Boomers, Dude! Telluride ‘Shroom Fest
A summer festival takes place every weekend in Telluride, literally. After Mountainfilm essentially kicks off the high season, a new, colorful banner hangs above Main Street every seven days. And while it becomes pretty easy to ignore the smaller ones, such as Yoga Festival, the Ideas Festival and the Chamber Music Festival, last weekend’s 31st annual Shroom Fest is one that should not have been overlooked.
As a celebration of the beloved fungi, the Telluride Mushroom Festival gathered a slew of mycology experts (the study of mushrooms) to provide attendees with the information they crave regarding boomers and all things entheogenic, according to the festival’s slogan. With seminars, meetings, conferences and presentations covering every topic from the best method of growing oyster mushrooms on toilet paper to fungal chemistry and physiology, visitors were not only entertained for the entire weekend, but learned a thing or two. Heck, they even had mushroom cook-offs and ID tents, where mushroom hunters brought in their haul for identification.
Nevertheless, the festival is known for its parade, a huge gathering of floats, banners and costumes celebrating everything that the mushroom has to offer. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year’s parade, but you can bet that I’ll be checking it out next August. Long live the mushroom!
~Gavin, TellurideNewb.com
