Sold-out crowd turns out for Healing Appalachia

BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) - It was a sold-out crowd on Friday night at the Boyd County Fairgrounds for Healing Appalachia. The festival features two Kentucky natives, Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers.

Nick Gaines, program director for the Matthew Perry Foundation said, “I don’t know if there’s something in the water or the food you guys got here, but the amount of world class acts that come out of Eastern Kentucky specifically. Unbelievable the number of acts that you got.”

Scott Lehr, who previously went to Healing Appalachia in West Virginia, said this year is off to a great start.

“It’s much larger,” Lehr said. “The venue is huge, the camping areas are huge. It appears that the vendor and food booths are much larger.”

Lehr and his family drove in from Louisville for the festival to see Tyler Childers but also to meet new people.

The festival wouldn’t be possible without help from the Matthew Perry Foundation, organizing nearly 1,000 volunteers who are in long-term recovery.

“They’re running recovery meetings, doing art and music therapy and getting workforce certification both in the recovery space but also in the entertainment industry,” Gaines said.

He said Healing Appalachia is about much more than bringing great music to Eastern Kentucky.

“Fortunately, there’s a lot of folks here that understand just how much need there is, you know 50 percent of us either are close to somebody in recovery or in recovery ourselves.”

Lehr said, “A very close childhood friend and that ended up passing away, unfortunately, from an overdose and coming here always makes me think of him and it could happen to anybody.”

Lehr said Healing Appalachia is a tradition worth carrying on with great music paired with an even greater message.

The event runs through Saturday.

For previous coverage >>> Sold out ‘Healing Appalachia’ raises awareness, funding for drug epidemic