The History of Mushroom Festival

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.