On November 1, 2026, the annual SVIMS mushroom show, canceled in 2025 because of a strike and picket lines, returned to its 2024 venue at the Royal BC Museum.
A thousand people made their way around a circle of tables in the Clifford Carl Hall to view about 200 species of mushrooms, each species laid out in a tray with its name printed on a card. SVIMS experts, standing inside the circle of tables, answered questions posed by visitors. (See video posted on FaceBook here.) Some visitors brought along mushrooms that they wanted to have identified. Special displays at the sides–showcasing edible mushrooms, lichens, and kids’s activities–also drew the attention of visitors.
During the show, four lectures were presented in the Conference Hall by Mel Hesz and Elora Adamson, each talk attended by about 80 people. Elora presentation is on YouTube.
Related activities were happening in the vicinity of the show. The RBCM Shop had mushroom displays in their window and inside the shop. The museum’s travelling exhibit on “BC’s Marvellous Mushrooms,” which was a by-product of its publication of The Mushrooms of British Columbia, paused travel to set up in the entrance lobby of the museum as an accompaniment to the 2026 mushroom show. The RBCM IMAX theatre featured a mushroom film.
Maggy McGee ably coordinated the show for SVIMS, assisted by Kim Gough of the RBCM. Shannon Berch reprised her role in getting the mushrooms organized and labeled on the day before the show. Assisting the coordinators throughout the setup day and the show day were about twenty SVIMS volunteers.
