For my friend Bala, who I met living & teaching in a traditional yoga ashram back in 2019, mushrooms are more than an interest; they saved his life. After a near death experience from an idiopathic medical condition, a combination of medicinal mushrooms helped Bala regain his health.

Bala knew I'd had some life-affirming experiences with psilocybin myself; I was the first to introduce him to the notion of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

He reached out to me to partner with him, with the goal of creating an urban festival that celebrates the wonders of mushrooms, the life-changing power of sacred earth medicines, and the wisdom of the natural world.

MMF creates inspiring spaces where beings can learn, grow, enjoy themselves & make beautiful connections; hosting educational talks & panels, arts & artisanal showcases, live music, and community-building activities.

We feel mushrooms of all kinds are ambassadors of a future in which we know ourselves more clearly, feel more deeply, love more openly, and live in greater harmony with nature.

Our main challenge with this festival was to build a brand from scratch; something that could cut through the noise, generate tons of interest & develop enough trust for our audience to buy tickets; a tall order for a new festival with zero established reputation.

We set out to create a brand that feels like a ray of sunshine :) Something super accessible & fun that would make people feel good just seeing it.

We knew our network of experts, thought leaders & partners would bring credibility & authority to the brand, so we felt free to be irreverent & lighthearted with the brand.

To bring that playfulness to the table, we crafted several adorable mascots that blend references to the flower-power era with a contemporary retro-cartoon feel: affectionately named Miss Mushroom, Mr Sun & Flower Bud.

Based on the Amanita Muscaria (the world's most iconic mushroom), Miss Mushroom stands in as our mark.

Going for a friendly, marshmallow kind of vibe, we set the logotype in Lilita One.

The color palette was selected for warm & inviting 70s feelings: with red-orange, beige, brown, salmon & yellow as mainstays + an occasional dusting of purple to add a little magic to the mix.

The identity has been hugely appreciated by the community, and (along with a festival concept Montreal was more than ready for) I feel the brand was instrumental in generating the interest we got.

Over 17 thousand people listed themselves as "Interested" on our Facebook event, and we sold out in our inaugural year! All this starting from scratch & with 99.7% of reach from organic content. I created all the content for our FB & Insta, including visuals & most of the copywriting.

I also had the immense privilege of hosting the festival as Master of Ceremonies & leading the panel discussions on mycoscience & psychedelic therapy alongside some fascinating thinkers & personalities.

Thank you to everyone who came out: we hope to make another edition soon! Eternal shout out to Bala who worked even more fanatically than me to make this festival happen with planning, booking, logistics, financials and basically all the behind-the-scenes work. Much love bud ;)