PREVIEW: Love.Joy. Festival: Mental Health Awareness Rocks
09/26 @ Indian Ladder Farms, Altamont
**This article originally appeared in our September 2026 issue**
“When I ask people how they manage stress or express their feelings in a healthy way, engaging with music is something people always come back to."
September is Suicide Prevention Month, designed to bring awareness and destigmatize the realities of mental health. Since 2008, Suicide Prevention Month has served as an opportunity to provide accessible resources and connect individuals with help through both institutional and local efforts.
Over the past 18 years, monumental developments have been made in relation to suicide prevention through the dedicated efforts of local figures. To celebrate the years of progress made in mental health awareness, as well as some of the organizations locally and nationally that have helped make these strides, a creative trio made up of Mikey Baish of The Sugar Hold and Metroland's very own TJ Foster and Rory Graham, have come together to design a paramount event for folks to come together in a setting that feels perfectly natural for the music-oriented group. Inspired by the multitude of events coordinated by Keith Morales from No One You Know Productions, Indian Ladder Farms will be the home to the first ever Love. Joy. Festival.
Almost instinctively, people turn to music to assuage some of the most difficult emotions or experiences. According to a recent Yale study, mindfully connecting with music has been proven to reduce symptoms of anxiety and stress. Furthermore, specifically being in the presence of live music promotes connection between audience members.
With that in mind, it seems reasonable to conclude that the Love. Joy. Festival can create a wonderfully effective and progressive atmosphere to strengthen positive narratives around mental health. A perfect environment for the festival to fulfill its intended purpose: to aid in raising support for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“There are so many opportunities in the Capital Region to get our organization connected with audiences and let them know that there is support,” explains Missy Stolfi, executive director of the AFSP’s Northeastern NY chapter. “We’ll be providing resources and selling some AFSP mental health apparel to raise funds and make new friends in the community.”
Nationally founded in 1987, the AFSP has revolutionized research and conversations surrounding mental health. Through involvement with local politicians, community events, and fundraisers, the AFSP has been able to provide free suicide prevention education, trainings, and resources to a wide range of audiences. The creation of the Love. Joy. Festival is a powerful showcase of how combining artistic and connection-based outlets with necessary messaging can produce meaningful, and even lifesaving, changes.
“Music is what brings people together,” says Mikey Baish. “Being together is when people tend to heal. The main focus of this event is people joining together to recognize that mental health issues are real, and we can come together to support those people and provide them with compassion.”
The Love. Joy. Festival is a perfect festival experience for all ages. Presenting a two-stage festival setup with 10 performance acts, with five acoustic and five full-band appearances: Reality Distortion, The E-Block, Hayley Stafford, Will Lawrence, Amanda Case, E.R.I.E., A Day Without Love, Zeffler, Sydney Worthley and Stellar Young (duo). Set against the backdrop of the notably beautiful Indian Ladder Farms, audiences can expect a bountiful lineup of mental health resources as well as many food and drink options. A family-friendly kids’ zone also encourages engagement for all ages of attendees.
Accompanying the Love. Joy. Festival will be an Out of the Darkness Walk, hosted by the AFSP. These walks aid in raising both awareness and funding to allow the organization to continue providing a diverse range of communities with essential mental health education and support. The walk will commence on the morning of September 26 at Central Park in Schenectady to kick off the festivities at Indian Ladder Farms.
“When I ask people how they manage stress or express their feelings in a healthy way, engaging with music is something people always come back to," says Stolfi. “When you add in the layer of live music, it is such an experience to be there with other humans and all the energy that they're giving off. You're all experiencing this common joy from feeling the music you're experiencing.”
Providing an environment where attendees can witness understanding around the topic from people of all backgrounds makes the reality of mental health much more accessible. Love. Joy. Festival is a powerful example of how to spread effective awareness through art.
For more information on Love. Joy. Festival, visit: @love.joy.festival on Instagram or lovejoyfest.com
