The second All Things Fungi festival took place in the picturesque countryside of West Sussex, England from September 13 to 15 and drew an impressive range of globally renowned mushroom researchers, entrepreneurs, educators, and enthusiasts from around the world.
The festivities kicked off on Friday the 13th with a slate of programming covering such topics as “Low Tech Mushroom Cultivation” presented by educator Elvis Benson, “From Bugs to Drugs” by Elaine Bignell of the British Mycological Society in which microscopic fungi were investigated for their role in infectious diseases as well as drug development, and “Psilocybin and Nature Connection” by ecologist Dr. Sam Gandy in addition to over a dozen other lectures and panels across 5 stages.
Immersive activities such as outdoor UV spray painting workshops focused on mushroom art, a fungi-inspired lino carving and print-making workshop, and acoustic performances played into the evolving scene as weekenders arrived in campervans and set up shop for a fungi-filled weekend. Daily forays into the surrounding woods to admire the bounty of wild fungi populating the perimeter of the Chiddingdale Estate grounds were also a high point for many throughout the weekend, and it was on Friday that a number of the most prized finds – such as a robust and choice edible ‘Chicken of the Woods’ mushroom, a ‘Macrolepiota’ mushroom, and various Ganoderma species were identified among numerous others.
I was ‘chuffed’ (as an American, I’m rather fond of my familiarity with this British parlance) to host a mushroom game show on Friday night titled ‘Shroomiversity Challenge’ – based loosely on the hit British television show ‘University Challenge’ featuring competing trios of well-known mushroom researchers and educators from ‘both sides of the pond’.
I razzed the competing panels of world-renowned mycologists and educators with ad-lib quips and quirks accentuating their mostly right and occasionally hilariously wrong answers to the mushroom trivia that was tossed their way. A sample question: How many known species of bioluminescent mushrooms are there? Answer: 125. Just don’t ask mycologists to spell ‘mycorrhizal’, as the contestants very publicly demonstrated that mycologists are not known for their spelling acuity but rather for their ability to differentiate between toxic and edible wild mushrooms. 
Dr. David Luke hosting a talk on ethnomycology
On Saturday, the festival hit full steam with presentations by leading UK mushroom educator Ali “The Fungi Fun Guy” McKernan, a UV walk in search of nighttime fungi finds with festival co-organizer Max Mudie, and a wide scope of presentations that covered folklore of fungi, herbal medicine, cutting edge research coming out of the world’s leading academic institutions, the ‘Funga’ (Flora, Fauna, Funga) of Scotland’s native rainforests, mushrooms of England, and mycomaterials to name a few. Wellness activities such as Yoga in a giant teepee, fungi arts and crafts in a yurt, and more musical performances such as a surprise set by DJ Mr. Assin rounded out the festivities.
Another standout presentation came in the form of molecular mycologist Mandie Quark’s highly anticipated keynote on Fungi DNA sequencing and her recent fieldwork identifying, collecting and documenting mushroom species in the Ecuadorian Amazon – for which she was profiled in a Guardian article earlier this year. I was surprised to learn that over 46,000 mushrooms have been DNA sequenced on inaturalist in the U.S. vs. 63 in the UK. 
Wild fungi Finds from the weekend
All throughout the weekend, food vendors selling Reishi hot chocolate, Maitake mushroom loaded fries (a personal favourite that I may or may not have eaten every day) and Indian vegetarian delights kept the crowd well-fed and happy. Artists such as Harry ‘The Elf Man’ Pack showcased their intricate and enigmatic original work, and activists working with slime moulds, biochar, and all manner of other regenerative and innovative fungi-based biotechnologies were on hand for the three days of the festival to engage with attendees in their tent displays.
A standout presentation on Sunday was Darren Le Baron’s exhibition on his newest venture “MycoBim” in Barbados, the island that generations of his family have called home since their arrival during the height of the slave trade some centuries ago. Mushrooms are generally considered taboo across the island – referred to as “Duppy Umbrella” – or “ghost umbrellas”, a metaphysical framing tempered by the heavily Christian religious ethos that continues to dominate the island. Yet mushrooms hold profound significance as a potential source of void, medicine, material, and income-generating opportunity on the island. Rather than outsourcing community infrastructure and vitality to international aid and development, a circular economy such as the model envisioned by MycoBim that centres the needs, practicalities, and idiosyncrasies of residents of “Bim” in the design and rollout of sustainable communities is a vitally important initiative.
A talk by Lee Davies, curator of the Fungarium collection at Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, laid out the ongoing research into the mushroom biodiversity and conservation projects underway in Madagascar. This talk was certainly one of the weekend highlights for me and several others that I talked to.
A swelling crowd was shown the optimal way to prepare a beefsteak fungus – lightly cooked in a pan over moderate heat in some olive oil
I was devastated to learn that the research taking place in Madagascar is happening globally in ‘secondary forests’ due to the fact that 100% of primary forests on the island have been destroyed. This stems from the monoculture of eucalyptus trees planted across the island to provide charcoal for locals to burn in the absence of an electricity grid in addition to a number of other factors.
I also had an opportunity to debut a new talk with my co-presenter Marc Violo of MycoStories titled “Spore Power: Envisioning a Society Shaped by Fungal Innovation”. Our presentation imagines a day in the life of a resident of Lagos, Nigeria – the emergent tech and innovation hub of the African continent – in 2050. We map out the potential role that fungi biotechnologies can play in the development of sustainable urban planning and effective governance, with attention given to the emerging role of fungi in manufacturing textile and construction materials, powering civic transport, producing protein-rich and nutritious food, and in delivering equitably available and effective medicines among other vital areas.
Another highlight of the weekend – which came a few hours prior to my auspicious beefsteak fungus encounter, I had experienced an absolute clinic of a wild foraged mushroom cooking demo put on by Urban Forage – a former Master Chef contestant with the style and swagger of a seasoned showman coupled with a punk rock aesthetic and a keen knowledge of the flavour profiles of fungi. A swelling crowd was shown the optimal way to prepare a beefsteak fungus – lightly cooked in a pan over moderate heat in some olive oil, but no longer than a few minutes so as not to erase the delicate trademark citric flavour of the fungus.
Many of the speakers and presenters throughout the weekend showed their versatility as artists and musicians in addition to their research prowess.
Ali “The Fungi Guy” McKernan had the crowd in stitches with his exuberance and wit bundled into an acoustic set complete with a rather large Pilobilus crystallinus mushroom protruding from a giant homemade cow patty (don’t ask). He demonstrated the mechanics behind the spore disbursal of this singular organism, which is the fastest accelerating life form on the planet with the ability to withstand an initial burst of *20,000* G’s – whereas the most advanced human fighter pilots pass out at around 8 g’s – by firing off a dart from the model mushroom into the waiting hands of a few riveted young audience members in the front row.
By 9 pm on Sunday night, as much of the crowd had vacated the festival grounds, California Bay Area mycologist Damon Tighe and a few associates could be seen patiently analyzing and archiving some of their fungal finds from the surrounding woodlands earlier in the day.
All Things Fungi managed to pull off an impressively curated, impeccably produced, and utterly inspiring gathering of the international mushroom community that left a huge impression on this mycophile. I’m eagerly anticipating the announcement of next year’s festival dates, and will be honing on my DJ chops between now and then to bring some more fungi funk into the mix.
