Town’s Giant Mushroom Will Spark New Year’s Eve Celebrations


A town near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is planning to unleash a giant mushroom on its inhabitants for the community’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration.

Kennett Square, which is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania located 40 miles outside of Philadelphia, is famous for producing the fungus, which is why it plans to uniquely celebrate the onset of 2014 in this manner.

In fact, the small town grows the most mushrooms in the world, and people across the length and breadth of the planet consume the area’s produce on a daily basis. Farms across the region account for around 50 percent of US mushroom production.

However, residents won’t be able to bite into the gigantic mushroom that will be premiered on New Year’s Eve. This toadstool is set to be constructed out of stainless steel.

The huge, illuminated inedible vegetable will be slowly lowered from a crane on December 31, 2013, just as people count down to midnight.

It’s believed that the humungous mushroom weighs over 700 pounds, and measures 8 feet by 7 1/2 feet in length and width, respectively.

The titanic toadstool is sponsored by To-Jo Mushrooms, a local grower. The company is set to pay for the construction of the fungus, which will come to around $6,000. Bob’s Crane Service will donate the crane.

Kennett Square’s Borough Council gave the final stamp of approval to this plan on Monday, and they are now hoping that the enormous fungus’ descent could even rival New York’s Times Square soiree.

The entire night’s activities, which is collectively called, “Midnight in the Square,” will also feature various food stalls, music, and other facets of entertainment.

Those looking to attend the event, which will run between 9pm and 1am, will need to bring either a financial donation or nonperishable food item in order to enter.

It’s believed that hundreds of Kennett Square’s residents have conspired to organize the event. The Borough Council’s president made the final decision on how to premiere the mushroom.

Kathi Lafferty, the coordinator of the annual Mushroom Festival that brings over 100,000 visitors to the area over Labor Day weekend, fully endorsed the plans, remarking, “Being the mushroom capital of the world, I don’t know, why not.”

Pennsylvania is renowned for throwing a myriad of quirky New Year’s Eve celebrations. Bethlehem is set to lower an 85-pound statue of a Marshmallow Peep because they are created nearby, while Easton, which is the home to Crayola, is planning to create a 10-foot-tall lighted crayon.

[Image via Mark/Wikimedia]

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