It’s finally June… Which means Game of Shrooms is almost here! Next week, the 2023 Game of Shrooms will commence. What is “Game of Shrooms”? It’s an annual art hide-and-seek that takes place all over the world for just one day; and this year, it’ll be on Saturday June 10, 2023. It’s a day when artists around the world hide their original art of/about/inspired by mushrooms out in the public. Participants use clues given by the artists to find their artworks, and finders get to keep the artworks! According to the official website HERE, this festive event was created by Attaboy in 2019. (For more on Attaboy, aka Daniel Seifert, visit his bio HERE.)
Photo by Irina Iacob.
Until this year, I had no idea that such a thing even existed! I guess that’s because it’s only been 4 years since it began (this is only the fifth Game of Shrooms event to have ever taken place!) and because it’s an “underground holiday,” per Attaboy’s website. I only found out thanks to a colleague of mine who had participated last year.
And so here I am, joining in on this year’s Game of Shrooms!
🍄How to Participate
Photo by Michael Fousert.
Want to join in on this year’s Game of Shrooms? You can do so by simply searching for a mushroom artwork hidden nearby (to view the map of all the participating mushrooms, click HERE. Scroll down and refer to the interactive map to find your nearest/favorite mushroom art!
Screenshot of the interactive Global Map featured on the official website.
Or, you can do so by hiding a mushroom! To participate as an artist, you’ll need to create an original artwork(s) featuring mushroom(s). Then, submit the form on the Game of Shrooms website HERE. *Scroll down until you see this form below to fill out:
This is the electronic form you need to fill out if you are hiding your artwork for others to find!Some info you’ll need to fill out on the form.
After filling out the form and clicking on the “Submit” button, this page should show up:
Your pin should appear on the map sometime later (it says it’s not added instantly). The final step is to promote your mushroom art via social media and give hints to those who want to find your artwork! 🙂
*Some important guidelines for the event include…
Not hiding artworks in protected areas.
Not damaging private property.
Not leaving any trace after the event, i.e. picking up after yourself. If no one finds your art, you need to retrieve it from the hiding place.
It took me a while to even decide what to create. As I scrolled through the official Instagram account of Game of Shrooms, I saw unique artworks that were painted, sculpted, quilted, felted, and even carved. I was tempted to craft something out, as it looks (and is) like an original souvenir. But as I know the limit of my crafting skills, I opted in to do a painting. But to keep the souvenir-like feel to it, I decided to paint on a tiny canvas. It’s harder to find, easier to take home, and cuter, I think, to keep!
I initially imagined painting cute little mushrooms, but after seeing this incredibly artistic shroom portrait of King Henry VIII (click HERE for the artwork featured on Instagram) I changed my mind. As someone who loves history, I was way too inspired to go back to painting tiny mushrooms.
And hence, my art for this year’s Game of Shrooms was born. I present to you, Napoleon Shroomaparte, aka Shroompoleon!
Napoleon Shroomaparte, aka Shroompoleon (The Time Traveler, 2023)
Clues to Finding “Shroompoleon”
Shroompoleon will be hidden at the University of California, Berkeley – somewhere in the southern part of the campus. Here is the mushroom pin on the Global Map:
More hints will be disclosed on June 10th via Instagram. Stay Tuned… Happy hunting!
P.S. If you find Shroomaparte, please tag @littimetravel for a special shoutout. 😉
6/10/23 Update #1: Happy Game of Shrooms Day! Hints have gone live on Instagram. Here they are:
6/10/23 Update #2: Shroompoleon was found and taken to his forever home by a mystery shroom hunter sometime before 12 PM. Thank you all for your interest & support! ❤
6/12/23 Update #3: I found a mushroom art to keep!
After purchasing my $7.00 ticket for the FoodieLand Night Market back in July, I spent the following weeks excited at the prospect of attending the “foodie inspired multi-cultural food and entertainment event.” Due to the excitement, I couldn’t even sleep well the night before the event!
FoodieLand Night Market in Berkeley, CA
FoodieLand Night Market is held at multiple locations throughout California. The event I was going to was the one in Berkeley, CA held at the Golden Gate Fields.
Golden Gate Fields is a horse racing track in Albany, CA/ west Berkeley, CA. The FoodieLand Night Market is NOT held in this building. It’s held further down in an open area.
Look for these red banners! You’ll get to the entrance if you follow the arrows.
The Golden Gate Fields overlooks the Bay and San Francisco. You can even see the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉:
The Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco seen from the Golden Gate Fields parking lot.
Beautiful scenery of the Bay.
I had purchased the ticket for the 1PM entry (the first entrance period), but came early just in case – arriving at around 12:40 PM. Even though it was 20 minutes before the event, there was a long line already. (But luckily the line moved along quickly and I was able to enter a few minutes after 1PM.)
The booths being set up.
Waiting in line. The red tents were where the inspections and security screenings were taking place. (Plus where you show your tickets to the event staff.)
Restrictions
As stated on their website, you can’t bring large backpacks or bags. Clear, see-through bags under 12 x 12 inches are allowed, along with strollers and small handbags. There was a detailed bag policy on the Cal Expo State Fair website for Sacramento’s FoodieLand Night Market event HERE, so I referred to it. But even when I brought a small clutch bag exactly 5 x 8 inches, the staff inspected what was inside my bag. And they did a body inspection, too. 🙁
So be prepared to have your bags inspected even if you meet the bag requirements.
More Restrictions
Per FoodieLand Night Market’s guidelines, tickets are available only via Eventbrite, and no pets are allowed (except for service animals). To check out the official website for the FoodieLand Night Market event held in Berkeley, CA from August 5th-7th, 2022 (the one I attended), click HERE. If you’re going to attend future FoodieLand Night Markets, make sure to look up the official website for the event you’ll be attending.
And there’s no re-entry.
The Event
Upon entering, I found myself surrounded by rows of booths after booths selling all kinds of food and drinks, like tacos, chicken, boba, tea, macarons, dim sums, ramen burgers, donuts, kettle corn, corn dogs, oysters, and even frog legs!
The actual booths from the event. Booths were EVERYWHERE. It’s useful to refer to the vendor list & map they have on their official website.
I couldn’t wait to try all the food!
Cheesy waffle fries, famous garlic shrimps from Hawaii and food trucks!
Little did I know about the costs…
Delicious BUT Expensive
Having paid an entrance fee of $7.00, I thought the prices of the food/drink items would be from $5 to $10. Based on my past experiences at various events, I had NO idea that most of the items here would be about $20!
#1: Cheese Wheel Pasta (Black Truffle Cream Pasta – $28 <$30 with tax>)
My first booth – “Cheese Wheel Pasta from Italy.”
I decided to start off with “Cheese Wheel Pasta.” They sold basil pesto, bacon, garlic lobster, and black truffle cream pastas. I decided to get the black truffle cream pasta.
It was $28. With tax, it was a total of $30.
To be fair, their pasta was “imported from Italy,” “aged for 24 months,” “made with the freshest milk,” and made with “ingredients from the Provinces of Parma & Reggio Emilia.” But I did not expect the food to be this expensive at this foodie event.
Pasta being made on site.
Pasta being prepared. (Doused in sauce?)
And the thing was, they didn’t have the prices up for people to see. It was only after you get to the cashier and order the item that they tell you how much you have to pay.
But since the pasta was delicious and I had it for lunch, I thought it was worth it.
I mean, all the other booths would be much cheaper, right?
#2: Kusina ni Javen Jesel (Bone Marrow Tacos – $25)
Next, I went to the booth named “Kusina ni Javen Jesel.” They were selling Filipino infused food, including lumpia, empanada and bone marrow tacos.
The bone marrow tacos were $25.
Again, to be fair, bone marrow tacos have quite some meat to it. Plus, it tasted great.
The bone marrow tacos even had these sesame mochi ball things. It was delicious!
After two food items, I had already spent over $50. It hurt, but the food was great and I had faith that the other food & drinks were cheaper.
Boy was I wrong…
#3 – LemonTea Squeeze (Animal Jar Drinks – $25 with cash payment)
Having consumed pasta and tacos, I needed to drink something. Having read about cute animal jar drinks on the vendor list, I went over to the booth named “LemonTea Squeeze” to purchase one.
LemonTea Squeeze with free refills.
Again, the prices weren’t shown on the booth. It was only after waiting in line and reaching the cashier that I learned how much one animal drink cost.
It cost $25. Twenty-five bucks if I paid in cash, and $27 dollars (and I don’t remember the exact change) if I paid with my card.
But I was thirsty, had waited in line, and was swayed by the words “free refills.”
I purchased the $25 animal jar drink, with peach iced tea flavor.
After two items and one drink, I had spent about $80… It was too much, but since it was an “all you can drink” offer with this cute bear jar, I let it go.
This FoodieLand Night Market was until 9:30 PM. It was around 3PM when my friends and I wanted to try more food. We wanted to try the Hawaiian Honey Cones aka the J-shaped ice cream. But they were, if I remember correctly, over $20 each! I don’t remember the exact cost, as we ended up not buying the expensive ice cream. But I do remember it being as expensive as the pasta/tacos/animal jar.
So we decided to settle for some churros & churro sundae at this booth called “Churromania Bakery.” Churros couldn’t be that expensive, right?
The line at Churromania Bakery, with a Churro figure standing outside.
The churro sundae was $12 and the churros cost $5 each. It was definitely overpriced, considering the fact that regular churros cost $1.50 to $2.00 each.
But as it was one of the cheaper food items (compared to the $20 ice cream!), we got the sundae and churros. And of course, we paid the $2.14 tax that was added.
The $12 churro sundae. (Single churros not shown in the photo.)
#5 – Big Baby Bottle (Small Baby Bottle – $27.56)
It was 4PM when my friends and I were sitting around in the table area unwilling to buy more food. Everything was overpriced. Maybe not everything, as we couldn’t check out all the booths and food trucks (which were, according to the website, over 150 in total.) But the ones that looked good and the ones we did get were all overpriced. And we were running out of money about halfway into the event. (The event closed at 9:30 PM.)
But before leaving the event for good (as re-entries were NOT allowed), we decided to try the baby bottles people were drinking from. We wanted to get the really big baby bottles, but we figured they would be outrageously expensive. So we decided to go for the smaller ones.
Again, no price shown on the banners. You find out later at the cashier.
When we got to the front of the line, we were told that the small bottles cost $25 in cash, $27.56 in card payment…
And I’m ashamed to say…
We got the small baby bottles…
The famous baby bottle. The small one cost as much as the Animal Jar.
Conclusion
The FoodieLand photobooth.
Though the event had a ton of great booths, I regret attending the event. Most of the food and drink items were overpriced. I regret getting the small Baby Bottle. And I regret purchasing the Bear Jar, because the thing leaked really easily. My phone got wet with the peach iced tea that leaked out, and now I have a broken iPhone.
Other people might have had a great time at the FoodieLand Night Market. I personally regret attending it. I’m broke and phoneless after the event. (Beware: the cute animal jar leaks!)
In my opinion, FoodieLand Night Market is a great event ONLY for foodies with money to spare. It’s fun ONLY if you can afford everything without worrying about it afterwards.
Heading back home, with the expensive FoodieLand Night Market behind. We couldn’t even stay until the end – we ran out of money around 4PM.
P.S. There were also live performances and game booths. I do NOT recommend the game booths, especially this one selling giant Pokemons:
Because it’s IMPOSSIBLE to win the game. You need to throw the ball, hit this board, and have it fall into this basket. The man in charge of the booth does it well BECAUSE of where he is standing. From where you are required to stand, it’s impossible. ☹ I’ve seen everyone fail, including myself.
P.P.S. If you DO decide to attend the FoodieLand event but you are NOT a foodie with money to spare, I suggest that you eat just 1-2 food/drink items and purchase products instead.
From my experience, it’s just WAY more cost effective. Instead of spending $20 on a single food/drink item, you can purchase a plushie/keychain/succulent/K-pop merchandise or some other stuff that you can bring home as a souvenir.
There was this cute keychain shop called “Cloris Creates” that I couldn’t buy from because I ran out of money. They had key chains of different breeds of dogs, cats, bunnies, parrots and reptiles! Plus, I recommend this cute succulent shop that I THINK was called “Juliet’s Succulent Garden.” I didn’t have money left to buy anything from them, but they had really cute succulent keychains & more.
The Time Traveler is an upcoming author who holds great appreciation for both classic literature and history. The author aspires to publish historical fictions and other written works in the near future, in hopes of creating works that entertain, inform, and inspire.
The author also appreciates all things aesthetic and enjoys traveling around the world to learn and observe.
