Fungus Festival 2025
Full Program
Alexandra Kirlan
The History & Future of Mycorrhizal Fungi Cultivation
Presentation 12:30 (Stage 1)
About Alexa: Alexandra Kirlan is a citizen scientist and NYMS member. She has cultivated mushrooms in her home lab and is interested in fungal ecology and biochemistry. She is especially interested in fungi as potential democratizers of agriculture and medicine and for their underpinning roles in various ecosystems including cultivated spaces from agricultural fields to flower pots. She hopes to explore the idea of holding fungi as praxis, learning how best to support fungal populations, in turn supporting broader communities, and in in turn supporting ourselves.
Aishwarya Veerabahu
The Midas Mushroom: Ecology, Evolution, and Management of Invasive Golden Oyster Mushrooms
Presentation 1:15 (Stage 1)
Description: Golden oyster mushrooms (GOM; Pleurotus citrinopileatus) have become the new friendly neighborhood, easily found, edible mushroom- but are they friendly neighbors to local fungi? This talk will cover the origin story of golden oyster mushrooms (GOM), their ecological impacts, and my next projects exploring their evolution and management.
About Aishwarya: Aishwarya Veerabahu is a 3rd year Botany PhD candidate, studying fungal ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, advised by Dr. Anne Pringle, with a PhD minor in Life Science Communication, advised by Dr. Dominique Brossard. She is broadly interested in studying fungal biodiversity, drivers of diversity, cross-kingdom interactions, science communication, and science policy concerning fungi (or the lack thereof!). When she’s not doing science, she’s jamming out with her band.
Lorraine Cruz
Living in a Plastisphere
Presentation 2:00 (Stage 1)
Description: "Living in a Plastisphere" investigates how microbial communities that colonize and adapt to plastic, known as plastispheres, mirror human dependence on plastics and reveal how plastic is reshaping ecosystems at both micro and macro scales. The project examines how mycelia and bacteria collaborate to degrade synthetic plastics: fungi such as Pestalotiopsis microspora metabolize plastic in oxygen-limited environments, while bacteria like Ideonella sakaiensis secrete PETase enzymes that break it into monomers. By examining how these organisms collaborate to break down synthetic plastics, the project rethinks cycles of waste and asks how these processes might inspire alternatives to single-use manufacturing and extractive production.
About Lorraine: Lorraine Cruz is a multidisciplinary researcher, maker, and designer born in the Dominican Republic and based in New York City. They recently earned an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design, where their thesis focused on a relational-material investigation into mycelia and bioplastics, and they're currently an artist in residence at Genspace. Their work explores the intersections of decolonial thought, material inquiry, and the relationship between human and more-than-human systems.
Aubrey Carter
Burn Mushrooms of the Northeast
Presentation 12:45 (Stage 2)
Description: Last year, a historic drought set the conditions for fires to rage across the northeast. Join in for an observation of what mushrooms popped up in the aftermath of last fall’s forest fires.
About Aubrey Carter: Aubrey has worked at several different ecological institutions in and around the NYC area, including the Central Park Conservancy, the Westchester Land Trust, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust, and Sleepy Cat Farm. He is currently the Assistant Ecological Manager at Manitou Point Preserve in Garrison, NY where he stewards the land and cultivates mushrooms. Aubrey publishes a newsletter every Monday, entitled 'Mushroom Monday', which features photos and a profile of a different mushroom he has found throughout his travels. All archived posts can be read on mushroom-monday.com. He leads public mushroom walks through his newsletter, private mushroom walks with Catskill Fungi, and is an active member in both the New York Mycological Society and Mid-Hudson Mycological Association. He lives in Putnam County and hopes to start his own farm soon.
Ifetayo Harvey
Fungus and the War on Drugs
Presentation 12:00 (Stage 2)
Description: Join me as I discuss the origins of the war on drugs, how it connects to psilocybin and why ending the war on drugs benefits us all along with the therapeutic and cultural uses of psychedelics. This will be an interactive workshop where audience participation is encouraged.
About Ifetayo: Ifetayo Harvey founded the People of Color Psychedelic Collective (POCPC). The POCPC educates and builds community with people of color interested in psychedelics and ending the war on drugs. In 2022, Open Society Foundations named Ifetayo a 2022 Soros Justice Fellow. POCPC has partnered with other psychedelic organizations to produce panel discussions and campaigns. Ifetayo's experience growing up with her father in prison brought her to drug policy reform work in 2013 as an intern at the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).Whitney Bauck and Lauren Wilson
Community Mapping the Mycelial Underground
Presentation 11:45 (Stage 1)
Description: We plan to present a talk on our efforts to leverage community science to map soil fungi in New York. This session will start with a brief introduction to our local soil and mycorrhizal fungi, why they matter, and why we want to get to know them. From there, we will share about our experience mobilizing community members to sample soil, which we subsequently analyzed for fungal DNA and heavy metal contamination. The talk will summarize what we learned from our first pilot dig in Brower Park, Crown Heights in the spring of 2025.
About Whitney and Lauren: Whitney Bauck and Lauren Wilson are friends, neighbors, and dirt and fungi lovers living in Crown Heights. Lauren is a nature writer and nonprofit fundraiser who helped create the first-ever map of Manhattan’s coastal soils. Whitney is a journalist who covers climate change and environmental justice for publications like the Guardian and Atmos and is a member of the New York Mycological Society.
Bruce Trigg
Mushrooms and Poisons
Presentation 2:15 (Stage 2)
Description: My talk is for people new to mycology as well as people with more experience. It's a lecture format but very informal with stories from my personal experience and from others. I try to avoid medical and myco jargon and will seek to clarify everything. I first review the basic rules for safely consuming mushrooms, discuss the classes of mushroom toxins and show examples of the mushrooms in each category, and discuss the types of gastroenteritis poisonings. Also a mention of concerns with AI related to misidentification of mushrooms. I use a powerpoint presentation and hopefully will have some specimens for a hands on demo.
About Bruce: I'm a retired public health physician and was the mushroom toxicology consultant for about a decade for the NM Poison Control Center. I've given two presentations on mushroom toxicity at New Mexico Mycological Forays (2023 and 2025).
Hector Prudhomme
Rooting the Future: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Farming, and Climate Change
Presentation 1:30 (Stage 2)
Description: My talk will explain the two main types of mycorrhizal fungi, Arbuscular mycorrhizae and Ectomycorrhizae that form symbiotic relationships with the roots of plants. Give an overview of their role in plant nutrition, and how that contributes to 1) resilience in forests and cropland 2) their importance in carbon sequestration. I will highlight some of the key discoveries and research that led to our present understanding. Finally, I will give a walkthrough of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) new Underground Atlas, that illustrates where biodiversity hotspots exist globally and the need to protect Mycorrhizae and their ecosystems. https://www.spun.earth/underground-atlas/mycorrhizal-biodiversity
This talk will be a followup to my article in the summer 2025 NYMS newsletter.About Hector: I am a citizen scientist, mycology hobbyist, and artist. I got interested in foraging, mushroom hunting, and fermentation (using yeasts) during the pandemic. But joining NYMS in 2022 and learning from people like Sigrid Jacob, Ethan Crenson, and Tom Bigelow among others opened my eyes to the smaller niche fungi that make mycology so endlessly fascinating. Mycology as an interdisciplinary study combines a lot of my interests. As an artist I enjoy looking at all the amazing patterns and colors fungi create. As a scientist I am inspired by how these often-tiny organisms have big impacts on their surrounding ecosystems.
New York Mycological Society
Fall Fungi Mushroom Walks
12:30 and 13:30 mushroom walks
Mushroom Walks 12:30AM and 1:30PM
FULL
Description: Learn about the common fall mushrooms of Randall’s Island on this walk which will be guided by an expert from the New York Mycological Society, NYC’s mushroom club. Meet at the foray gathering area. Support our bid to get New York State its own state mushroom by dropping by the State Mushroom Initiative table and sign the petition.
About the New York Mycological Society: The New York Mycological Society. We believe that passionate amateurs are important contributors to mycology and conservation. We’re a volunteer-run non-profit organization dedicated to spreading knowledge, love and appreciation of fungi and to educate people on the important role of fungi in our ecosystems.
Ride to the Festival with El Barrio Bikes
Bike Ride
11:30 -1:00
Description: Ride to Fungus Festival with El Barrio Bikes! Meet up at Thomas Jefferson Park in Harlem and enjoy a scenic ride along the riverfront and through the park, ending at the Festival! Free Citi Bikes will be provided thanks to our partnership with Citi Bike, and we can offer a limited number of free helmets. In order to reserve a bike and helmet, please email publicprograms@randallsisland.org.
Time: 11:30am-1:00pmStart Location: Citi Bike Station at the NW corner of Thomas Jefferson Park – 114th and 1st Avenue
End Location: Randall's Island Urban Farm
About El Barrio Bikes: El Barrio Bikes promotes inclusivity and works to eliminate barriers to biking in East and Central Harlem. We build confidence and enthusiasm around biking through events, programming, and advocacy!
New York Mycological Society and Randall's Island Farm
Create Mushroom-Themed Crafts
All day (at the farm)
Description: A place where kids and adults are encouraged to create their own mushroom themed Arts and crafts. Our volunteers are there to inspire you!
Oyster Mushroom Cultivation
Workshop
11:30 and 1:30
Workshop 11:30AM and 1:30PM
FULL - sign up for a waiting list at RIPA Info Tent
Description: Join the NYRP Urban Ag team and Randall’s Island Urban Farm crew for a hands-on oyster mushroom bag-making workshop. Learn some fungi fundamentals as they relate to growing oyster mushrooms on straw and then down and dirty making an oyster mushroom growing system to take home.
About New York Restoration Project:: NYRP works collaboratively with residents in communities across the five boroughs to renovate gardens, restore parks, plant trees, promote urban agriculture, and build partnerships that transform the city’s landscape. The NYRP Urban Agriculture team supports growers from community gardens, schools, and urban farms throughout NYC by providing educational support and technical assistance. Though the NYRP Urban Ag team works across a breadth of topics and focus areas, they are best known for their work helping folks who are interested in growing shiitake mushrooms on logs.
About Randall’s Island Urban Farm: The RIPA Urban Farm is a 40,000 square foot environmentally sustainable farm and outdoor classroom at Randall’s Island Park. Since its inception in 2006, the Urban Farm has grown in size and scope—now featuring over 100 raised beds, two greenhouses, four rice paddies, and a small fruit tree orchard. With over 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables from around the world, the Urban Farm provides visitors across New York City with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of where food comes from. Through hands-on classes and free public events focused on sustainability, cooking, planting, and composting, farm visitors of all ages can explore locally grown food in an urban environment.
Randall’s Island Urban Farm
Farm tour
14:00 farm tour
Description: Learn about the innovative urban agriculture and educational programming happening at the Randall’s Island Urban Farm with an Urban Farmer and Park-as-Lab Coordinator. Walking through the one-acre site, you’ll learn about our many varieties of crops and our mushroom cultivation study exploring different tree species' ability to grow shiitake and oyster mushrooms.
About Randall’s Island Urban Farm: The Randall’s Island Park Alliance’s Urban Farm is a 40,000 square foot environmentally sustainable farm and outdoor classroom at Randall’s Island Park. Since its inception in 2006, the Urban Farm has grown in size and scope—now featuring over 100 raised beds, two greenhouses, four rice paddies, and a small fruit tree orchard. With over 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables from around the world, the Urban Farm provides visitors across New York City with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of where food comes from. Through hands-on classes and free public events focused on sustainability, cooking, planting, and composting, farm visitors of all ages can explore locally grown food in an urban environment.
About Randall’s Island Park-as-Lab: Park-as-Lab is a community research collaborative uniting scientists, students, and communities in research to better understand NYC’s urban ecology. This program was created by the Randall’s Island Park Alliance in order to enhance civic engagement, bolster STEM careers, and enrich ecosystem knowledge for resilient, inclusive communities. It’s research for the people, by the people!
New York Mycological Society
Microscopy
All day
Description: Come hang with NYMS and zoom into nature at 40-100X magnification with microscopes. Roam on rhizomes and other samples, talk about microbes and mycelium with community scientists.
About the New York Mycological Society: The New York Mycological Society believes that passionate amateurs are important contributors to mycology and conservation. We’re a volunteer-run non-profit organization dedicated to spreading knowledge, love and appreciation of fungi and to educate people on the important role of fungi in our ecosystems.
New York Mycological Society
ID Table
All day
Description: Learn about how to identify fungi through macro features. We will local mushrooms at the tables for you to learn.
Please bring your own mushrooms and we will help you to identify them.
About the New York Mycological Society: The New York Mycological Society believes that passionate amateurs are important contributors to mycology and conservation. We’re a volunteer-run non-profit organization dedicated to spreading knowledge, love and appreciation of fungi and to educate people on the important role of fungi in our ecosystems.
Big Reuse
All day
Description: Big Reuse brings NYC residents together to care for their own green infrastructure and empower communities to embrace composting, tree care, and reuse at a grassroots level, scalable citywide and beyond.
Bethany Beech
Fungal Dyes
Workshop 11:45 Farm Kitchen
Workshop 11:45AM
FULL
Description: See fibers dyed with mushroom pigments as well as examples of the fruit bodies used to create different colors. Learn how changing dye bath pH and pre-treating fibers can create a wide range of hues using the same mushrooms.
About Bethany Beech: Bethany Beech is an amateur mycologist from New York City with a particular interest in Lactarius and Lactifluus mushrooms. Over the past five years, she found herself seeking more information about the taxonomy of these notoriously complicated genera. Unable to find satisfying answers in books and papers, her quest led her to learn DNA sequencing, and to stumble upon many undescribed species
Roman Kosoy
To Eat or not to Eat: Edible and Poisonous and Meh Mushrooms Around Us
Workshop all day
Description: To educate about the diversity and characteristics of the mushrooms that we can, should not, or MUST NOT consume. The key aspect is to enforce the rule that THERE ARE NO RULES when it comes to determining the edibility of a mushroom, and that there are no good shortcuts when deciding whether a given mushroom can be consumed. Importantly, it is important to realize that the edibility of some mushrooms is not always an absolute quality and ability to consume a number of mushrooms depends on an individual, and cannot be predicted.
About Romany Kosoy: Roman is a computational immunologist endeavoring to understand what keeps us alive. As a mycophile he endeavors to understand what does not kill us.
Bronx River Foodway
Soil Sampling
All day
Description : Meet the Bronx River Foodway Team at Fungus Festival and bring a soil sample to be scanned for heavy metal contaminants like lead. Soil samples will be processed on a first come first serve basis and will take about a minute to process. ,
For retrieving a composite sample:
Dig a small amount of surface soil from 3-5 areas in your garden, to create a “composite sample” (include surface samples)
Mix the soil sample, removing twigs, pebbles, or other debris and transfer to plastic bag.
Sampling Depth: Lawn/grass – 3-4″ / Vegetables – 6-8″ / other plants – 6-8″
About Bronx River Foodway: The Bronx River Foodway is one of New York City’s only edible food forest. This perennial edible landscape is integrated within Concrete Plant Park in the south Bronx. Initially a pilot project, the Bronx River Foodway jump-starts the imagination, reconnecting community to land within the city.
Sol Aramendi
¡Vamos a honguear!
11-1PM (meet at Welcome tent)
Description : Únete a Project Luz para un recorrido en español por los puntos destacados del Fungi Festival. Sol Aramendi nos guiará en una caminata para descubrir y aprender juntos sobre el fascinante mundo de los hongos.
About Sol Aramendi: Sol Aramendi (b. Argentina; lives in the United States) is a socially engaged artist working with immigrant communities throughout New York City. She has been a teaching artist at the Noguchi Museum since 2015. She encourages new immigrants to empower themselves through art. Her participatory practice lives at the intersection of immigration, labor, and art. She joined NYMS in 2021 and has been a fan of community mycology since then.
The Interbeing Project
Shroomscape, the Original Mycelium Mindset Board Game
Workshop
Shroomscpae Game - 12, 1 and 2PM
FULL
Description: Come play The Interbeing Project's Shroomscape is The IBP’s original mycelium-mindset board game. We use Shroomscape as a space to invite collaboration, competition, and play between mycelium, humans, and slime mold! By doing so, the project seeks to interrogate rigid, anthropocentric boundaries around notions of intelligence and agency, by enveloping the human within the term ‘interspecies,’ while exploring the ways in which a multiplicity of species experience intra-action and play.
We will be running up to 8 rounds of the game at a time, with four player slots (with the option to play either individually or as a pair) at each game. Each round will last about an hour and we will run sessions throughout the festival in the Shroomscape booth.
We recommend signing up for a slot before the event to reserve your place! Please do so individually or as a pair - fill out the Eventbrite registration a single time either case. We will be playing on picnic blankets with a few tables - if you are in need of accommodation please indicate this on the Eventbrite.
About The Interbeing Project: The Interbeing Project is an exploration into ways of becoming with each other [co-becoming] in a shared world, through a series of relational entanglements that blur and question boundaries between beings [such as species boundaries]. Drawing from artistic, scientific and subjective knowledge practices, our research asks how humans may embody a shift in consciousness that might sustain these dynamic networks and evolve an exchange between inter-being ways of knowing and being.
Roberta Trentin
Funga Paper Workshop
Workshop
Funga Paper Workshop - 2PM
FULL
Description: Mushrooms offer an exciting opportunity as an alternative source for paper production. Creating paper from mushroom pulp closely resembles the traditional method of using cellulose fibers, making it accessible for those interested in exploring sustainable practices. The workshop will begin with a brief introduction to the history of mushroom paper, highlighting how it differs from traditional cellulose-based paper and what species of mushrooms work best in creating it. During the workshop, you’ll learn how to turn mushrooms into pulp and follow an easy step-by-step guide to make your own paper using a mold and deckle. We’ll cover the drying and pressing techniques needed to create the final paper sheet. Plus, you’ll have the chance to decorate your paper with different materials, experiment with pulp mixes, folding paper practices and more! This course is designed for everyone, no matter your experience level.
About Roberta Trentin: Roberta Trentin, originally from Italy, is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist who collaborates with materials and embraces unknown outcomes. Her diverse practice includes papermaking with mushrooms, bio-data sonification, interactive and participatory installations, biofabrication with mycelium, and analog photography. Through her work, Roberta explores the often-overlooked stories of fungi, microbes, and plants—organisms that help decentralize the human perspective and invite us to shift our focus from a progress-driven future to the fungal-inspired narratives around us. With a background in science and a deep love for the Earth, she interweaves macro- and micro-level observations with deeply personal narratives.
Elan Trybuch
Myxomycetes Photography
All day ( art vendor) and Workshop
Macro Photography Workshop - 11:30 AM
FULL
Description: Meet the shape-shifters of the microbial world!
Ever wonder what life looks like at the edge of the visible world? Meet the slimetastic shape-shifters known as slime molds—organisms that blur the lines between plant, animal, and fungi. At Elan Trybuch’s table, you’ll uncover their strange secrets, from their uncanny ability to solve mazes to the dazzling microscopic structures they build.
Marvel at jaw-dropping macro photography that transforms these tiny creatures into alien landscapes, bursting with intricate networks and glittering spores. Come ready to talk shop, ask weird questions, learn about moist chambers and swap slime mold stories. And before you go, snag some slime-inspired prints, curios, and other oddities to bring a little microbial magic home with you.
About Elan Trybuch: Elan is the current acting Secretary of the New York Mycological Society and a Myxomycete specialist, helping to identify species and document the biodiversity of Fungi and Myxomycetes in NYC. He currently lives in Redhook, Brooklyn with his partner and works at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as an Integration Engineering Manager.
Irina Adam
Mushroom Perfumes
All Day (vendor) and Workshop
Mushroom Smells! In the wild and in perfumes 1:30pm
FULL
Description: Natural perfumes that include mushroom and fungal- related notes. I love the smell of mushrooms, they can add mystery, earthiness and gourmand flair to perfumes. Some mushrooms, when dried, can smell like a mesemerizing bouquet of flowers, fruits and spices- such as the muse for our perfume Black Trumpet Chthonic!
About Irina Adam: While working at NYBG Ethnobotany, Irina fell in love with mushrooms during Gary Lincoff’s classes and forays. She is a multidisciplinary artist working in olfactive and visual media, as well as a forager and educator. Through her brand Phoenix Botanicals, she creates natural perfumes inspired by local landscapes and stories, using experimental wildcrafted ingredients.
James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center
Vegan pizzas and Gnocchi
All day
About James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center: A garden community and farmers’ market in the Bronx. Our mission is to strive for inquiry and project-based solutions at the juncture of food, environmental and social justice. Our goal is to build a healthier and greener, resilient community by engaging, integrating, educating and serving student and community members, especially low income and marginalized people, in collaboration with numerous partner organizations with common interests.
Max March-Steinman
Myco-Movement: Dance and Fungi Inspired Somatic Workshop
Workshop
Myco Movement Workshop - 11:45 AM
FULL
Description:This is a playful, interactive workshop that uses movement and connection to explore fungal networks. Participants “grow” through mirroring, spore-inspired dancing, and collaborative fruiting-body sculpting. Live music and adaptive props (ribbons, stretchy cloth) make it accessible for all. Metaphors of decay/renewal and interconnectedness are explored; the session is motivated by Pilobolus’ fungal choreography
Somaliah Sadiq-Williams (Soma)
Communal Body Mapping: Weaving Our Somatic Liberation as Our Collective Mycelium
Workshop 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Description: The practice of communal body mapping serves as a powerful tool for somatic liberation, connecting individuals in a shared journey of healing and self-discovery. By envisioning our bodies as part of a collective mycelium network, we acknowledge the interconnectedness of our experiences and the potential for shared growth and resilience.In this process, participants are guided through a series of exercises that encourage them to explore and chart their bodily sensations, emotions, and memories. This collaborative approach not only enhances personal insight but also fosters a sense of community and support. As each person contributes to the collective map, a tapestry of diverse experiences and perspectives emerges, enriching the group's understanding of liberation and healing.Through communal body mapping, we cultivate a deeper awareness of how our individual and shared histories shape our present realities. This practice empowers us to reclaim agency over our bodies and narratives, weaving together a tapestry of resilience and transformation.
About Soma: Soma is a queer identifying daughter of the diaspora, a mother and birth worker. Soma has been serving families as a Full Spectrum Community Doula since 2013 a Reproductive Justice Advocate since 2016, serving pregnant women at Rikers Island Prison. Soma is also a Licensed Massage Therapist in NYC and Lead Faculty of massage at Pacific College of Health and Science. A self-proclaimed Psychonaut and facilitator, Soma sits at the intersection of reproductive and psychedelic justice as a path to liberation.
Dre Mershad
Mushroom Yoga
Workshop
Yoga Workshop 1PM
Description: Mushroom Yoga is Dre’s approach to the synchronization of two potent healing modalities, yoga and medicinal fungi. This flow is designed to provide a close look at Cordyceps mushrooms and how their healing qualities can be tangibly experienced through a yoga sequence. Through breathwork, meditation and postures, this sequence will focus on amplifying energy and groundedness, intentionally crafted to target the solar plexus and sacral chakras, and embody the elements of earth and fire.
About Dre Mershad: Dre Mershad (they/them) is an active mushroom enthusiast and 700 hr+ trained yoga instructor. Simultaneous to teaching yoga, they have spent years studying, cultivating, and exploring mushrooms and their potentials.
Life Art Fungi
Botanical Illustrations of Fungi and Cats
All Day (art vendor) and Workshop
Exquisite corpse FUNGI drawing game - 11:45,12:30, 1 and 1:45pm
FULL - sign up for a waiting list at the booth
Mushrooms 101 quick and hands on intro to mycology and mushroom identification - 12 and 2:15pm
FULL - sign up for a waiting list at the booth
Description: Botanical illustrations with fungi and whimsical cats on cards, postcards and small prints, as well as t-shirts, bags and napkins.
Biotech Without Borders
An Introduction to fungal DNA Sequencing
All day
Description: Learn about how fungi can be sequenced via simple equipment to find out the species and how that species is related to the whole fungal tree of life.
About Biotech Without Borders: Biotech Without Borders is a self-sustaining community of scientists committed to increasing the accessibility of scientific resources and knowledge, especially among socially and economically marginalized groups. We provide education, lab facilities, and a forum for critical discussions to support responsible innovation in biotechnology.
NYC Nature Drawing Club
Original Art, Ceramics, Risographs, t-shirts
All Day (art vendor) and Workshop
Observational Mushroom Drawing 2-3PM
FULL
About Lindsay Robbins:
Lindsay has participated in the past two NYMS Fungus Festivals at Randalls Island Urban Farm in 2022 and 2023 as a vender and as a volunteer. I designed the poster for the Fungus Fest in 2023 and got a chance to share my art with the community. I also co-founded NYC Nature Drawing Club in 2022 with a fellow NYC Art Teacher who I met at the 2022 NYMS Fungus Festival. We are a free, all ages art club gathering together to draw the natural world.
Farah Marie Velten
Fungi Cyanotypes Originals and Stock Card Prints
All day (art vendor)
About Farh Marie Velten I am a dedicated NYMS member and have brought my fungi artwork to previous NY Fungi Festivals. I am hoping to return as tradition and to participate in the day along with our community, both sharing my own artwork and connecting with what other members are sharing this year. I am a teaching artist originally from CA based in NYC and work with fungi in my art practice which includes both analogue photographic printing processes and immersive sensorial foraging walks connecting with both our natural environment and ourselves, digging deeper into our individual and collective senses as well as shared ecosystem with more than human life.
Riitta Ikonen
Posters, Postcards and Mushrooms wearables
All day (art vendor)
Description: Ikonen’s work explores the interaction between people and their environment, materializing as performance, video, wearable sculpture, and photographic portraiture. Her collaborative project Eyes as Big as Plates was nominated for Best First Photobook in the World at the Paris Photo / Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards, and she has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, the London Olympic Park, and the PyeongChang Olympics, among others.She is a member of the American Stinkhorn Society (A.S.S.) and lectures, exhibits, and performs worldwide with various collaborators.
About Riitta Ikonen: Originally from the deep forests of eastern Finland, Riitta Ikonen spearheads costume creations at the Telluride Mushroom Festival Parade (2019- ) and has won numerous Best in Show awards at the fest. Her winning team has marched down Main Street as a five-person athlete’s foot, an aspen bolete (featuring a six-foot parabolic umbrella for three people), and a California king–size mattress bag of enoki mushrooms (fitting five people).
Brooke Goldstein
Prints, stickers and calendars
All day (art vendor)
Description: I am a botanical Illustrator based in New York. I studied illustration at Parsons School of Design in NYC. My work focuses on local edible flora, especially mushrooms. I attended the 2023 Fungi Fest right before I started participating in markets. Ever since I attended, I've been waiting for the chance to participate myself. To have access to the vibrant mushroom community in NYC would be amazing. I create mushroom-themed prints, stickers, pins, zines, framed prints, and a mushroom 2026 Calendar.
Blacki Migliozzi
Glowing Fungi from the Amazon to NYC
All day (art vendor)
Description: Dive into the captivating realm of fluorescence and bioluminescence within the fungi kingdom. Whether in the dense jungles of the Peruvian Amazon or the urban parks of New York City, Blacki has tirelessly documented his encounters with glowing fungi and lichens over the years. Through anecdotes and engaging photography, he will guide you on a journey to discover these mesmerizing organisms in their unique habitats.
About Blacki Migliozzi: Blacki Migliozzi is an award-winning journalist and amateur biologist who has learned biology hands-on through DIY maker spaces like Biotech Without Borders and Genspace. He has been a member of several gold medal-winning teams competing in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. More recently he has spent several seasons doing genomics fieldwork in the jungles of Central and South America.
John Cage Photo Booth
Take a Photo Among the Mushrooms with the Spirit of John Cage
All day
Description: The present New York Mycological Society was founded in 1962 by the composer John Cage, Guy Nearing, Lois Long, Frank Ferrara and Esther Dam and a small group of other mushroom lovers and students. It was the culmination of a popular class on mushroom identification John had been teaching at The New School from 1959 onward.
John Cage was committed to the principles of anarchy and his rules for the Society were simple: there are no rules.
The other guidance he gave to the club was “All that is necessary is an annual program of lectures and walks and a banquet. Hopefully we will all more or less reap the benefits which include more experience and knowledge of mushrooms, pleasant hours and days in the woods and fields away from concrete and metropolitan air and the society of people who spend their working hours in a great variety of ways. (I get, for instance, to be with people who aren’t composers of experimental music, and this is refreshing.)” Learning, and the enjoyment of nature with a community of people from all walks of life continue to be at the center of the club’s activities today.
Julia Jewell
Vegan Delights
All day (food vendor)
Description: Adaptogenic Cacao Date Balls.
About Julia Jewell: I'm Julia andI have a passion in creating delicious and nourishing raw vegan cacao date balls. I will share my unique creations that will be infused with powerful adaptogens like chaga and reishi. I believe these treats are a perfect fit for the festival's focus, offering a delicious and health-conscious way to experience the power of fungi.
Loni Makes
Mushroom Desserts and Art
All day (art and foodvendor) and Presentation
Baking with Mushrooms 11:20AM
FULL - sign up for a waiting list at the booth
Description: Due to personal gluten and sugar sensitivities and lactose intolerance, Loni is proud to offer delicious mushroom-based pastries and snacks that are gluten free, dairy free, lower sugar, with vegan options.
Thanks to NYMS, Loni Makes was started at NYMS-NYBG Magic Mushroom Weekend and has sense grown into a full fledge functional mushroom desserts and mushroom art business selling at local farmers markets in upstate NY. Loni Makes works with local farmers and producers to feature their products in each dessert, as well as strengthen or local NY community.
About Loni Diep: Loni Diep is a trained Pastry Artist who worked In Chicago for 5 years, as a Pastry Chef as well as a bookbinder and artist. She fell in love with mushrooms by attending by chance a mushroom banquet held by the Illinois Mycology Association. Now based in NYC and a member of NYMS, she is excited to continually explore on forays, create more myco-recipes and share tasty experiences with mycophile friends.
Madame Susan
Sauces and Mixed Mushroom Fried Rice
All day (food vendor)
Mushrooms in Asian Cooking 11AM
FULL
Description: Madame Susan is a minority woman-owned artisanal sauce company based in Brooklyn, New York. She hand makes in small batches three Asian-style sauces: Umami Sauce (a Japanese style miso-sake sauce made with Shiitake Mushrooms), Chili Crisp, and Sichuan Dipping Sauce. Madame Susan's sauces are versatile, you can cook with it (marinade, noodle sauce), or it's delicious straight out of the bottle as a dressing or dip. Susan loves to incorporate mushrooms into her recipes and has even grown mushrooms as a hobby in her home. She is looking to show people how to cook mushrooms properly in her demo. So many people were never taught how to use mushrooms in cooking and she's looking to change that.
4 Wall Farm
Savory and Dessert Mushroom Dishes
All day (food vendor)
About: Mushroom farmers and food innovators who explore the boundaries of mushroom-based farm-to-table cuisine, Four Wall Farm and its Test Kitchen are excited to be part of Fungus Festival 2025. With an ever-changing menu, their primary food service location is at the Beacon, NY farmer's market, although they are known to pop-up in different places. The Four Wall Farm Test Kitchen looks forward to bringing their mushroom desserts (mentioned in the NY Times), beverages, and mushroom foods for all with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. The test kitchen posts free recipes on its website: www.4wallfarm.com.
Journei Bimwala
Healing in Community With Fungi
All day (food vendor)
About Journei Bimwala : Journei Bimwala is a Congolese-born, Bronx-raised clinical herbalist, forager, and community educator. She weaves together ancestral plant knowledge, mycology, and land-based practices to guide others in reconnecting with nature, healing, and community resilience. I would love to participate to engage with people and give them another reason to love fungi and how they can use it in their life.
Lorraine Brown
Jamaican Dishes with Mushrooms
All day (food vendor)
1. Rasta pasta with Oyster mushroom
2. Stuffed babybell mushroom
3. Mushroom kabbobs
4. Jerk enoki mushrooms
Catskill Fungi
John Michelotti
All day (mushroom vendor)
Description: Mushroom Health Extracts, Books, Catskill Fungi T-shirts, FUNDIS T-shirts, Pocket Guide, Medicinal Pamphlet, Hand lens, Stickers
About John Michelotti: Eleven years ago I quit my job and devoted my life to fungi by starting Catskill Fungi. We lead mushroom education walks, cultivation/medicinal/mycomaterial/fermentation workshops and presentations as well as 3 day myco-retreats in the Catskills. We also make mushroom health extracts that we sell at farmers markets in the Catskills, Westchester, Brooklyn, and NYC. I volunteer as a mushroom identification consultant for NYC poison control and NAMA and am also Chair of the Medicinal Mushroom Committee for NAMA. Past president of Mid Hudson Mycological Association. Member of NYMS and COMA. Friend of the Fungi.
Mushroom Queens
Adam Novzen
All day (mushroom vendor)
Description: Tinctures powders, dried mushrooms, mushroom jerky, candy mushrooms, fungi umami sauce,mushroom picture painting station,, growbags Fresh Mushrooms
About Adam Novena: Years back when mushrooms first grasped my attention I knew I had to work with them. At night, after my office job, I taught myself how to grow mushrooms in my apartment. Then, my brother and I started mushroom queens and grew it into a farm serving mushrooms and mushroom products to new york city.
Cam's Urban Farm
Fresh Mushrooms and Extracts
All day (mushroom vendor)
About Cam's Urban Farm: My name is Cam, and I run a specialty mushroom farm in Long Island City, Queens called Cam's Urban Farm. I've been fascinated by mushrooms for my entire life, and after getting laid off in 2022 during COVID, I made the leap to start a mushroom business. I grow a variety of mushrooms for restaurants and consumers in the NYC area and also make functional mushroom extracts with the lion's mane, cordyceps, and reishi I grow. I'm also a keen forager, and enjoy collecting local mushroom strains, cloning them, and growing them at my farm.
Maya Han
Myco Microcinema
All day
Description: A selection of mycological mini-documentaries and experimental short films by artists and filmmakers in the NYMS community, including Alan Esner, Jennie Park, Jess Reisch, Beth Walker, and more! Program will be playing throughout the day so drop in anytime and enjoy our cozy cinema under the trees! Pick up a bag of yummy porcini-dusted vegan popcorn while enjoying the show!
