Name: Lithuania: Where Fungi Have Their Own TV Show and Some Woods Are Left to Turn Into Ancient Forest
Start: 2026-08-16T12:15:00-0600
End: 2026-08-16T13:15:00-0600

SCHEDULE LAUNCH IS JUNE 21st, 2026

Welcome to the largest wild mushroom happening in North America, the 46th Annual Telluride Mushroom Festival! This program of the Telluride Institute, a 501c3 non-profit, offers a plethora of events ranging from foray and mushroom ID sessions, to hands-on demonstrations and lectures—all led by regionally, nationally, and internationally-known experts, (and we cannot forget the wide variety of social and cultural events offered, along with the famous Mushroom Parade!) there is plenty for everyone, every day.

On this website, you can filter your search by events, venues, presenters, etc. Each year the Mushroom Festival features many wonderful presentations on “all things fungi.” Presentations on similar topics are grouped together at the same venue so that attendees interested will be able to spend more time learning and interacting, and less time walking between venues. See who else is interested in each event and interact with our extended Mushroom Family.

See you soon!

Lithuania: Where Fungi Have Their Own TV Show and Some Woods Are Left to Turn Into Ancient Forest

Sunday August 16, 2026 12:15pm - 1:15pm MDT

Palm Theatre @ 721 W Colorado Ave, Telluride, CO 81435

Lithuania may not be the only mushroom-loving country, but it is one of the very few places where fungi have made it all the way onto national television in a dedicated TV show. Every autumn, mushroom season can feel like a collective migration into the woods - families arrive with baskets, inherited knowledge, strong opinions, and a set of unwritten rules about how to move through the forest. In some regions, these practices are recognized as intangible cultural heritage: an old bond with forests that has persisted even as recent decades increasingly treated woods mainly as timber.

Aurelija Plukė (creator and host of Lithuania’s only TV show devoted solely to mushrooms and the fungal world) shares stories from a truly mycophilic culture, including unexpected folk-medicinal uses of mushrooms such as Common stinkhorn “eggs” and the Lithuanian love affair with False morels. The talk also follows an emerging conservation turn toward non-interference - where the most radical act of restoration is simply protecting old woods from logging and letting them become ancient on their own terms, creating space for rare fungi to persist and be discovered.

Speakers

Aurelija Plūkė

Speaker & Foray Leader

Aurelija Plūkė is a Lithuania-based mycology educator and the creator and host of Lithuania’s first and only national TV show devoted entirely to mushrooms and the fungal world. A lifelong nature-lover, she fell into mycology through macro photography, discovering that what looks... Read More →

Sunday August 16, 2026 12:15pm - 1:15pm MDT
Palm Theatre

Passholder Event (included in Festival Pass), General Mycology

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46th Telluride Mushroom Festival

Aurelija Plūkė

Attendees (15)

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46th Telluride Mushroom Festival

Aurelija Plūkė

Attendees (15)

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