HeartSupport goes wherever two things can be found: music and people willing to talk about mental health. These two things transcend genre, social circle, and geography.
That was proven true at Bourbon and Beyond 2026, an event featuring diverse headliners including Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, and Chris Stapleton. The rock-meets-country setting held about 150,000 festival-goers from all walks of life. HeartSupport volunteers were on the grounds to meet them at the distinctive Support Wall.
It wasn’t just genre boundaries being pushed and broken.
Festivals are small cities, communities built of bands, crew, staff, vendors, security, and attendees. Throughout the weekend of Bourbon and Beyond, HeartSupport welcomed every citizen of this temporary city to the wall — including festival staff.
A staff member came to the wall with a heavy story about her son’s chronic health struggles. He’d been through two open-heart surgeries, experiences that left his mom’s heart raw in her own way.
“She wrote a red tile, opening up about how her son’s health struggles affect her mental health, and how she fights to be an advocate for others,” a HeartSupport volunteer remembers. “When she returned to view the support that other fans had written to her, she was awestruck at the love and encouragement she found from the community. She told us how she was very grateful and blessed to find us at a festival, and she deeply resonated with our mission to help others like herself who are struggling.”
The staff member was one of many Beyond-goers who found deep meaning through engaging with HeartSupport’s community that weekend. She chose to open up directly on the Support Wall. Connection and openness also happened directly in conversations.
“I spoke with a woman who approached our Support Wall, intrigued by our mission. After I explained who we are and what we do, she took the brave step of opening up and confided in me that she lost two family members to suicide,” another volunteer shares. “In this extremely raw moment, I expressed my condolences to her, and she took a moment to collect herself. She expressed a massive amount of gratitude for having a space at the festival to open up about such heavy grief, saying, ‘I am so glad you are here. I love what HeartSupport stands for and all that you do for the scene.’”
HeartSupport at Bourbon and Beyond 2026
These are just two examples of the weekend’s overall impact. More than 800 conversations about mental health happened at the HeartSupport booth, and many participants in those conversations walked away with information about Support Calls — an ongoing peer-led mental health program that connects trained supporters to fellow music fans in need of a bit of an encouragement boost.
Historically, HeartSupport has been best known in the heavy music scene. Bourbon and Beyond 2026 was proof that people everywhere, on both sides of the barricade, with ties to any genre of music, have stories to share and a need for a safe person to hear them.
Your donation today becomes that connection for someone tomorrow! Consider what you can give to help HeartSupport keep landing in peoples’ lives when they need it most.
