On July 27, mid-Summer & full-on foraging season, we are hosting the 3rd annual: For the Love of Fungi Mushroom & Arts Festival!! Just a few words here to describe the format for this year... The morning will begin with group forays onsite and at near by woodland locations, guided by knowledgeable Mycologists. Early afternoon, we will all meet back at the main festival site (the Ashokan Center) with specimens and stories, to embark on a full sensory exploration. Discover new sounds, textures, flavors and more through different workshops and activities that focus on the many ways we use our senses to perceive the natural world. Brush up on your ID skills, learn to tissue culture, illustrate, or listen to the song of your favorite fungi! Cooking demos and tastings all day long. After sunset we will gather for a bonfire, short film series, music, and UV Foray, with camping and lodging options onsite! This is an all ages event, we have two children focused activities already confirmed as well as interactive exhibits for them to explore their senses. Children 12 and under attend for $10 (please understand this is a cost that goes directly to the venue).
Camping: *Must be booked by Thursday 7/25* - $16 per camper - Contact Lisa Hurley at The Ashokan Center - retreats@ashokancenter.org (include phone number), or (845) 657-8333 option "0".
*No one will be turned away for lack of funds - Sliding Scale Tickets available upon request!
We'll have lunch and dinner options available on site from Kimchi Harvest Kitchen and Flowering Sun Ecology Center (vegetarian).
Schedule
Subject to Change
10:00 - 12:00
- Join experienced Foray Leaders Aubrey Carter, Alyssa Pittera, Thistle Pernot, Nick Buonauro, Gerry Mcdonald and Cody Detmers for one of three Mushroom Walks on the 380+ acres of beautiful forest! Arrive at 9:30 to check in.
12:00
- Sergey Jivetin - Stories and Mushrooms @ Stage Amanita
- Kim Kedem - Mycelium Material Design Workshop @ Tent Bolete (Signup at entry, $10 materials fee)
- Flowering Sun Ecology Center - Cooking Demo and Mushroom Tasting @ Eat More Mushrooms Booth
- Emma Gutierrez and Zack Despreaux - Functional Mushroom Tea Ceremony @ Taste table at ID Station
1:00
- Wendy Hollender – Learning to draw the mushrooms you find @ Stage Amanita
- Carol and Reed Rudowski – Build your own upcycled paper fly agaric mushroom sculpture – Family Activity @ Tent Bolete
- Isaiah Bednash - Cooking Demo and Mushroom tasting - Mushroom Shawarma (vegan) @ Eat More Mushrooms Booth
- Roberta Trentin - Listen to your favorite Mushroom - Biosonification @ Hear table at ID Station (all afternoon).
2:00
- Zeke Depas – Learn Aseptic Technique and Mushroom Cloning - demo and hands-on. @ Stage Amanita
- Chris Baker – A reading and signing of her new children’s book – “On a Mushroom Day”
- Kimchi Harvest Kitchen - Cooking Demo - A dish to eat with Mushrooms @ Eat More Mushrooms Booth
- Guided Mushroom Foray - 2:00 - 4:00 meet @ corner of ID Station
3:00
- Renee Baumann - Basket Weaving - Learn techniques and contribute to the communal festival basket!
- Sam Warren - Outdoor Cultivation Techniques @ the Garden (next to tent Bolete)
- Zack Despreaux - Culinary Demo and Tasting - Mushroom Duxelles @ Eat More Mushrooms Booth
4:00
- Justin Knaub - Concentrate, Breath, Heal – Build your own tincture - limited space a few spots left, inquire at entry. @ Stage Amanita
- Avery Stemple – NY Psychedelic News and New Study that you can help with! @ Tent Bolete
- Beer Tasting and Yeast Discussion (21+) w/ Gabe Marquez @ Eat More Mushrooms Booth.
5:00
- Danny Parrott - Herbal Adaptogens and Micro Dosing - A talk on healing and maintaining. @ Tent Bolete
- Raffle Winners Announced - tickets at the entry.
- Reed Mollins - Oyster Mushrooms on cardboard inoculation demo - cutting waste and producing food! @ Eat More Mushrooms Booth
6:00
- Mushroom Cultivation Panel - Bring all your mushroom growing questions and hear from experienced farmers in different realms of cultivation. @ Stage Amanita
- Don't forget dinner from our two delicious food vendors - Kimchi Harvest Kitchen and Flowering Sun!
7:00
- Live Music Performance from Gah-be
8:00
- Live Music Performance from Sam and Dan
- Bonfire Started!
9:00
- Costa Boutsikaris - Woodlanders film series selections screening and discussion.
9:45
- Ultraviolet Foray - Bring your UV light or try ours.
10:00
- Bon Fire Jam Session and Camping under the stars (reserve camping by 7/25, info above).
Marketplace Makers and Vendors:
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Flowering Sun Ecology Center - Prepared Food
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Kimchi Harvest Kitchen - Prepared Food
For the Love of Fungi: A Full Sensory Experience!
3rd Annual Mushroom and Arts Festival
Featured Contributors:
Roberta Trentin - Listen to Fungi - Interactive Biosonification Station - Roberta brings boundless creativity into all that she does. Join her for an auditory experience with your favorite Mushrooms!
Justin Knaub - Concentrate, Breath, Heal - Build your own unique medicinal tincture using mushroom and botanical concentrates made by Justin and Cristian at MMM labs. Free w/ pre-registration (on tickets page).
Renee Baumann - Communal Basket Weaving - Learn traditional basketmaking techniques and work together to weave a beautiful, communal basket. See what we made last year, below, and check out more of Renee’s work!
Danny Parrott - Herbal Antioxidants and Microdosing - The experience and insight that Danny shares is truly inspiring. He has worked extensively in the field of Herbalism to help people improve their health through what they consume. Known as the People's Herbalist, check out his work!
Wendy Hollender - Learn to illustrate Fungi w/ the guidance and tips from this local rockstar botanical artist! Check out more of her work!
Craig Trester - Composting Workshop - Learn composting techniques to favor the plants you're trying to grow! Craigs knowledge and experience are astronomical and not to be missed!
Chris Baker - Newly released childrens book reading! - Chris creator of Chicory Naturalist shop in Kingston, NY, will offer a reading of her new children's book - "On a Mushroom Day"
Carol and Reed Rudowski - Build an Upcycled Paper "Fly Agaric" Mushroom Sculpture (for all ages). Join Artist Carol and her son Reed Rudowski for a crafty creative workshop, and go home with a beautiful upcycled paper mushroom sculpture for your desk or shelf!
Emma Gutierrez and Zack Despreaux - A Functional Mushroom Tea Ceremony - Mushrooms can truly improve our health in so many ways. Join Emma and Zac for a cup and discussion of how you can bring f
functional mushrooms more into your daily life!
Kaitlyn Cronin - Mycelial Movement - With boundless creativity, Kaitlyn weaves together Ecology, Mycology, Spirit and much more in her art and movement practices. Join her for a somatic exploration with Fungi!
Zeke Depas - Aseptic Technique and Mushroom Cloning - Join Zeke of Brooklyn Mushroom for a Demo and some hands-on with Aseptic (sterile) Technique and Mushroom Tissue Culturing. As a small scale grower, mushroom enthusiast and event organizer in NYC, Zeke is working tirelessly to bring more people together around Fungi, through the NYC Mushroom Lovers Community group that he started and beyond!
Sergey Jivetin - Work together with Sergey, a passionate and skilled etching artist to weave together a communal pictographic tapestry of stories, using an artist conk as the canvas!
Kim Kedem - Discover the fascinating world of mycelium and "Learn how this remarkable fungus can be used to design and create biodegradable objects. suitable for participants of all ages.." Signup required at entry, $10 materials fee.
Reed Mollins - Oyster Mushrooms on cardboard inoculation demo - cutting waste and producing food!? Mushrooms may solve cardboard recycling chain clogs and produce food at the same time. Join Reed for an inoculation experiment with Pizza and Amazon boxes. Maybe you want to get involved with this exciting local project!?
Delicious Mushroom Tastings and Cooking Demos - All afternoon from several talented chefs including Madalyn Warren, Dan Kanda, Zack Despreaux and Isaiah Bednash at our Eat More Mushrooms Booth!
Mushroom Cultivation Panel and Q&A - Bring all your mushroom cultivation questions! Indoor, Outdoor, Gourmet, Medicinal, DIY or Commercial!
Foray Leaders: Aubrey Carter, Alyssa Pittera, Thistle Pernot, Nick Buonauro, Gerry Mcdonald, Cody Detmers
Demos and Hands-On: Outdoor Cultivation, DIY Indoor Home Cultivation, Tissue Culturing, Korean Natural Farming Techniques, Cooking with Mushrooms, ID Assistance and Microscopy, Illustrating Fungi, Interactive Exhibits…
Marketplace: A juried selection of artisans, working with Fungi, Fungi inspired goods.
Food: Kimchi Harvest Kitchen: Specializing in Korean field fresh dishes!
Raffle winners announced at 5pm (prizes listed below, tickets on ticket page)
Evening Activities: Music, Short Film Series, Bonfire, UV Foray, Camping under the stars onsite (380+ acres).
Photo: Ovi Horta
Photo: Roberta Trentin
Photo: Roberta Trentin
Photo: Ovi Horta
2023
We do it For the Love of Fungi!
We created For the Love of Fungi in 2022 as a space for people to connect around their shared fascination with Fungi. A place where people of all experience levels can share and learn from each other, and people who are still new to the world of Fungi can feel comfortable asking questions. We chose the Hudson Valley/Catskill region because it's where we live and we feel a strong connection to the landscape and rich biodiversity here. For the Love of Fungi is not just an event to learn about Fungi, it's an avenue for us to celebrate the many ways they inspire to create!
We want acknowledge the people who walked this land before us, faced many atrocities and were forced from the places they called home.