Auto-SummaryThe University of Michigan denied a permit for the 5th-annual Entheofest psychedelic plant and shroom festival on campus, citing concerns that the event promotes illegal substances. The festival, which has taken place on the Central Campus Diag for the last four years, centers on the education, science, and therapeutic purposes of psychedelics. Entheofest organizers, including SAPS President Emily Berriman, expressed disappointment and hope that the decision could be reversed. The university has not commented on the denial, but organizers remain committed to holding the festival, either with or without a permit, and plan to make necessary adjustments to ensure a peaceful and respectful event.
 That is a bummer. Hopefully a different location can be found for the event ...
University of Michigan denies permit for 5th-annual psychedelic shroom fest on campus
August 20, 2025 - MLive
ANN ARBOR, MI — Organizers of the annual Entheofest psychedelic plant and shroom festival in Ann Arbor are considering their options after they say the University of Michigan denied their request for a permit for this year’s event.
Plans have been in the works to have the fifth-annual edition of the festival Sept. 21 on the Central Campus Diag where it has taken place the last four years, but the Student Association for Psychedelic Studies said its permit request was rejected due to concerns the event promotes illegal substances.
“It’s incredibly disheartening,” said SAPS President Emily Berriman, a UM social work graduate student.
“We’ve worked so hard and so diligently to abide by university policy. We’re willing to do whatever they want us to do, and they still denied us and under terms that we think are illegal.”
UM officials did not respond to requests for comment from MLive/The Ann Arbor News, but Berriman said the university responded to her group’s appeal of the denial Wednesday, Aug. 20, and has agreed to hear their arguments and she’s hopeful the decision could be reversed.
Entheofest centers on education, science and therapeutic purpose of psychedelics, Berriman said.
While working toward her master’s degree, Berriman said she’s interning at an Ann Arbor medical clinic where she does psychedelic-assisted therapy for people with chronic pain, depression, anxiety and PTSD using ketamine, a synthetic compound that’s legal.
“It’s incredibly safe, it’s effective, it’s legit,” she said, saying the clinic has doctors and therapists providing trauma-informed care and patients see a lot of improvements.
“It’s a beautiful space to work in and I see the healing,” she said, expressing frustration that psychedelics with therapeutic and medical potential still are demonized and stigmatized.
Entheofest, similar to the Hash Bash marijuana rally that takes place on the Diag every April, started in September 2021 to celebrate the anniversary of Ann Arbor’s decision to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi. That includes psilocybin or “magic” mushrooms, ayahuasca, ibogaine, mescaline, peyote and other plant-based compounds with hallucinogenic properties that are deemed illegal under state and federal law.
City Council in a September 2020 resolution declared it the city’s lowest law enforcement priority to investigate and arrest anyone for entheogenic plants and fungi. Council also declared September to be Entheogenic Plant and Fungi Awareness Month in Ann Arbor, citing potential benefits of psychedelics for mental health and personal and spiritual growth.
Several businesses selling psychedelic shroom products in Ann Arbor have since sprouted.
Jim Salame, another Entheofest organizer, said organizers filed their appeal of the permit denial Wednesday, Aug. 13, giving UM five business days to respond, but there’s been no final determination on it.
UM cited multiple reasons for the initial denial, Salame said, including concerns the event promoted substances still illegal under state and federal law while the university has a responsibility to uphold compliance with the law on campus, and past concerns with similar events such as Hash Bash.
Organizers declined to speculate whether the current political and federal funding environment under the Trump administration has anything to do with the decision, but the university has taken other steps in light of Trump’s agenda, including shutting down its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in March.
UM is still home to the Michigan Psychedelic Center, a campus center launched in 2022 with a mission to advance education, research, therapy and community engagement related to psychedelics. The center’s founding director, neuroscientist George Mashour, was the keynote speaker for the fourth-annual Entheofest in September 2024.
The permit denial for Entheofest is similar to how UM tried to stop the annual Hash Bash by not issuing permits for the marijuana rally in the 1990s, organizers said, noting the American Civil Liberties Union helped Hash Bash take legal action against UM back then and in each case the constitutional right of free speech and right to assemble prevailed.
Entheofest organizers said they believe they similarly have a right to keep their festival going. While sales and consumption of psychedelics typically occur at Entheofest, it’s not officially condoned and event organizers ask attendees to refrain from such activity while on campus.
Salame, who also is involved in organizing Hash Bash, said UM officials were upset after the last bash in April about illegal sales on campus and they suggested putting up barriers in the future to let in attendees but not people selling things. Salame said he suggested testing that out at Entheofest.
Entheofest organizers can discourage illegal activity, but campus police also have a role to play, Salame suggests.
“The fact that they have so many campus police sitting around letting it go on while they watch is beyond me,” he said.
With or without a permit from the university, Entheofest is going to happen, Salame said, saying it may have to move down the plaza away from Diag construction and they may have to find alternative means of sound amplification and cleanup than what’s usually provided through the university permit.
“We’re still going to go and we’re not going to stop,” he said. “We just want them to support us.”
It will be a peaceful assembly and celebration like always about plant medicines and natural substances, he said, saying keynote speaker William Leonard Pickard, a neurobiologist who spent two decades in prison for LSD, is still committed to coming.
“Entheofest is warm, open and friendly, discussing the immense promise of new therapeutics,” Pickard said in a statement. “Students, faculty and the supportive public should attend, for we are making history.”
Berriman said she believes in the future for therapeutic use of psilocybin and hopes to see it legalized, calling it a compassionate approach to mental health and pain treatment.
“I want there to be research. We’re not trying to send everyone to psychedelics. There’s certain people it works for, certain people who shouldn’t be taking it,” she said.
“For everyone who cares and is passionate about this field, we want this robust research. We want to do it in a respectful, responsible way. We’re not trying to dose everyone on drugs.”
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