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Fungus Festival on Randall’s Island vol. III

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Fungus Festival on Randall’s Island vol. III

Details:

Date:
October 5, 2025
Time:
11:00 am - 3:00 pm EDT
Event Categories:
, , , , , ,

Location:

Randall’s Island Urban Farm
Wards Meadow Loop
New York,NY10035United States+ Google Map

Public Event !!

NYC Fungus festival banner

We are so excited to share with you this year’s NYMS Fungus Festival!

Sunday, October 5, 2025, 11am-3pm
At Randall’s Island Urban Farm
The address is 11 Wards Meadow Loop, Randall’s Island 10035
Find a map of Randall’s Island here.
A detailed page on getting to Randall’s Island can be found here. (We encourage you to use public transportation to come to the festival if that is possible.)

This year we have a huge flush of fungal partners, presenters, and arts! We are excited to celebrate the city’s mycelial network, and showcase the breadth of mycological creativity here in New York City.

There are more details in the 2025 Fungus Festival section of this site.
The descriptions of programs, vendors and activities is on this page.

Below is the map of the festival to find a mushroom activity or a vendor:

Here is the full program of the festival:

schdulefungusfest2025

We invite you to bring a mushroom or two or more and we will help you to identify them at our ID table.

Get your own limited edition 2025 Fungus Festival T-shirt at the festival Merch tent!

There are many workshops and activities throughout the festival from mushroom yoga to mushroom paper-making and beyond.

All day activities:

  • Learn about mushrooms at the ID table
  • Look inside a mushroom at the Microscopy Area
  • Arts and Craft at the FARM
  • Biotech Without Borders learn about DNA sequencing and create a Mini Oyster Kit
  • SOMA: Communal Body Mapping
  • Bronx River Foodway: Soil sampling
  • Curbside Composting Outreach – free compost containers
  • Roman Kosoy: To Eat or not to Eat
  • Myco Microcinema in the Shed at the farm
  • John Cage homage photo booth @Life Art Fungi

Here are a few answers to common questions to make sure you’re getting the most from the experience:

Do I need a ticket or registration to enter?
No ticket or RSVP are required. Just walk right in.

I’m registered for a specific activity – how do I check in?
There are a number of events within the festival that do require pre-registration. If you are registered for one of those events please check in at the space where your workshop is held. You can see all the workshops on the program and the schedule. Have your ticket or confirmation code ready. Please be at the area where your registration-only activity is taking place at least 5 minutes early, otherwise your spot may be given away.

What will the weather be like?
The weather looks great. The event will take place even in drizzle or light rain (but it’s not looking like there will be any rain).

I’m no longer able to come. What should I do?
If you have pre-registered for one of the registration-required events or workshops, please un-register on Eventbrite. (Access the registration links on this page) We have long waiting lists for these events and by un-registering you’re making your spot available to someone else.

When should I get there?
The festival opens at 11am. We expect a large turnout. By getting there early you’ll beat the crowds. It also means you’ll get first dibs on our gorgeous T-shirt, designed by Juli Sasaki, which is sure to sell out quickly. We’ll be printing more, so even if you missed out you’ll be able to sign up for the next batch at our merchandise table. There will also be books for sale.

Will there be food?
Yes, several different food options with a mushroom theme will be available.

What can I do to help?
Bring mushrooms!!! We need fungi for our display table. Bring fungi you’ve collected locally, get them identified by our experts and leave them at the table for others to enjoy.

What else should I bring?
Bring a refillable water bottle and consider bringing a blanket – there’s lots of room to spread out.

I want to dress as my favorite mushroom. Should I?
Don’t resist the urge! It’s a Halloween month so don those mushroom socks, sweaters, hats or more.

How do I get there?
The event will be taking place on Randall’s Island Urban Farm on Sunday, October 5 from 11 am to 3 pm. The address is 11 Wards Meadow Loop, Randall’s Island 10035. Find a map of Randall’s Island here. A detailed page on getting to Randall’s Island can be found here.

Get there on foot or by bicycle -check our program for a free bike ride option (see Ride to the Festival with El Barrio Bikes)
From 103rd St, Manhattan: The 103rd Street Footbridge in Manhattan is open to pedestrians and cyclists 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, and connects the East River Esplanade/FDR Drive at 103rd Street with the southern end of Randall’s Island Park.
From 125th Street, Manhattan: A walkway along the RFK Triborough Bridge runs between 125th Street and 2nd Avenue and the northwestern section of Randall’s Island Park. Note: the ramp on this walkway exceeds ADA code.
From the Bronx: The Randall’s Island Connector runs under the arches of the Hell Gate Bridge railroad trestle between 132nd Street at Willow/Walnut Avenues in the Bronx and the northern shore of Randall’s Island Park.
From Queens: A walkway runs along the RFK Triborough Bridge between Hoyt Avenue and 28th Street, adjacent to the Astoria Boulevard N/W subway station, and the midpoint of Randall’s Island Park, adjacent to the Central Fields. Note: due to stairs this pathway is not ADA accessible.

Get there by public transit
The M35 bus runs to the Island from the Northwest corner of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. Transfer is available from the Lexington Avenue 4, 5 or 6 subway at 125th Street. Get off at Hell Gate Circle Opposite Odyssey House. Randall’s Island Urban Farm is about a minute’s walk from there.

Get there by car
Use your favorite app or ride share company to get to the Festival. The address you want to enter is 11 Wards Meadow Loop, Randall’s Island 10035. Note that there is no parking near the Festival. We recommend parking by Icahn Stadium which is a 15 minute walk away.

Related Events

iNaturalist

Document your findings

We are committed to documenting biodiversity and many of our members use the iNaturalist app to document their finds. This generates valuable records for science and conservation.


Bonus: expert identifiers will ID your specimens. We have four projects – one for NYC & the 5 boroughs proper, one for outside NYC & the surrounding areas, one for Slime molds of NYC and one for DNA Sequenced Collections – and we encourage you to join them. Instructions on how to use iNaturalist are here if you need them.


View more on iNaturalist
Trulli
Arachnopeziza, Elan Trybuch, March 4th, 2023, Cloves Lake Park, NY, NY

FAQ

Frequently asked questions
Are there Bathrooms?
  • Most of our walks start and end somewhere where there is a restroom.
What time does the walk actually start?
  • We wait 15 minutes for people who are late (unless the walk starts with the arrival of a particular train or bus). If you are ever very late or lost, text the walk leader, whose phone number is provided in the email. They will guide you to the group’s location.
  • We usually stop for lunch somewhere between 1 and 2pm though feel free to eat whenever you’re hungry.
How long do walks last?
  • Walks often last for quite a long time. Walks can end up being as long as five hours or more on a good mushroom day. But that does not mean you have to stick around
  • New York City walks feel free to leave whenever you have seen enough, are hungry or tired.
    • Walks outside of the city: You will sign your name on a sign-up sheet. Please notify the walk leader if you are leaving the walk early. We do not want to leave anyone behind in the forest, so we try and keep track of walk participants via the sign-up sheet.
  • Note that cell reception is often spotty or non-existent on our walks upstate
How should I prepare?
  • Bring a lunch and make sure to stay hydrated, especially in the summer.
  • Protect yourself against ticks and mosquitoes (insect repellent and long pants). Ticks in particular are a year-round hazard these days.
  • We highly recommend documenting your finds on iNaturalist, a great website and app that records your observations for posterity. Instructions on how to use it can be found here.
  • A loupe/hand lens is a great tool for looking at important details and we use them a lot. We will lend you one for the walk but you might decide to buy one yourself. A cheap triplex loupe (x10) can be had for under $10. The club’s favorite hand lens is a 10x hand lens made by Belomo.
  • Many walks in the summar and fall end up at a table where we spread out our finds and discuss them. Do consider bringing a brown paper bag for collecting interesting finds for that discussion. Fungi are best stored in paper bags, never in plastic bags – plastic speeds decomposition which makes identification difficult or impossible.
Picking edibles – general etiquette
  • Always make sure it is legal to pick in the area where you are picking edibles. All New York City Parks and cemeteries as well as some state parks and reserves have rules that prohibit collecting fungi.
  • As a courtesy, please do not pick in the areas of scheduled club walks in the couple of weeks beforehand.
  • In areas where it’s legal to pick, if you find fungi in abundance consider sharing them with others.
  • Do not over-pick edibles. Leave some for others, for the animals who depend on them and for reproduction.
  • Make sure the edible fungi you are collecting are in good condition and not buggy or tough before harvesting.
  • If you are not sure if a mushroom is edible, do not collect a whole bunch – just take one or two for identification purposes.
  • Do not ask people for their edibles spots, unless you know them well 🙂
  • When you first try a new species, be 100% sure it is what you think it is.
  • Eat only small amounts of a new species to make sure it agrees with you, since people can be allergic even to common edibles.
How may I be a responsible park user?
  • Be mindful of the natural world – don’t step on or trample wildflowers, or other plant and animal life. When an area is fenced off it’s usually because it is newly planted or contains sensitive flora and fauna, eg nesting birds.
  • If you are turning over logs and branches, put them back where they were. They provide shelter to a whole microcosm of creatures
  • Pick no more than one or two of a specimen – leave some for others to enjoy and admire. Spare beautiful specimens next to trails; they might just spark curiosity about fungi in the next person.
  • Consider donating to or volunteering for the many organizations that maintain our parks.
Fungus Festival on Randall’s Island vol. III
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