Mushroom Mania VII
April 20, 2024 from 12-6 PM at Stone Brewing 4300 Williamsburg Ave. Richmond, Virginia
Free admission!
It is a celebration of the mysterious, magical, and mouthwatering marvel – MUSHROOMS! Join us for our seventh annual fungi fest to honor the creative influence, culinary delights, health benefits, and cultural significance of the mushroom kingdom. 40+ vendors, mushroom growers, speakers, food, craft beer, costume contest, dancing and more. See you April 20th from 12:00 - 6:00 PM at Stone Brewing Company 4300 Williamsburg Avenue Richmond, Virginia.
2024 Presenters & Schedule
The Richmond Moon Market hosts the 6th annual Mushroom Mania fest inside Stone Brewing at 4300 Williamsburg Avenue. Richmond, Virginia.
We’re Richmond, Virginia’s first and only fungi fest going seven years strong! We’ll be featuring free classes, workshops, lectures, screening cartoons, dancing, costume contest, music, giveaways and much more!
SCHEDULE : APRIL 20
12:00-6:00 PM - Richmond Moon Market - Second floor mezzanine
Check out over forty local vendors, mushrooms growers, fortune tellers, artists, plants, vintage wares, jewelry, home decor, art, ceramics, plus the Live Buena taco truck, craft beer, live music, learning and more.
12:00 PM Class: Koji 101 with The Koji House
12:45 PM Workshop: Reishi Grow Bags with Baltispore
1:30 PM Screening: Mush-Mush and the Mushables
2:00 PM The Dance Gathering
3:00 PM The Dance Gathering
4:00 PM Live Music
4:20 PM Panel: The State of Psychoactive Plants and Fungi in Virginia hosted by Dr. Alaina Jaster of Psychedelic Brain Science
5:30 PM. Costume Contest
ALL DAY
Photo Booth
Shop: Rudy’s Exotic Mushrooms
Shop: Richmond Moon Market
Tasting: Little Saints
DIY: Mushroom shoyu-koji experience
Drink: Stone Brewing offers craft beer, seltzer, frozen drinks, NA, sodas, kombucha,
Drink: CLTRE pop up
Eat: Live Buena Food Truck
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT MUSHROOM MANIA?
DIY Mushroom Shoyu-Koji Experience with San-J International
Location: Patio
Time: All Day
Takashi Sato and experts from the San-J International tamari factory guide how to make your own mushroom Shoyu-Koji. A unique seasoning made by fermenting koji, salt, and mushrooms. Get your's started with help from the experts from San-J and ferment it at home. Mushrooms provided by Rudy's Exotic Mushrooms.
FREE (Limited Supply)
Tasting: Little Saints
Location: 2nd Floor Mezzanine
Time: All Day
With a curious and proprietary blend of 100mg organic reishi mushroom and botanical terpenes (i.e. aromatics), these ready-to-drink plant magic mocktails deliver the flavors and mood-boosting sensations of traditional cocktails, without alcohol or sugar. 18+ Non-Alcoholic.
FREE (Limited Supply)
Class: Reishi Grow Bags with Baltispore
Location: Tap Room
Time: 12:45 PM
Demystify the cultivation process for gourmet and functional mushrooms using the “grow bag” technique. Learn how fungi saved founder, Michael Holcomb’s life and led him to community. Dip dive into the history of ancient herbal medicine and mushrooms. Renowned for their myriad health benefits spanning nearly 4,000 years, Reishi mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum) are a cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Once rare and coveted, modern cultivation methods have brought these powerful fungi within your reach. Whether you’re a seasoned grower or a curious newcomer, the Reishi “Set & Forget” Grow Kit promises a fulfilling journey into the world of mushrooms.
Class: FREE Baltispore Reishi grow bag: $35
Screening: Mush-Mush and the Mushables Season 2
Location: 2nd Floor Classroom
Time: 1:30 PM
Mush-Mush and the Mushables are putting the fun back into fungi. Mush-Mush and his friends are tiny guardians of the forest who go on adventures in a wondrous and wild world of nature. Join them as they learn about their unique abilities, have fun, and find there's a lot to learn about growing up.
FREE.
Performance: The Dance Gathering
Location: Tap Room Time: 2 & 3 PM
The Dance Gathering is a celebration of creativity, collaboration and dance! This group promotes the community of performers whose mission is to bring dance to Richmond. Don’t miss their special Mushroom Mania performance. Do you dare dance through their fairy ring?
FREE
Richmond Moon Market
Location: 2nd Floor Mezzanine Time: All Day
Richmond’s favorite craft and wellness market featuring over forty local vendors, mushrooms growers, fortunes, herbalists, artists, plants, vintage wares, jewelry, home decor, art, ceramics, clothing and more. Plus the Live Buena taco truck, craft beer, and live music.
Koji 101 with The Koji House
Location: 2nd Floor classroom Time: 12:00 PM
Koji 101: what is it? Why is it significant? What can it do for us? Koji House founder, Nick Adams, will discuss koji as a humble fungus, innovative biotechnology, and portal to cultural and culinary exploration!
Aspergillus oryzae, a naturally enzyme-rich edible mold known as kōji, is used to saccharify rice, sweet potato, and barley for making alcoholic beverages such as sake and shōchū, and to ferment soybeans for making tamari, soy sauce and miso, but it can be used for so much more!
Koji House - a food company using its distinctive cultural and culinary niche to share completely new ingredients, products, and ideas with our fellow Virginians and beyond. We are proud to offer ranges of handmade, koji-infused spice blends, sauces, and instant drink mixes that highlight lesser known aspects of the Japanese foodscape. We use our creations as a platform for education, inspiration, and as a means to champion concepts of sustainability and the elevation of the home cooking experience.
Panel Talk: The State of Psychoactive Plants and Fungi in Virginia
Location: 2nd Floor Classroom Time: 4:20
Discuss the changing laws, local research, and social mores regarding psychoactive plants and fungi in the commonwealth of Virginia. Hosted by Dr. Alaina Jaster PhD., and Will E. Nelson.
FREE
Panelists:
Dr. Alaina M. Jaster PhD - Host
Alaina M. Jaster, PhD is the co-founder of Psychedelic Brain Science and hosts Your Brain on Science, a podcast dedicated to bringing psychedelic science to the lay audience. She is a trained neuropharmacologist studying psychedelics and substance use disorders, and is currently transitioning to a postdoctoral researcher position at Wayne State University to study brain circuits involved in fear processing and intergenerational trauma. She is passionate about bridging the gap between clinical and preclinical research, and hopes to do that with scientific communication and translational models of research. Alaina loves going to see live music of any genre and talking about everything and anything, even when unprompted. She also works in harm reduction, providing naloxone education and training to medical students and undergraduate students.
Will E. Nelson - Host
Will Nelson, Co-Founder of Decriminalize Nature Virginia, is a key figure in driving statewide reform for psychedelics and entheogenic plants. With a talent for political and community organizing, he has traveled around the Commonwealth of a Virginia to educate and discuss legislation. Will's expertise extends to conducting workshops on plant and mushroom cultivation throughout the state.
Eric Postow Esq. - Panelist
Eric Postow is the Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Holon Law Partners, a pioneering national virtual law firm renowned for its forward-thinking approach in the legal landscape. Holding a license to practice law in Virginia, Eric specializes in the legalities surrounding cannabis, hemp, and plant medicines. He is a founding member of the Psychedelic Bar Association, where he serves on the Religious Use Committee as an expert in First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). In this capacity, he engages with legal professionals nationwide, working collaboratively to shape, understand, and articulate the present and future landscape of psychedelic use in society. Eric advocates for a nuanced understanding of psychedelics, recognizing the distinct qualities of each medicine, substance, plant, and fungi, and emphasizing the importance of regulated therapeutic use models alongside protected religious, ceremonial, and spiritual practices.
Dr. Harrison Elder PhD - Panelist
Dr. Harrison Elder is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he was first introduced to the field of behavioral pharmacology as an undergraduate. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology & Toxicology from VCU’s School of Medicine where his research focused on the co-use of fentanyl with psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine and cocaine. While at VCU Dr. Elder conducted preclinical research with monoaminergic drugs to examine the contributions of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin receptors to methamphetamine’s effects and published peer-reviewed papers on the pharmacology of opioids, stimulants, and psychedelics. Dr. Elder’s research background also includes over 4 years of experience with industry sponsored clinical trials where he was involved in abuse liability assessment and pharmacovigilance monitoring of opioid and cannabinoid therapeutics, which contributed to the successful approval and rescheduling of the cannabidiol (CBD) therapeutic Epidiolex. Currently, Dr. Elder is completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit under the guidance of Drs. Ryan Vandrey and Tory Spindle where he is studying the various cognitive, psychomotor (e.g., driving impairment), and therapeutic effects of cannabis use in humans. Beyond cannabis, his primary research interests include the therapeutic use of psychedelic compounds and the pursuant regulatory issues surrounding the use of controlled substances in research and medicine.
Alstaire McKemy MSW, LCSW - Panelist
Alstaire McKemy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received his MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2018. He most recently completed psychedelic-assisted therapy training through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, focusing on treatments utilizing ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA. Alistaire is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and specializes in working with clients who have experienced complex and/or developmental trauma and harm reduction.
Isa Bolivar - Panelist
Isa Bolivar is a Medicine Woman and traditional energetic healer, deeply deeply connected to ancient healing practices. With profound reverence, she safeguards the sacredness of Ayahuasca, tobacco, cacao, and the Temazcal (sweat lodge) among others. Isa's expertise extends to herbalism, moon dancing, and sacred smoke rituals, enriching her healing practice with authenticity. She guides individuals through transformative experiences in family constellations and past life regressions, facilitating profound growth. As a seasoned traveler, Isa seamlessly blends diverse cultures to promote holistic wellness. Through Reiki, she channels harmony and balance, offering solace to those in need. Isa's unwavering dedication lies in preserving ancestral healing for emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being.
Costume Contest
Location: Tap Room
Time: 5:30 PM
Come to Mushroom Mania in your finest fungi fashions and you could win cash and prize. There can only be one Supreme Mushroom Maniac! Top prize includes $100 cash and a prize pack featuring @littlesaintsco, @mushroompeople.co, @mushmushfun, @o.wisteria and swag from @rvamoonmarket. Will it be you? Will you be the Maniac Supreme?
Categories:
Supreme Mushroom Maniac
Best Group Costume or Duo
Best Li’l ‘Shroom (12 and under)
More Mushroom Events in Virginia
Location: Visual Arts Center of Richmond 1812 W. Main St. Richmond, VA 23220
Time: April 20 - April 21. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Janpim Wolf
Create a glass mini mushroom plant to spruce up your favorite house plant. This weekend workshop will introduce students to basic flame-working techniques as well as the tools and equipment needed to melt and shape borosilicate glass.
Price $75-155
Location: HaaShrooms 5750 Jabez Lane Goochland, Virginia 23063
Time: Sundays from 9:30AM till 11:30AM beginning in April
Instructor: Steve Haas
Learn to locate and identify wild mushrooms and wild edible and medicinal plants with Steve Haas on their 60 acre woodland estate. The easy hike is filled with surprises and fun for all! These hunts are extremely popular and fill quickly! We do not collect any mushrooms on group hunts. If you are interested in learning more and keeping all found fungi, join Steve for a private hunt.
Price: $50
Location: Forest Library Community Room. 15583 Forest Road Forest, VA 24551
Time: April 20 - 11 a.m.
Instructor: Bedford Master Gardeners
Come explore the Fun World of Fungi with the Bedford Area Master Gardeners this Spring at Forest Library.!
Topics To Be Covered Include...
What is a Mushroom?
What are the health benefits associated with mushrooms and fungi?
The Different Types of Mushrooms
How to Safely Grow Your Own Mushrooms At Home (specifically Shitake Mushrooms) and Where You Can Buy Supplies
Choosing and Preparing Logs For Growing Shitakes
Pests
The library will supply participants with Shitake Mushroom Plugs to get you started on your mushroom-growing journey.
Price: FREE (LIMITED SUPPLY)
Location: Natural Tunnel State Park, 1420 Natural Tunnel Pkwy., Duffield, VA 24244.
Blockhouse Parking Lot
Time: April 20, 2024. 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Instructor: Adam Boring, Master Naturalist
Fun-ji, fun-gi, or fun-gee? Whatever way you say it, fungus is both interesting to say and learn about! For Earth Day weekend, join Virginia Master Naturalist, Adam Boring on the Birding Trail hike to learn about the inner workings of fungi, basic mushroom identification, and responsible foraging principles.
Price: FREE
SPONSORS
Thanks to the generosity of these kind folks Mushrooms Mania remains free and open for all to learn, explore and celebrate the fungi kingdom. Check them out.
FAQs
Free admission?
Yes. We love to share the fun of mushrooms and local makers with everyone. This event is free and open to the public. Donations are very welcome. We need your support to continue the mania!
How can I support Mushroom Mania?
Donate to keep the fungi fun going!
Is this a family friendly event?
Yes! There will be fungi fun for all ages. Friend under 18 are welcome with a chaperone. There will be discussion and imagery related to psychoactive mushrooms and plants there. Please use your best judgement.
Are dogs allowed?
Friendly dogs are welcome on the outside patio. No pets inside.
Got any “shrooms” for sale?
No. In Virginia, it is still illegal to buy, sell or possess psychedelic fungi aka “shrooms,” or “magic mushrooms,” even for medicinal use. No vendors will be selling, trading or giving away illegal items. This is a family friendly event. Be cool. Write to your state and local representatives and ask them to support changing legislation. And check out https://decrimnatureva.org/
Should I do “‘shrooms” at Mushroom Mania?
No, see above. This is for everyone’s safety. Mushroom Mania is a family friendly event.
Many harm reductionists and psychonaughts believe the safest use of psychedelics is in a familiar, safe, and controlled place with someone experienced, knowledgeable, trusted and sober to care for and/or guide you. Be cool. Be safe.
Can I be a vendor at Mushroom Mania?
Vendor applications are now CLOSED.
Can I take public transit?
YES! GRTC is currently free to ride.
Stop: BRT East Riverfront
Stop: 4B Main at East Riverfront
Stop: 4A admiral Gravely Blvd and Williamsburg Rd.
Virginia Capitol Trail cyclists
Exit at University of Richmond docks.
Take Warf St. to 16 Nicholson St.
Bike racks are in the parking lot.
Parking info
Parking is free at Stone Brewing Richmond.
Lot A: 16 Nicholson Street. Richmond, VA
Lot B: 4300 Williamsburg Avenue. Richmond, VA
Nature loves courage.
-Terence McKenna
