09/02/2026
# One Is Too Many Brings Community, Creativity and Remembrance Together
This year’s International Overdose Awareness Day gathering, hosted by One Is Too Many at Come and Take It Live in Austin, marked an important step forward for the growing community effort to remember those lost to overdose, challenge stigma, and inspire action. For the first time, organizations from outside Travis County participated, signaling the event’s expanding regional reach and the potential for even greater collaboration in the future.
The evening began with overdose awareness training, providing attendees with practical information and reinforcing the message that overdose deaths are preventable. That foundation of education and action led into a compelling panel discussion featuring people with lived experience. Centered on the theme of drug use, creativity, and transformation, the conversation explored how art can help people survive difficult experiences, reclaim their identities, and build meaningful lives.
The musical program opened with War Party, an Indigenous tribal drum group featuring a drummer and a wind instrumentalist and vocalist. Their performance was powerful and deeply grounding, establishing a spirit of connection and reflection that carried throughout the evening.
Seattle artist Betty X followed with two spoken-word performances addressing the challenges and stigma experienced at the intersection of substance use and s*x work. Her pieces brought visibility to people whose experiences are too often overlooked and challenged the audience to consider how stigma can isolate individuals and prevent them from receiving compassion, support, and care.
One of the evening’s most moving moments came during the candlelight memorial. performed an acoustic rendition of “Hurt” as attendees honored and remembered the lives of those taken too soon. The performance created space for grief, love, and reflection while reminding everyone present that behind every overdose statistic is a person, a family, a circle of friends, and a story deserving to be remembered.
The evening continued with energetic performances by , The Rubicon Crossing , and Big Cat Attack Together, the artists demonstrated the ability of music and creative expression to bring people together across different experiences, cultures, and communities.
The event succeeded because it was more than a concert, more than a training, and more than a memorial. It brought education, lived experience, advocacy, cultural expression, music, and remembrance together under one roof. It acknowledged the pain caused by overdose while also offering hope, connection, and a call to action.
One Is Too Many was created around a simple but urgent belief: one life is too many to lose to a preventable overdose. Through OneIsTooMany.net, families and communities can preserve photographs, memories, and stories of those who have been lost, ensuring that they are remembered not for how they died, but for how they lived and the people they touched.
With participation expanding beyond Travis County and the prospect of increased media coverage, next year’s event already holds tremendous promise. This year established a strong foundation for a broader regional movement—one committed to preventing overdose, confronting stigma, supporting people who use drugs and people in recovery, and making certain that no one is ever forgotten.
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