Night mushroom-picking contest near Pļaviņi yields more boletes than the daytime round

The "Pļaviņu pļāvēji" association followed up its daytime mushroom-picking competition with a traditional nighttime event that also drew a large number of participants. Armed with flashlights, foragers searched the forest around the "Jankas" sports base, and despite the limited visibility in the dark, the overall haul was substantial. Notably, more boletes were found at night than during the previous day's contest.

Winners across categories

The overall winner and leader in the men's group was experienced forager Jurijs Jerofejevs, who collected 14 kilograms of mushrooms. In the women's competition, first place went to Edīte Borska with 7 kilograms. Among seniors, Irēna Spule-Vilcāne and Ainārs Dunaiskis took top honors, while Jana Abitkina won in the youth category.

Special awards

Anita Kalniņa found the most boletes, the prized mushroom of the evening, while Līga Vaivode's basket of milk caps and chanterelles was judged the most beautiful. Ingrīda Liepiņa gathered the most sand boletes, a species typical of the area, and Kristīne Abitkina received the award for the most interesting mushroom arrangement.

Association head Sarmīte Norvaiša said the evening weather was lovely and participants were in good spirits throughout the contest. Organizers had worried beforehand whether the forest would even be passable after a recent storm, but everything went smoothly and no one got lost. After the event, participants enjoyed soup cooked by the Glods family, which tasted especially good after such active foraging.