Time to get funky as the Fungus Face Off and Big Sur Foragers Festival gets underway.

Wet winter weather brings a crop of mushrooms to Big Sur, fitting for the arrival of the Big Sur Foragers Festival next weekend. The annual festival invites local chefs to Big Sur to host a foraged feast to raise funds for the nonprofit Big Sur Health Center.

The festival kicks off on Thursday, Jan. 17, at Lugano Swiss Bistro. The restaurant will donate 25 percent of proceeds from dinner sales to the Big Sur Health Center. On Friday, Jan. 18, Executive Chef Brandon Miller will prepare a six-course feast featuring mushrooms and truffles at il grillo (6:30pm, $180, tickets via Eventbrite). Also on Friday, Deetjen’s teams with Chappellet for a pair of wine dinners with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting the Big Sur Health Center (5:30 and 8pm, $250, 667-2377 for reservations).

Saturday morning kicks off with foraging hikes. Steve Copeland of Big Sur Guides will lead “Wild Mushroom Walks and Talk” with his team of expert mushroom foragers (9:30am, $35, tickets via Eventbrite). The festival’s flagship event is the Fungus Face-Off on Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Big Sur River Inn featuring several local chefs and restaurants competing for people’s pick for best bite (1-4pm, $75, tickets via Eventbrite).

Participating restaurants include Alta Bakery + Cafe, Big Sur River Inn, Deetjen’s, Fernwood Big Sur, Hyatt Carmel Highlands, Montrio Bistro, Rio Grill, Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn and The Sur House at Ventana Big Sur.

Enjoy sips from local wineries and breweries including {baker & brain} Wines, Bernardus Winery, Blair Estate, Chappellet Winery, Comanche Cellars, Cronologie, Filipponi Ranch Cellars, McIntyre Vineyards, Mesa del Sol, Morgan Winery, Paul Lato Wines, Scheid Family Wines, Twisted Roots, Wrath Wines, Alvarado Street Brewery, Carmel Craft Brewing Company and Firestone Walker Brewing Company. Also look for local vendors like Big Sur Jade, Bigsurific, The Bitter Ginger, Carmel Berry Company, Carmel Honey Company, King of Mushrooms, Percy Pies and The Quail and Olive, plus a raffle.

The weekend’s festivities wrap with a Redwood Canyon BBQ at Ventana Big Sur (11:30am-2:30pm, $35, tickets via Eventbrite). Executive Chef Paul Corsentino will fire up the smoker—nicknamed “The Beast”—and serve tri-tip, spare ribs, chicken and grilled vegetables. A barrel of Calicraft Brewing Company’s Kolsch will be on ice, and the resort’s SurStream bar will also be set up for beer, wine and cocktails for purchase. All events are rain or shine. More information at bigsurforagersfestival.org.

And in conjunction with the Big Sur Foragers Festival, Executive Chef Tim Wood will offer an encore of the dish that earned him the award for most creative use of foraged ingredients at last year’s Fungus Face-Off: sweet cipollini onion polenta with French black truffles, local chanterelles and Santa Cruz matsutake mushrooms. This forager’s special ($18) will be on the menu at Valley Kitchen at Carmel Valley Ranch from Jan. 17-20. $5 from each order will be donated to the Big Sur Health Center.