The annual Farm Aid concert and food festival is headed to Virginia Beach, Va., for the first time this year. The fundraiser for American family farmers will touch down at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater on Sept. 26, with sets from board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young (& the Chrome Hearts band), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff.
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Joining them this year will be Turnpike Troubadours, Lukas Nelson, Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, Jesse Welles, Sierra Ferrell, Mon Rovîa, I’m With Her, Amythyst Kiah, Lily Meola and Chris Pierce. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday (June 12) at 10 a.m. ET via Farm Aid’s website and the box office. A limited number of tickets will be available in a presale beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday (June 10).
“Family farmers grow our food and strengthen our communities. And when farmers struggle like they are now, communities feel it too,” said Farm Aid cofounder Willie Nelson in a statement. “The challenges farmers face threaten their livelihoods and put all of us at risk. We’re bringing Farm Aid to Virginia to stand with the farmers and fishers who feed Hampton Roads and beyond — and to grow a food system that works for everyone.”
Since its founding in 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $90 million for programs that help support family farmers and expand the Good Food Movement, which prioritizes locally grown, organic, humanely raised food. According to the press release, attendees of this year’s festival will get to see farmers’ contributions firsthand via Homegrown Concessions, which will offer a fresh menu with ingredients grown and raised by farmers using ecological practices, as well as hands-on activities in exhibits about soil, water, energy and farming.
Last year’s 40th anniversary Farm Aid took place in Minneapolis, and in addition to its founders, it featured sets from Bob Dylan, Kenny Chesney, Billy Strings, Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Trampled by Turtles, Wynonna Judd, Steve Earle, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Welles, Madeline Edwards and the Wisdom Indian Dancers.
