Closing Remarks – Psychedelic Culture 2026
Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. As we bring the journey that has been Psychedelic Culture 2026 to a close, it fills me with so much gratitude and joy to be in the presence of so many people who share the same passion, advocacy, soul, love, and drive that Chacruna has held in its core since its founding.
My name is Alejandra Barajas, and I am the Lead Program Officer at Chacruna. I have been working at Chacruna for four and a half years, and I’m grateful to be standing here in front of you for the fourth year in a row, to celebrate this momentous gathering, all of the Indigenous Elders, the psychedelic pioneers, the young folks paving the way, the plant medicines, the land, the speakers, the presenters, the sponsors, the partners, the Chacruna team, and all the helping hands who have made this possible.
We also want to express our deepest gratitude to the Brava Theater and all of their brilliant team, who allow us to host this important gathering every year. We know that hosting this conference, with three simultaneous tracks spanning multiple days and a myriad of different technical and logistical needs is no easy feat and presents many challenges and learning curves for everyone involved. We are endlessly grateful for your grace and collaboration with the Chacruna Institute.
I also want to thank Bia for her continued leadership in this field and her mentorship to all of us at the Chacruna Institute (and beyond). Every year she tells me, “I’m tired of making all of these conferences, I have been doing this for over 20 years, I don’t want to do conferences anymore.” This year, as a result, she told me, “I want to add an extra day.” And not only did she add an extra conference day, but an additional full day of workshops.
This resilience and passion is echoed in the work of the Chacruna team, who endlessly pour their heart and soul into continuing the legacy that Chacruna has built over the years. If there is one thing we have proven to ourselves and others, it is that there is no challenge, big or small, that we can’t take on.
“If there is one thing we have proven to ourselves and others, it is that there is no challenge, big or small, that we can’t take on.”
Not only did we add extra days, but we expanded our program to include film screenings, dance workshops, art workshops, performances, more space for intimate dialogues, and panels that discussed crucial topics in the psychedelic space. We were also surrounded by a number of satellite events, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, and providing spaces for folks to show up in community in many different ways.
We also implement a call for abstracts process for the very first time and a newly established Program Committee composed of a diverse set of individuals. The committee went through the lengthy process of looking at each submission, one by one, with so much attention and care. It was a very competitive selection process, with only around 60 speakers selected out of the 193 who applied. While this was a major challenge, it offered an opportunity to highlight new voices and create new offerings. Congratulations to everyone who was a part of this process.
We at Chacruna are a very small, but even more mighty, team. This year, we had 22 Chacruna team members present from around the globe, nine interns, over 30 volunteers, nearly 200 speakers (including 12 Indigenous representatives), over 600 attendees, 35 sponsors, 12 media partners, 16 community partners, and 86 scholarships awarded for folks to attend from all over the globe.
Discover the Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative of the Americas
We know that it was not easy for many of us to get here, with the current state of the world and issues surrounding the border. Thank you to those who took the risk to be here for this conference. Your support is invaluable and means the world to the whole team. Chacruna will always advocate for and support those who choose to show up, especially in the face of fear and danger. This is an act of resistance. You deserve to be here, and we won’t be silenced.
“Chacruna will always advocate for and support those who choose to show up, especially in the face of fear and danger. This is an act of resistance. You deserve to be here, and we won’t be silenced.”
In fact, this entire conference has been an act of resistance. In a time where the world is faced with immense political challenges, violence, mental health crises, and adversities which affect our abilities to show up fully, we all managed to gather here, in this beautiful theater, in the wonderful Bay Area, with the intent to learn, teach, grow, and spread knowledge and wisdom, all in the hopes of creating a path forward to advance Indigenous reciprocity, collective healing and psychedelic research.
We created space to reconnect with our roots, to have difficult and honest conversations, and to come together in celebration, in this beautiful cosmological dance that we call Psychedelic Culture.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, but seeing so many people walk the talk and be fully present and open, presents a glimmer of hope in a world where it can be hard to see past the negative.
So, thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts. We hope to see you in the next Psychedelic Culture, happening March 12-14, 2027!
Art by Michelle Velasco.
