2023 FESTIVAL DETAILS

Learn about mycology from the best! Every year the Telluride Mushroom Festival features a variety of talks from over 30 speakers. The Telluride Mushroom Festival is famous for its array of unique and lively events, including: Wild Food Dinner, Mushroom Chefs’ Dinner, Entheogenic Gourd Circles, Bands and DJ’s, MycoLicious MycoLuscious MycoLogical Poetry Show and our Free Identification Tent. We have showings of new fungi movies, panel discussions over treatment using psychedelics and decriminalization of psilocybin containing mushrooms. Our many special guests happily take you on a mycology adventure out into the forest in the beautiful alpine around Telluride, CO! If you are interested in mushrooming in Telluride, Gary Lincoff’s Telluride Mushroom Checklist is a must-read.

What Can you Expect at the Festival?
In essence, The Telluride Mushroom Fest is changing and growing, but how?! With more and more interest every year, how do we want to sustainably change and grow as a festival? Our main desire is to pursue growth by creating depth, authenticity, and community connection.

This year our goal is to create additional spaces to facilitate connection through conversation, sharing circles, expert-guided forays, and experience-based workshops with less long-format lectures. Our intention is to partner with more aligned sponsors to support the festival with the intention to keep festival prices from increasing.

Forays and Outdoor Activities
In addition to doubling our forays we will be providing outdoor workshops and new outdoor venue spaces! The free activities such as our mushroom ID tent, vendor booths, and some outdoor free workshop demonstrations are a must see. See the Festival FAQ tab for more detailed information on this years’ forays.

The Parade
The parade is a favorite among festival goers. Be sure to bring your best costume making skills to the parade or prepare in advance. The town of Telluride quite literally shuts down to 1000’s of mushroom decorated costumes marching down Main Street to music, dancers and our amanita-mobile. This all culminates in a wild drum circle at the end of town, where drumming and dancing goes into the evening.

Special Events
Special Events such as the Wild Foods Dinner and other larger gatherings are on for 2023! These tickets (which are extra above a full festival pass) will be available for purchase, and are sold individually per event, on our Passes page.

How To Mush Fest
We have so many wonderful workshops, lectures, forays, and new events at this years festival and hope you are able to enjoy as much as you can absorb!  From pass-pick up and registration to parade details, find everything you need to know about making the most of your festival experience on our How To Mush Fest page.

VENUES, PARKING & GETTING AROUND

Festival Venues

• Ah Haa School for the Arts – A new state of the art building in Telluride dedicated to art, community and expression. google map | venue website
• Between the Covers – Cozy bookstore on Telluride main street with adjacent coffee shop/cafe. google map | venue website
• Carhenge Parking – Free all-day parking, a 10-minute walk from downtown Telluride and serviced by the Galloping Goose transit loop. google map | website
• Elks Park – Elks Park is across from the Courthouse (clock tower) at West Colorado & Oak Street.  google map
• Palm Theatre  – Our biggest seated venue, next to Telluride Intermediate & High Schools.  google map | venue website
• Sheridan Opera House & Show Bar – This venue is in the center of town at the corner of Colorado (Main Street) and Oak Street. The Show Bar is on the first floor of the historic Sheridan Opera House. google map | venue website
• Telluride Arts Gallery – google map | venue website
• Town Park – The center for many activities and programming. In the summer, it offers a public outdoor pool, mixed-use tennis/pickleball courts, athletic fields, sand volleyball, a skate park, basketball courts, a fishing pond, a toddler playground, and the Imagination Station. google map | venue website
• Wilkinson Public Library – Open seven days a week to bring you books, media, computer access, Wi-Fi, and children’s and adult programs. google map | venue website

Parking
For all Forays and Free day parking please use Carhenge Parking Lot at 700 West Pacific Ave, Telluride. Street parking is available, please read signs. Up-to-date and accurate information is best retrieved from the Town of Tellurides’ website.

Getting Around Town
The Galloping Goose Transit System – The Galloping Goose is a fixed route transportation system funded  by the Town of Telluride. The Town operates a Town Loop. View the Galloping Goose Schedule. For more information about Public Transit visit the SMART Website.

Telluride to Mountain Village Gondola
Staying in Mountain Village? This is just an easy 13min Gondola ride from town. The gondola is free public transportation from Telluride to Mountain Village. Operating seven days a week 6:30 a.m. to midnight (open to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays only June 16 -September 16, 2023). Find information about the Gondola, getting around Telluride, and more info HERE.

LODGING & CAMPING

There are different options for staying in Telluride, CO. Because of the size of Telluride, there are not any large hotel chains. If you are traveling with a group you can rent houses that can comfortably hold 10 attendees.

Camping
Please keep in mind, some of these campgrounds require reservations way in advance and some do not. Please look into the campground you are thinking of and plan ahead. While there are dispersed spots with limited facilities, many people prefer having campground amenities.

Camping in Telluride
Many people prefer camping in Telluride because of the gorgeous scenery and community vibe.  The best resource for camping information is the Town of Telluride’s website. For 2023, The town of Telluride has announced that they will be opening up reservations sometime after March 1st. Click here to be redirected to our home page where you can sign up for email announcements. We will let remind you when the campsites ‘go live.’ Please keep in mind that typically they get reserved right away – so you want to be on site immediately after they are released.

Camping around Telluride
Outside of town there is camping at several Forest Service campgrounds. Information about these campgrounds can be found here. You can also try this link to find free campsites. There are no private campgrounds in the Telluride area. The closest Colorado State Park to Telluride is Ridgway State Park.

Camping Lizard Head and Rico
Check out areas around Rico and Lizard head. To name just few campgrounds south of Telluride, check out Sunshine Campground, Matterhorn Campground, Cayton Campground, Lazy Rooster Ranch, Priest Gulch.

Camping around Ouray
Information about Forest Service campground around Ouray can be found here. Information on private campgrounds around Ouray can be found here. There is a KOA near Ouray.

Telluride
Information about Telluride, CO, including food, activities, events, and weather can be found at Visit Telluride.

HOW TO GET TO TELLURIDE

Telluride is located in the Southwest corner of Colorado in a picturesque San Juan Mountain box canyon. The spirit of the American West thrives here in Telluride – from the first hardy pioneers to today’s hardy locals, we take immense pride in our small town and we know that once you’re here, you’ll fall for its charm as well. We are undoubtedly a little remote – but staying off the beaten track ensures the town remains unblemished and unique in Colorado.

By Plane
Telluride, Colorado has its own airport, Telluride Regional Airport (TEX). The airport is located five miles from Telluride’s downtown business district. You can rent a car from Hertz or take Mountain Limo into town. Mountain limo is $20 per person with a 2 person minimum.

Most people fly into Montrose which is usually the more cost effective solution. From Montrose, you can either rent a car or take Telluride Express for $70 per person into the town of Telluride.

• Telluride Regional Airport is 10-15 minutes from downtown Telluride.
• Montrose Regional Airport is 1.5 hours from Telluride.
• The Durango La Plata County Airport is 2.5 hours from Telluride.
• The Grand Junction Airport is 2.5 hours from Telluride.
• The Cortez Airport is 79 miles, 2 hours from Telluride.

2023 FESTIVAL FAQS

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

When is the Festival?
The festival dates are August 16 – 20, 2023. Pre-Festival activities that are a separate ticket purchase will start on Wednesday August 16th. Registration and accessing your pass will be on Thursday August 17th at 8:30am.

Where is the Festival located? Where will lectures and presentations be held?
Telluride, Colorado. See the ‘Navigate the Festival’ tab for more detailed information and a venue map.

How do I become a Volunteer or a Vendor?
Volunteer & Vendor Applications will be closed on April 1, 2023 for this years festival. Please fill out a contact form for your prospective request on the “get involved” page.

PASSES & TICKETS

What is the difference between ‘Passes’ and ‘Tickets’?

• Full Festival Pass: Gains attendees access to all main paid and free festival events listed on the schedule. DOES NOT INCLUDE “SPECIAL EVENT TICKETS”.
• Special Event Tickets: Are sold separately and are limited. Special Event tickets will be announced and released on a separate and later date than the full Festival Pass.

Where can I find information and purchase links for passes & tickets?
Information on special event tickets, festival passes and links to purchase are available on our Passes page. Only tickets purchased off our website or the Humanitix site will be accepted at the festival.

I purchased tickets, when will I receive them?
We will be sending out all tickets/QR codes in the weeks before the Festival starts. This is to ensure more ticket security.

What is the Refund/Transfer policy?
Please see our Passes & Tickets page for information about refunds and transfers.

HOW-TO MUSH FEST

Where can I pick up my pass, wristband or T-shirt?
Please see our How to Mush Fest page for detailed information on registration and pass pickup.

What should I wear? What should I bring?
These questions and more are answered on our How-to Mush Fest page.

What if I have more questions about how the festival works?
They are probably answered on our How-to Mush Fest page.

ALL ABOUT FORAYS

Where can I find information about signing up and participating in forays?
We will have Forays available for single day passholders and full festival pass holders. Forays are available on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Spanish Speakers Foray) during the festival. Sign-ups occur on the day before the foray. For detailed information please see our How-to Mush Fest page.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Where can I view the Schedule?
The full festival schedule is released each year in July. Check our Festival Schedule page for links to the online schedule. Stay tuned to Instagram and email for programming updates.

WORKSHOPS & SPECIAL EVENTS

What are the types of Festival Events?
The Telluride Mushroom Festival has three different kinds of event types listed in this year’s program.

1. Free Events: Listed in GREEN and are free-to-the-public events (no charge)
   • These include Mushroom ID Tent, Parade, free outdoor workshops, vendor booth viewing, and other TBD events.
2. Full Festival Pass Holder Events: These will be included in the purchase of a full festival pass. Some of these events may have limited space available. Be sure to view the schedule online to better plan for arriving to your favorite workshops, lectures and forays on time.
   • These events include:
     • Forays hosted by our top Mycologists, Presenters and festival staff
     • Lectures/Presentations from National and International acclaimed researchers, mycologist and people in Mushroom, Fungi and the like.
     • Presentation workshops held in smaller groups with hands on applications
     • Poetry Night lead by our very own Art Goodtimes.
     • Mushroom/Entheogenic Gourd sessions
     • Mushroom Cooking demonstrations
3. Special Event Tickets: These are premium events that are not included in the full festival pass and have a fee associated with them. They often have limited space and require a separate ticket.

Where can I buy special event tickets?
Special Event Tickets (LIMITED) are released May 1st. Event details and ticket sales can be found on our Passes page.

How do I learn more about the Pre Fest Workshop I bought?
We will be sending out the QR code/ticket in the weeks leading up to the festival. If you bought a Pre-Fest workshop or special event ticket we will be following up closer to the festival dates with information on that specific event.

Are some special events and workshops included in my festival pass?
This year we have special events and workshops throughout the fest, since these events are included in your fest pass, please sign up at the registration table for special events you want to attend. Space is limited. Sign up is located at the Workshop Tent at Elks Park.

GETTING A SPOT AT THE VENUE

What does the queue system look like for 2023?
Lectures and presentations will be first come first served until we reach capacity for each venue. Please come early to ensure you get a spot. For more information, see below on “first come first serve” seating. For more information please see our How-to Mush Fest page.

Does signing up on Sched save my spot in line for events?
No. This just allows our Pass Holder attendees to make a list of events of what they WOULD LIKE to attend. ALL PASS HOLDERS MUST show up to the event venue and wait in the Queue line to be admitted. For Special Events – YOU MUST PURCHASE YOUR TICKET TO GAIN ADMITTANCE TO THE SPECIAL EVENT.

TICKETED SPECIAL EVENTS

Do I have to line up early for my Special Event (extra ticketed purchase)?
All special events that were sold separately do not have queue systems or open registration at the fest. Please show up to the location specified on the event description or emailed to you before the event takes place if you bought a ticket prior to the event.

What are the locations for special events?
Most special events will be in the Town of Telluride this year. All within walking distance or a short drive.

THE HISTORY OF MUSH FEST

Telluride Mushroom Festival’s roots span back to the 1970s when Beth Israel Hospital sponsored an academic conference in Aspen, CO. The festival focused on mushroom identification and included lectures on mushroom poisoning treatment and diagnosis.

In 1981, Dr. Emanuel Salzman, founder of Fungophile, Inc. and co-founder of the Aspen Mushroom Conference moved to Telluride. The Telluride Mushroom Festival was born with the creative energy of: Manny and Joanne Salzman, Gary Lincoff, Andrew Weil, Paul Stamets, the Gillmans, the Adams, Art Goodtimes, and John Sir Jesse.

Since then, the Festival has hosted Nobel Prize laureates, anthropologists, medical doctors, professors, psychonauts, writers, chemists, thought-leaders, religious leaders, and others famous in their respective fields. It is a weekend of mycology-related forays, talks and special events and is famous for the lively experience it provides all festival goers and participants.