The Metro: The Recovery and Resilience Festival welcomes a sober celebration

The Recovery and Resilience Festival is an upcoming music and art festival in Wyandotte, focusing on recovery from drugs and alcohol. Festival goers can expect free activities such as creative writing workshops and more.

Christopher Tait and Michael Balcom are co-founders of the free event.

Tait is the director of ‘Passenger’ Recovery, a service providing sober spaces to traveling and local musicians. “For me, the answer was trying to create relief, which turned into severe alcohol and cocaine abuse,” Tait said. 

As part of the band Electric Six for 25 years, Tait struggled with addiction and substance abuse. Through support and connections, Passenger Recovery has been a healing space for him. It’s lead him to folks like Balcom.

Balcom is the director of ‘Be Well My Friends’, a non-profit organization. It’s grown and has developed The Odd Fellow Concert Lounge alongside the Downriver Council for the Arts.

Balcom says working with Tait has made a world of difference bringing the festival to life. “Without him, I wouldn’t have known about half of these places,” Tait said.

They joined The Metro to share how their personal experiences led to them placing sobriety on center stage at the Recovery and Resilience Festival. 

The event runs from noon to 10 p.m. on Sept. 20.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above

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