William Perry, founder of This Must Be The Place, holds free naloxone medication to be given out to concert goers at the Governors Ball Music Festival on Sunday, June 9, 2025, at Flushing Meadows ...

Longstanding music festivals, such as Chicago’s Pitchfork fest, have been canceled. Other festivals have seen ticket sales decline — even as other areas of live music thrive.

Post music festival is a rare homegrown success in Indianapolis, but most people who care about the event don’t live here.

Some festivals, though, might be hesitant to use test strips because “it’s tough for them to admit that drugs are being used,” Mody says. Some festivals have even banned naloxone.