Monday, June 25, 2018

Neil Young and John Mellencamp among Farm Aid 2018 performers


photo: Marc Hauser

Neil Young and John Mellencamp are among the artists set to perform at the 2018 edition of Farm Aid this fall.

The September 22 event at the at Xfinity Theatre in Hartford marks the first time in its 33-year history that the annual charity concert in support of family farms will be held in Connecticut.

Farm Aid 2018 will also feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, as well as Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real, and Particle Kid; additional artists will be announced later this summer.

“Family farmers are the backbone of our country,” says Farm Aid President and founder Willie Nelson. “But today, they are endangered. Whether we live in cities like Hartford or the rural areas of New England, each of us has the power to create positive, lasting change in our farm and food system and strengthen farm families to help them stay on the land for generations to come.”

“The crisis farmers are in now is even worse than 1985, because there are fewer farms left to lose," adds Mellencamp. "Family farmers are becoming an endangered species. They have a whole system stacked against them, and time is running out for Americans to demand a fairer playing field. Farm Aid 2018 has to be a rallying cry for all of us to stand up and fight for these families.”

Launched in 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $53 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be sold beginning Tuesday, June 26 at 10 a.m. EDT via farmaid.org; general public tickets will go on sale Friday, June 29, at 10 a.m. EDT.

Young will play a series of six US solo acoustic theatre dates this summer; the five-city run will open in St. Louis, MO on June 28, followed by two shows in Chicago, IL and one in Detroit, MI before wrapping things up with two nights in Boston, MA.


See also:

Neil Young expands archive website plans
Neil Young announces solo acoustic US dates
VIDEO: Neil Young and Crazy Horse reunite for first show in four years
Neil Young announces first Crazy Horse shows in four years
Search Neil Young at hennemusic