The third annual Guadalajara Mushroom Festival plants its spores in the Club de Leones, Sunday, July 30.
The festival’s events, sure to quicken the pulse of the city’s mycophagists, start at 11 a.m. and continue until the mid-evening. Live music by local bands will add an aural dimension to the day’s olfactory and visual stimulations.
Educational highlights of the festival include, at 11 a.m., a workshop on planting and picking your own mushrooms in the home and a presentation on Jalisco’s wild mushrooms; a conference by mushroom expert Alan Rockefeller on hallucinogenic fungi at 1 p.m.; and, at 3 p.m., presentations on medicinal mushrooms by chemist Gloria Isabel Avila Lopez and the production of edible mushrooms at home by Ivan Fernandez.
Musical interludes include, at 2 p.m., the Klaus Mayer Quintet, during whose set of jazz various dishes savory and sweet made from edible and medicinal mushrooms will be offered; Afrodisaicos, whose 4 p.m. set of electrocumbia will be accompanied by a tasting of Djamour, a Mexican beer brewed with mushrooms; and Jardin Surrealista, 6 p.m., providing an apropos musical backdrop of tropical psychedelia.
In addition, the Club de Leones will open its facilities to visitors. It features, among other things, a swimming pool, so organizers recommend you bring a swim suit. They also advise attendees to register for the various workshops beforehand. Entrance for adults is 50 pesos, free for kids under 12. Visit the Feria del Hongo Facebook page for more information.