Mushroom festival will cover foraging, mental health and more

Linh Ta

Two mushrooms growing from woods — Close-up of Porcini mushrooms. Photo: Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

If you love all things fungi, toadstool, or just that little dude from Mario Bros., there's a free event May 31 just for you.

Driving the news: The DSM Mushroom Festival covers everything mycology, from foraging to mental health research.

How it started: Co-founder Ciji Mitrisin says the idea for the festival sparked from a road trip around Lake Michigan, when she stumbled onto a massive hen-of-the-woods mushroom. Without any cell service at her friend's cabin, she realized she had no idea what to do with it.

That curiosity grew into creating the festival at Captain Roy's, which drew around 700 people for its inaugural event last year, Mitrisin says.

Zoom in: The festival includes a speaker series covering ecology, cooking, local mushrooms, and psilocybin research, led by two therapists.

Vendors will also sell mushroom-themed goods, and there will be a costume contest with prizes from local businesses.

If you go: Starts at noon May 31 at Captain Roy's.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show the festival is May 31 (not May 24).

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Mushroom festival will cover foraging, mental health and more

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