The Healing Appalachia music festival brought tens of thousands of people to the Boyd County Fairgrounds in Ashland, Kentucky, Sept. 18-20, combining nationally recognized artists with a message of recovery and resilience in a region heavily impacted by addiction.

The three-day event, which began Thursday, drew more than 25,000 attendees on Friday and Saturday. Chris Stapleton headlined on Friday while Tyler Childers closed the festival on Saturday. The crowd size was defined by both the popularity of the performers and the support for the festival’s mission.

Healing Appalachia is produced by Hope in the Hills, a nonprofit that directs its proceeds to recovery, prevention and wellness programs across Appalachia. Since its start in 2016, the group has raised more than $1 million for more than 100 organizations. It is clear that while the music helps to attract the crowd, the purpose of the festival is to support communities affected by addiction.

In addition to live performances, the festival included overdose prevention training. From the stage, volunteers demonstrated how to administer naloxone (Narcan) to reverse opioid overdoses. The training was provided to thousands of attendees over the weekend, part of a broader effort to equip the public with tools to save lives.

Dozens of booths lined the fairgrounds, offering information about recovery services, treatment programs and wellness resources. Rehabilitation organizations and nonprofits handed out pamphlets, answered questions and encouraged attendees to get involved.

The festival also included typical attractions, such as food trucks, craft vendors and small businesses, giving the event an equal amount of entertainment and education.

Many of the festival’s volunteers were in recovery themselves, helping run the event while demonstrating the mission in action. 

For the city of Huntington, the festival’s mission has particular significance. In 2016, the city drew national attention when 26 overdoses occurred in a single day. The day is what inspired Hope in the Hills to come to fruition and begin what is now the yearly Healing Appalachia festival. Since then, Huntington has become a focal point in both the devastation of the opioid epidemic and the development of innovative recovery programs.

“I’ve grown up going to Huntington my whole life, and it’s just sad,” local attendee Chris Mullins said. “Now, I came to see the music, but I also came because I’ve seen what addiction does to people, and I think what they’re doing here is a great thing for these communities.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia continues to have the highest crude drug overdose rate in the nation. In 2023, the state’s age adjusted rate was 81.9 per 100,000.

“I’ve experienced loss in my life and pain and everything else that comes with knowing someone that’s fighting addiction,” festival attendee Michelle Boone said. “Dealing with it isn’t fun; it’s not pretty, but (Healing Appalachia) connects you with people that can understand you in ways many other people can’t.”

Healing Appalachia is positioned to continue to grow as both a music event and a recovery initiative. While the music is a powerful connector, the event’s long-term goal remains supporting recovery and prevention services throughout Appalachia.

As the final notes of Childers’ set closed out the weekend, the broader mission was still evident: to keep building awareness and hope in communities still struggling with the drug epidemic.

Healing Appalachia is proof that Appalachia is more than its challenges. It is a region working together toward solutions.