Radical Mycology Convergence

Part arts festival, part outdoor science lab, this one-of-a-kind event invites curious people of all ages to explore mushrooms. Part arts festival, part outdoor science lab, this one-of-a-kind event invites curious people of all ages to explore mushrooms (and all fungi) through hands-on workshops, wild food, natural dyes, citizen science, immersive art, live music, games, growing demonstrations, and nighttime nature walks. No mushroom knowledge required—just bring your curiosity. Day passes begin at $25, children 12 and under attend free, and free childcare is available during workshop sessions. This unique, biennial gathering brings together more than 25 researchers, artists, authors, growers, chefs, filmmakers and educators to lead more than 45 workshops and demonstrations. Most sessions are beginner-friendly and give visitors many ways to enter the world of mycology through interests they already have, including cooking, fermentation, natural dyes, illustration, filmmaking, gardening, ecology, microscopy, mushroom identification and low-cost cultivation. Workshop topics include wild-food cooking, oyster-mushroom miso making, mushroom and lichen dyes, fungal pigments, mushroom illustration, stop-motion filmmaking, microscopy, mushroom identification, fluorescent and bioluminescent fungi, low-cost oyster mushroom growing, log and wood-chip cultivation, soil fungi, and the installation of an outdoor Reishi mushroom garden. Notable speakers include Alan Rockefeller, Dr. Gordon Walker, Julie Beeler, Dr. Anna Sitkoff, Peter McCoy, and Kevin Feeney. Additional festival highlights include: • Live musical performances, DJs, a fungi-centered theatrical production, a talent show, mushroom storytelling, and a nighttime foray in search of fluorescent mushrooms and lichens. • A hands-on citizen science hub where visitors can examine fungal specimens under microscopes, practice laboratory cultivation techniques, sample soils for fungal spores, and prepare fungal DNA for sequencing. • In/Visible Signals, an international art exhibition inside the farm’s renovated barn featuring work by dozens of fungi-centered artists, along with film screenings, sculptures, installations and a 10-minute virtual-reality experience in which the viewer becomes a mushroom cleaning up pollution. • The MycOlympics, mushroom costume contest, Capture the Conk team game, and a child-friendly scavenger hunt with prizes. • A multi-author book signing, the Mycelial Marketplace of artists and herballists, and a Barter Faire where attendees can trade or sell fungi-related arts and crafts. • A bespoke five-course wild-food tasting dinner led by wild-food expert and professional chef Cameron Dunlap of Morchella Events (tickets sold separately). • Complimentary kava and gong fu cha tea service, two mushroom-inspired bars serving cocktails and mocktails, and an on-site eatery featuring dishes made with gourmet mushrooms grown at Brown Bottle Farm.