5.7.2024
Meet This Must Be The Place, a Non-Profit Dedicated to Keeping Live Music Safe, One NARCAN® Kit at a Time
TMBTP Has Distributed Over 60,000 Life-Saving Naloxone Kits (Proven to Rapidly Reverse Overdoses) At Festivals Across the Country, With Presences At Lollapalooza, Burning Man, Bonarroo, Austin City Limits, Governors Ball, and Dreamville, Among Many Others
Press for This Must Be The Place:
“Between sets, fans of Kim Petras, Ice Spice, and Joey Bada$$ could get a demo on how to reverse an opioid overdose.” – The New Yorker
“Since 2022 the couple have gone to Bonnaroo, Burning Man, Lollapalooza and more festivals, where, alongside other volunteers, they’ve distributed 60,000 easy-to-use doses of the medication.” – PEOPLE
“Ohio-based overdose prevention nonprofit This Must Be the Place will provide the medicine and have a booth at the festival this year to educate fans about the opioid crisis, according to ACL Festival officials.” – Axios
“The nonprofit aims to prevent overdoses by traveling to music and arts festivals across the country, handing out free kits of naloxone, the fast-acting, life-saving medication that can reverse an opiate overdose within minutes. “ – Seattle Times
“The impact of the Dreamville Festival at Dix Park in Raleigh goes well beyond good vibes and even tourism impact. During the two-day festival on April 6-7, organizers worked with the nonprofit This Must Be The Place to provide three-minute training to about 1,700 people among the 104,000 guests at the festival about how to respond to fentanyl overdoses.” – WRAL North Carolina
The Rundown:
Too many people in the musical community have experienced a loss of a friend or loved one to opioid overdose. The proliferation of fentanyl, an ultra-strong opioid that can be deadly if consumed even in small quantities, has made it crucial for fans at concerts and festivals, at private gatherings, or just at home to be vigilant; to know the signs of an overdose and ready to act when the unthinkable happens.
Enter This Must Be The Place, a small nonprofit based in Ohio that has made it their mission to make music fans safer by educating fans and distributing free Naloxone, often known by its brand name NARCAN®, a live-saving nasal spray proven to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. TMBTP travels from festival to festival, setting up their Corgi-themed tents and delivering free NARCAN kits to fans across the country.
Founded by William Perry and Ingela Travers-Hayward in March 2022, This Must Be The Place has become a mainstay at major music festivals, furthering its goal to normalize and distribute Naloxone and other overdose prevention tools to help curb the overdose epidemic. Since its founding, the organization has distributed over 60,000 NARCAN kits, equivalent to $2.5 million worth of free Naloxone.
This Must Be The Place recently announced its 2024 Tour Dates, spanning 26 music festivals in 18 states. Highlights from the tour include Lollapalooza, Bonarroo, Austin City Limits, Governors Ball, Shaky Knees, Boston Calling, Sueños, and many more, including Comfest and Breakaway Music Festival in the organization’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
If you’re attending any of these fests or the ones listed on the poster below, look for the Corgi tent, come say hi, and pick up some free NARCAN. You never know when you might need to save a life.
View more information at the This Must Be The Place website: https://betheplace.org/
Check out the full list of dates: https://betheplace.org/tour
Please contact Michelle or Gavin for more info.
The Background:
About William Perry
William Perry is a certified chemical dependency counselor from Columbus, Ohio. Formerly incarcerated, and a survivor of daily opioid use, he used his lived experience to co-found This Must Be the Place, an arts-based recovery nonprofit fighting the opioid crisis. Since 2022, they have distributed over 47,000 kits of free naloxone at music festivals across the country.
About Ingela Travers-Hayward
Ingela is an Emmy Award-winning producer. After working in news and short documentaries for CNN, MTV News Canada, and Huffington Post, Ingela began feeling a pull towards wanting a career that allowed her to better help those who have been traditionally left out. After co-founding the arts-based recovery nonprofit This Must Be The Place in January of 2022, Ingela uses the skills acquired through her many years of producing to help bridge the world of music and harm reduction.
About This Must Be The Place
This Must Be the Place is a charity organization based in Columbus, Ohio that travels to large scale music events nation-wide and brings harm reduction tools and education to infrequent and recreational drug users, as well as bystanders willing to step in and save a life. They specialize in serving folks who have had limited access and societal barriers to live-saving overdose prevention tools like naloxone (most commonly known as Narcan). This Must Be The Place merges the worlds of music, arts, entertainment, and harm reduction, and brings overdose prevention tools and education to a whole new demographic. They have traveled all across the country to music festivals like Lollapalooza, Burning Man, and Governors Ball. They have equipped countless tours of a wide variety of artists and worked with musicians on campaigns to help destigmatize the carrying of naloxone.
Links:
2024 dates: https://betheplace.org/tour
