This Non-Profit Handed Out 10,000 Free Naloxone Kits at US Music Festivals

A new non-profit organization aims to tackle fentanyl-related overdoses by distributing free Narcan kits at music festivals across the US. Called This Must Be The Place, the Ohio-based non-profit spent this summer flooding music festivals like Burning Man and Bonnaroo with life-saving medications.  

With overdose deaths on the rise – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that over 150 people in the US die from fentanyl-related overdoses daily – Narcan is needed more than ever.

While NYC introduced an anti-overdose scheme where bars were equipped with Naloxone kits last month, TMBTP breaks the stigma surrounding synthetic opioids. 

Kicking off their mission in May, the non-profit founders traveled around the country handing out Narcan to music festivals’ big crowds.

Besides legendary names from the festival game like Burning Man, the couple also distributed the nasal spray at Pittsburgh’s Maple House Fest and Indianapolis’ WonderRoad. 

Co-founders Ingela Travers-Hayward and William Perry told NME that although the experience was physically draining, they didn’t see one of those kits littered on the festival grounds.

Perry said this meant people were taking it seriously – not because it was something given to them, but “because they were taking it with meaning.” 

“If we had seen it on the ground, it would be heartbreaking, but everyone was taking this stuff or putting it somewhere safe and taking it home with them.”

But not everything was peaches and cream. Due to the stigma surrounding fentanyl overdoses, Perry said that behind every affirmative nod they received from music festivals, there were “20 nos.” 

Throughout the nine festivals that This Must Be the Place worked over the summer, the Ohio couple handed out 10,887 free Naloxone kits. 

In the US, a Narcan nasal spray costs around $61 for a supply of 10 milliliters, depending on the pharmacy you visit.