Sept. 24, 2026

Building Community and Mental Wellness at Danny Wimmer Festivals with One Million Strong

Show Notes
Transcript

In this episode, Pipeman welcomes Tommy Fijacko from One Million Strong to discuss the intersection of music festivals, mental wellness, and community building. Broadcasting just after Louder Than Life and ahead of Bourbon and Beyond, the conversation explores how One Million Strong is creating safe, connected spaces at some of America’s largest music events, while breaking down stigmas around mental health and supporting festivalgoers in their personal wellness journeys.Main Topics Covered

Introduction to One Million Strong
- Mission and vision of connecting music, sports, and entertainment with mental wellness (01:04)
- Importance of building mental wellness together, not alone
Festival Wellness Activations
- Description of on-site experiences: elevated wellness spaces, photo booths, temporary tattoos, community walls (01:49)
- The role of music festivals in fostering human connection
Destigmatizing Mental Health
- How mental health conversations are evolving (03:18)
- The vital role of connection over isolation, especially post-COVID
Building Community at Festivals
- Stories of attendees seeking connection at festivals (05:44)
- The emergence of sober mosh pits and intentional meet-ups facilitated by One Million Strong
Changing the Festival Experience
- Shifting from crisis-only interventions to everyday support for wellness (07:36)
- Partnership with Danny Wimmer Presents and evolution of on-site support
Sustaining Wellness Beyond the Festival
- Bringing festival lessons of connection home (14:04)
- Encouraging intentional check-ins and community building after events
Origins of the One Million Strong & Danny Wimmer Partnership
- How the collaboration began (09:19)
- Expansion and positive impact across multiple festivals
Inclusivity and Growth
- From a focus on recovery to a broader welcoming community (16:29)
- Space for friends, family, and anyone in need of rest or connection

Key Discussions and Stories

Many fans attend festivals alone but are actively seeking connection (05:44)
The importance of not relegating mental wellness to the medical peripheries of festivals, but rather integrating support meaningfully on-site (07:36)
A personal story of an attendee who, after plans changed, found a new group through One Million Strong and avoided feeling alone (11:53)
How the mosh pit serves as a metaphor for community, release, and healing (13:24)
The significance of taking home the sense of belonging and strength found at the festival (14:04)

Notable Quotes

"When it comes to mental wellness, human connection is really at the heart of all of it." – Tommy Fijacko (02:24)
"Music festivals, music in general, is some of the best therapy, in my opinion, for both artists and attendees." – Pipeman (05:02)
"That's not what mental wellness is all about. I think people who are anywhere on a mental health journey are, are some of the strongest people on the planet." – Tommy Fijacko (04:33)
"You have people that the outside world likes to think we look pretty scary, that at the end of a mosh pit, all these big scary people are hugging each other." – Pipeman (13:11)
"Take what you've done here, take this transformative, amazing experience, take the connections and community that you built, bring that back home." – Tommy Fijacko (14:04)
"At the end of the day, this whole space is nothing if not for the community that keeps coming back to it." – Tommy Fijacko (17:55)

Resources & Links Mentioned

Instagram: @join1millionstrong (19:22)
Website: onemillionstrong.com (20:01)

How to Stay Connected

Visit the One Million Strong wellness space at festivals such as Bourbon and Beyond (located at the West Wing of the Kentucky Expo Center, near the VIP entrance and main merchant tents) (18:00)
Check out message walls, get creative in the photo booth, and read/share stories with the festival community
Follow and interact on Instagram, and visit the website for more stories, partner resources, and mental wellness tips

Final WordBoth Pipeman and Tommy Fijacko encourage listeners to prioritize connection and community as the cornerstone of mental wellness—and to keep the spirit of festival togetherness alive beyond the music.

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WEBVTT

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Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio.

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This is Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man

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W4CY Radio. And I just got back from Louder Than Life.

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And I was really, really impressed by a booth there

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at Larry and life that we're going to talk about today.

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So I'd like to welcome to the show, Tommy for

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Jacko from 1 million strong.

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Thank you so much for having me. This is a,

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it's a great time of year is something that I

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look forward to every time being on the ground.

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At bourbon tomorrow.

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Yeah. No rest for the wicked, like just finished louder

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and right on to bourbon. So, Tell, let's start off

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by telling the listeners a little bit about what One

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Million Strong is all about.

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Yeah.

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So One Million Strong is an initiative that's uniting music

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and sports and entertainment to change how we think about

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mental wellness. And it's really something that we want to

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build together. We want to build mental wellness together, not alone. Historically,

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music and sports and entertainment, they've driven culture, they've driven

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social change. So this is, it's an activation, it's an

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experience that we want to bring to each festival that

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we're part of. And we recognize that shared experiences bring

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people together around the common cause. So what One Million

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Strong is doing on the ground, again, we were at

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Louder Than Life just this past weekend, we'll be returning

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for Bourbon and Beyond. is bringing our signature wellness experience.

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This is a.

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Elevated upscale kind of space where really first and foremost,

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people are gonna find a sense of connection with one another.

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But there's a number of.

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Opportunities and pieces of that activation where people can find

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ways to express themselves, share stories of their own strength

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and resilience with one another in really approachable ways. Includes

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photo booths, temporary tattoos, a community wall for people to

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leave each other messages. But really, again, this kind of

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comes back to our core idea that when it comes

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to mental wellness, human connection is really at the heart

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of all of it. And so what better place to

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show that than at a festival?

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And I think that's so true. It's so important. And

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I think with a lot of things that have been

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going in the past several years, including the lockdown of COVID,

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that human connection is and social media and stuff, human

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connection has been, you know, put to the back burner.

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So I love an organization like yours because I think

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it is so necessary for mental health, you know, and

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there are a lot of people, you know, you wouldn't

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even think in the whole music entertainment sports arena where

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you would think mental health would not be an issue,

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but it's actually a very huge issue.

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Completely agree.

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And it's interesting, over the past few years, I mean,

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mental health has become a topic of conversation. So that's

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good on the one hand. We're destigmatizing that topic. But

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somewhere along the way, I wonder if it became a

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conversation about, hey, how do we make mental health something

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that I just do by myself? And really, it's a

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thing that I only address when I'm in crisis. This

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is what One Million Strong is really trying to shift.

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I mean, you kind of just mentioned it, but this

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whole idea of human connection being fundamental. you know, going

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back to COVID, we all experienced that. We saw what

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happens when we're isolated from each other. And studies will

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show you that, you know, it's not a replacement for

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therapy or more clinical approaches. I think there's a time

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and place for all of that. But this is a bedrock.

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This is kind of the fundamental piece. So we're all

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going to go through life experiencing the hard times. We're

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also going to experience some great times. And we love

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sharing our joys with people when we have them. It

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also helps when others can help carry your load as well.

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So somewhere along the way, I think people started hearing

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the message that when it comes to mental wellness, I've

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got to be strong. I've got to power through it.

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That's just not how this works. That's not what mental

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wellness is all about.

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I think people who.

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Are anywhere on a mental health journey are some of

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the strongest people on the planet. That's no doubt. I mean,

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everybody is wrestling with something. So it's not about strength.

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We're all strong.

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The question is, how do we share that with other

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people so that we go through this journey called life together?

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And again, I think at a festival, it's one of

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the best places to show that.

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Now, I agree with that. Music festivals, music in general

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is some of the best therapy, in my opinion, for

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both artists and attendees. And music festivals, specifically the Danny

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Wimmer festivals, are such a community and such a family

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of people together that Even myself, I feel when I'm there, like,

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you know, I'm there amongst my couple hundred thousand closest friends.

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And I do find that I have more friends at

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the festivals than I do at home. Because why? Because

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nobody's an outsider at the festival, number one. We share

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a common interest in the music, but also we get

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to escape the world of negative chatter.

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Yeah.

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You know, it's really interesting.

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I saw this statistic the other day. Something like one

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in three fans are showing up alone to festivals. And we've,

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by the way, we've heard these stories in the One

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Million Strong Ten almost daily. I mean, people are coming

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in by themselves and they're seeking out a relationship with someone.

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They want friendship. They want that sense of connection. So

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a festival is a great place to find that. And

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we all know, I mean, music is something that's even

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better when you can enjoy with other people. So imagine

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now being in a crowd. And you think, yeah, here's 100,000

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other people, but you still feel alone.

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We don't want that, right?

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And it goes back to this whole idea that if

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connection is fundamental to our mental well-being, let's go create

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intentional moments where people can find that connection. So that's

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really actually the idea of that one million strong space.

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We've had a number of these kinds of stories. I mean,

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you talk about the community that keeps coming back. We've

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been at this with Danny Wimmer now for five years.

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This is going to be our fifth year activating at

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of course, this past week at Louder and then at

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Bourbon and Beyond this coming week. But you've got people

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in there who not only, of course, remember the 1

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million strong experience in us, but they're coming in to meet.

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Up with each other.

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At Louder, we've had people coming in and planting silver

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mosh pits, which is incredible.

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That's exactly what we want to go see, right?

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People who are like, yeah, you know what, man, you

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guys have mocktails I can gather here.

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Cool.

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Let's find the meeting place so we can all go

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back out into that craziness together and share a sense

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of strength. You've got people who also say like, you

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know what, man, I just need a little bit of

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a breather because it's kind of crazy out there right now.

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That's great.

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Wherever you are on the mental health journey, that place

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is for you. So it is kind of interesting, this

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idea that a festival maybe a few years back probably

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would have seemed like an odd place to talk about

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mental wellness, to have this kind of conversation.

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I got to give credit.

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The Danny Wimmer Presents team And what they've done through

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our partnership here with One Million Strong, I think has

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really set the standard, which is now when it comes

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to mental wellness, this is not something we're going to

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do on the peripheries.

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Of a festival anymore. And you've seen this. We've all

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seen it.

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When someone's experiencing a crisis, usually the way it works

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is you flag someone down, you leave the fund, you

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go off to the periphery of the festival, you go

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to a medical tent. And only when you're, quote, better

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can you return to the fund. Again, there's a time

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and place for that. that's that we don't want to

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take that's that's necessary right we we need that that

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crisis care to exist yeah but what kind of a

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message are we sending if we say yeah when it

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comes to your mental wellness just look when you're having

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a really difficult time you have to leave this amazing

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experience that you came here for go over there and

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come back when you're ready we got to do away

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with that right create a moment where people can actually

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feed that sense of their well-being daily every single moment

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when they need it just in time right not when

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things are in crisis so The Danny Wimmer team, I think,

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has done an incredible job to make that the expectation

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at their festivals.

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And we're thrilled to be a part of it.

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Yeah, and as somebody that does all the Wimmer festivals,

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it's obvious to me that Danny Wimmer really does care

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about mental health. It's not just about the festival. It's

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not just about the music. It is about the well-being

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of every single person involved. that is at that festival, attendee, worker, artist,

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doesn't matter, volunteer. And so it's pretty cool that you

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formed this partnership. So let's go back a little bit.

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How'd this come about where One Million Strong, Stand Together

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and Danny Wimmer all stood together?

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So this was five years ago.

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We approached the Danny Wimmer team and had a conversation

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about what it is that festivals are doing these days

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when it comes to mental wellbeing. And we said the

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same story that I just shared with you. We said,

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is this still what's happening at festivals? I mean, we've

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all been to them, right? But is there kind of

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just this clinical space, the medical tent, and you sort

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of leave the fun? And they said, yep, that's still

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kind of the norm.

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And we said, well, great.

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Why don't we work together to actually shift that and

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try to do something that's more on the front end

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for fans? And again, this is the Danny Wimmer leadership

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because mental health is so important to them.

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They said, absolutely, let's do it.

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So our first festival was a bourbon and beyond, and

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we had much the same space that we're going to

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have this coming week.

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Um, now that blew us away.

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The response, the fans coming by the sense of community

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that they found again, there's, there's something in there for everyone.

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You've got the community wall and you've got the photo,

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like people engage in all kinds of different ways with

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one another. What happened next was the part that, that

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surprised us because, um, the experience was so positive for.

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Fans and for Danny Wimmer.

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They said, hey, would you guys be okay staying that

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extra weekend and then coming back next week to Louder?

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And we said, absolutely. Now, that's a different fan base.

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That's a different genre. We're not quite sure what to expect.

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Will this go in that kind of space? I mean,

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this is heavy metal. We don't know how this plays.

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And we were willing to give it a shot. What

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blew us away is that same experience was, I mean,

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in same force, just as powerful at Louder Than Light.

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That's where the, you know, the mosh pit gatherings came together,

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people meeting up at our space. One of the experiences

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I remember, this was actually at Verben and Beyond, on

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that very first day that fans were coming in, you

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had a number of families that were pointing out to

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each other like, oh, you know, we should have brought dad.

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You know, dad could have come because dad was at home.

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He didn't feel like this was a really good space

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for him. Not the Wemmer Festival, just festivals in general.

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And so, again, I think this has been the beauty

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of what the Wimmer team has been able to do

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over the past few years. It's just the norm. No

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matter who you are, no matter where you are, anywhere

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related to mental wellness, you come and you have a

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good time. There was a fellow who came this past

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weekend to Louder. His story is, you know, he's been

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with us now three or four years in a row.

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And one of the incredible things is he said his

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plans had changed, his friends had left and kind of,

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you know, the group he was going to come to

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the festival with was no longer there. So is that

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a mental health conversation? Well, I mean, it doesn't have

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to be, but it's mental wellness, right? All of a sudden,

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somebody who was expecting a really incredible experience probably is

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feeling a bit alone. And so the first thing he

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did is he came by to the One Million Strong 10.

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And between our team, between the fans that he met

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on site, he was able to find a new group

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to go out into the crowd with.

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That's the kind of stuff that we want to see.

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That's the norm that Danny Wimmer has set.

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So we love that in our partnership and hope to

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keep doing this for many years to come.

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That is way cool, and I have to say, too, funny,

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as somebody who is a metalhead and has been at

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both festivals, in my mind, it was like the opposite.

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It was like you fit in to Louder Than Life

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before Bourbon and Beyond because metalheads generally have turned to heavy,

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aggressive music, whether it be metal, punk, because of their

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mental health, because of things... even dating back when you're

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a teenager, everything that you're going through in life at

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that time and metal or punk was always an escape

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from that. People kind of misunderstand the mosh pit. The

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mosh pit is not about hurting people. It's about getting

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all that stuff out and leaving it in the mosh

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pit where it's not in the outside world. And then,

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you know, you have people that the outside world likes

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to think we look pretty scary that at the end

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of a mosh pit, all these big, scary people are

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hugging each other.

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I got some of the biggest hugs out louder than life,

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first of all.

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So it's some of the kindest people on the planet,

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but look, not to, not to be like a big

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nerd about it, but that how much it is a

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sense of community, you know? I mean, that's a sense

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of like, man, I belong in this space. So yeah,

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when people take that experience and they bring it in

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their everyday life too, that's part of the message. when

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people go back home from this festival, there's always kind

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of that come down a little bit, right? You sort

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of feel like, oh man, that was an incredible experience.

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What now? And I think the message.

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Here from us is take what you've done here, take

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this transformative, amazing experience, take the connections and community that

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you've built, bring that back home, create those intentional moments

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to check in on your people, to talk about how

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strong you are, how strong they are, right? And those

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are natural conversations. I don't mean you show up and

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you sort of, you know, flaunt. So the things you've

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been through, I just mean, you have a conversation about

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the everyday life that you're going through. That's really what

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mental wellness is all about. But people often wonder, so

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what do I go do when I come back home?

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At least as it relates to One Million Strong and

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mental health. And the message is, you know, part of

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being able to build mental health anywhere is recognizing that

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you're not just, you're not waiting for a crisis. So

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go through the hard times, bring people along with you,

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your friends who will see you through those hard days.

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Find different hobbies or interests to engage with, right? This

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is what builds a truly high agency life where you're

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not just letting things happen to you, but you're taking charge.

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You're figuring out what do I want to do with

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my life? How do I create a better situation for myself?

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Those are all the things that we are encouraging fans

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to go do. And again, I think to your point,

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when people are at a festival, they intuitively know that.

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They experience it. They have a plan.

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They know exactly what they're going to do when they

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go back home. It's like the music is gone. What

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do I do next? Well, you got to take the

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same lessons, right? Apply them into your everyday life. Just

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because you have that sense of community at a festival

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with your hundred thousand closest friends doesn't mean you can't

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do that when you come back home. Seek out those

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opportunities to meet other people. Find those moments of intentional connection.

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That's really what it's all about.

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I think, too, it's key. You started by building a

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community for people in recovery. You know, of course, it's

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much bigger than that now. But in reference to what

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you're just saying, I constantly use that reference of like,

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especially for artists. And, you know, and I know I

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go through the same thing as artists because I do

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so many festivals is it is kind of like the

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same as if you were doing drugs or drinking because

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you have that high at the festival and then you

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get home and it's the comedown. and you were surrounded

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by all these people and then you get home and

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you're like by yourself. And so I, I'm very thankful

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that we have something like 1 million strong and your

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philosophies that people could, that are in recovery can take

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those recovery philosophies, imply them to this as well.

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Yeah, it's a space for everyone. So you're right.

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We started with a recovery emphasis in some of those

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early days. The thing that always remained true from then

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until now is that there was this important sense of

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connection that we were trying to create.

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Through this space.

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So what I think, it didn't really surprise us so

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much as we saw an opportunity to kind of zoom

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back out, is the fans who were coming by weren't

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just folks in recovery, it was friends, it was family,

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and it was people who just wanted to catch their breath.

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And we keep hearing the same stories of, I'm trying

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to find a sense of connection, I'm trying to I

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came to the festival alone. I came here to meet people.

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And so we said, well, that's really the power of

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the space. Yes, the space is alcohol free as well.

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Right.

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For those who don't want substances to be part of

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the environment. But at the end of the day, this

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is really a space to foster greater connection amongst people.

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And so I think to your point, if we can

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create an intentional area to do that in.

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And then people can.

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Take that back out in whatever context they want with

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whoever they want, then I think we've done our job well.

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And I think it's kind of like the name of

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the Linkin Park song, Somewhere I Belong.

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Oh, my gosh. Yes.

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That's what they need is somewhere I belong. And I

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think they belong with one million strong.

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Yeah, I appreciate you saying that.

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And, you know, again, at the end of the day,

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this whole space is is nothing if not for the

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community that keeps coming back to it. So we're proud

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to be a part of it. When fans come by,

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they can check us out. We're at the West Wing

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of the Kentucky Expo Center. It's right next to the

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VIP entrance and the main merchant tents. Come stop by.

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Just bring yourself. There's, you know, what the thing you'll

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experience is. You come inside, take a photo in the

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photo booth, go leave a message on the community wall.

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There's always the questions prompts like, what's a song or

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an artist that gets you through a hard time? I

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just think that's fun to share and fun to see

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what other people write. we've had people come by every

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single day reading those notes.

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That's all they do.

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They check it out and then they go on their way.

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It's kind of their moment of strength, right? And they

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kind of carry that with them for the rest of

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the day. So if you guys are going to be

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with us at Bourbon and Beyond, any fans listening today,

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we really encourage you to check us out and see

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what you can carry from that experience back home with

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you to create a sense of connection for the people.

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In your life.

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Yeah, and I totally think that sometimes that's just what

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people need to read other people's stories and to realize

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they're not alone because sometimes you think you're the only

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one going through it, but that's not true. And so

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when you read those stories, I think that's big mental

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health wellness right there. So that's pretty cool. Tell everybody

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outside the festival how they can reach out to you,

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be part of the community, all the particulars of how

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they can stay connected once the festivals are over.

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So first thing, check us out on Instagram at join1millionstrong.

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The things you'll see on there are, you know, we're celebrating, obviously,

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Building Community and Mental Wellness at Danny Wimmer Festivals with One Million Strong

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