awash with booths selling an unimaginable variety of wares, food – many of them with a mushroom flair – and drink. Many booths are staffed by local non-profit organizations, using the funds they raise to support their various programs.
Children are kept amused and safe in their own Munchkinland which returns for another weekend of heavy use. Families will find everything they need in the area, including the baby changing/mothers’ nursing area.
One kid-friendly activity that continues is duck-watching. Because the pond is fenced off to protect small festival visitors, the park’s duck families spend the day floating around in the pond watching the people. People stand outside the fence watching the ducks. After the party shuts down for the night, duck families become unpaid volunteers, helping with food cleanup.
The teen area, sporting a climbing wall, rappelling tower and water wars, is on the south side of the park, away from Munchkinland.
Parking in the lots of nearby businesses and walking in to the park is not allowed. The Vineyard and Tennant Station lots, therefore, are off limits to festival-goers. Drivers who know the area are encouraged to park at the Caltrain lot on Butterfield Boulevard, between East Main and East Dunne Avenues or at a lot at San Pedro and Church Streets near Tennant. A free Mardi Gras shuttle will loop around past both sites several times an hour. The San Pedro and Church lot is quite close to the park grounds.
Out-of-towners can park at a lot on West Edmundson, about a quarter mile west of Community Park. Again, several free shuttles will deliver festival-goers to and from the lot and the park.
The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, Inc., is a non-profit organization, chartered in 1980, totally staffed by volunteers. Its purpose is to provide scholarships for area youth. Pets and carry-in food and drink are not allowed. The Mardi Gras is a fund raiser for nonprofits and for the Mardi Gras scholarship fund.
Mushroom Mardi Gras is open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids over 5 and seniors 55 and over. Kids under 5 are free. Ticket gates will be open on West Edmundson and Edes Court, off Monterey. Details, entertainment schedule or volunteer opportunities: www.mhmushroommardigras.com or
778-1786.
