From April 17 to 20 Chapultepec will party with the Spora Festival del Bosque 2025it is a celebration to different types of living beings and their relevance and importance in the lives of human beings. It has been carried out consecutively since 2022 and this time will be dedicated to fungi.
Fungi are one of the most abundant organisms in the world, in Mexico, a megadiverse country is estimated that we have about 200 thousand species, of which only information from 3.5% and 5% of them is available.
The most important festival of the year for the Chapultepec forestseeks to make visible issues related to the care of the environment, flora and fauna through cultural, educational and recreational activities, artistic exhibitions and the enjoyment of green areas. It is an initiative of the Government of Mexico City, the Ministry of Environment and the Chapultepec forest with the support of the National Fungi Council and in collaboration with strategic allies, such as the Pro Bosque trustee of Chapultepec and the Coppel Foundation.
One of the main attractions is the monumental sculptures, Andrea Martínez, coordinator of the festival, tells us that at all the venues of the sculptures we can be observing Mexican fungi, except at the door of the lions, where you seek to surprise visitors with a great assembly. “All the fungi we choose is for people to know that species are very diverse so we do not know that fungi can have different shapes, colors and textures.” He recalled that around 150 thousand species are registered, but it is estimated that there are more than one million species in the world not registered.
Spora Festival del Bosque 2025.
He explained that the six representative structures of Macrohongos and the portal were worked with Iztapalapa groups that work in the Faro de Oriente and that they already have experience because they have worked with the Chapultepec forest in the past festivals. “They give work to local artists from Mexico City, specifically from Iztapalapa, with an increasingly polished and resistant technique, as millions of visitors are received and will stay until August, as they will be used for another planned festival called fungi, in the fungal season.”
Around this sample there will also be more than 250 activities in 16 venues. Cinema, gastronomy, conferences, workshops, conversations, picnic, concerts, sale of fungal -related products and the inauguration with the amalia Hernández folk ballet. 90% of the activities are free and the four sections of Chapultepec will be participating to focus on these species, “so that people know that fungi have specific characteristics and that this has a value in ecosystems and for the life of the human being over time, since fungi came to earth long before us.”
Great ecosystem importance
Sandra Castro, doctor of biological sciences and specialist in macrohongos of Mexican temperate forests, also known as @Fungi_cosastell us about the importance of this special kingdom.
“It seems that fungi can only be seen in the rainy season when they leave in the gardens or in the same chapultepec forest, we can also see them when we” hunger “something in the kitchen or the refrigerator or when we eat a cheese with mushrooms. But both microhongos and macrohongos are part of our ecosystem and have very important functions; one of the most transcendental is that they are the main degraders of matter. Organic, that is, they eat all decomposition organic matter and those nutrients that are captured in that organic matter that is decomposing, the fungi metabolize it and return some of the nutrients to the soil. ”
Spora Festival del Bosque 2025.
He explains that they also fulfill other functions, such as being associated with other organisms such as plants, specifically to the roots, where they have an exchange of nutrients and this favors that all ecosystems grow and are healthy.
“It is true that other fungal groups are the cause of some diseases or are parasitic fungialthough we do not believe it is important because they help control populations, both in animals, plants and other organisms, as well as humans. ”
In general, its subsistence is positive and indispensable for planetary balance. “The interactions that fungi have with ecosystems and living organisms, make nature work, so the importance of fungi and their study. Therefore this initiative is very beautiful, because it is a playful way, of dissemination and dissemination so that people can approach and see beyond what we know as a fungus, which is limited to a mushroom or something young; fungi and its functions, so we can become observers and much more participatory in its conservation ”.
Spora Festival del Bosque 2025.
Event details
For Chapultepec it is the most important event of the year, it is the time where all its sections and activities come together to be able to contribute knowledge and give life to the public space.
For more information about billboard and schedules, you can consult the micrositio: https://festiveldelbosque.com/descargables/#educativas
