Yesterday, Farm Aid announced a monster lineup for its annual benefit concert at Bristow, Virginia’s Jiffy Lube Live on September 17, 2016.
In 1985, the first Farm Aid was organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp. All three of these artists aim to raise awareness for bolstering family farms and are dedicated to keeping these families on their land. In 2001, Dave Matthews joined these three powerhouses on the Farm Aid Board of Directors.
Joining the four board members are sets by Alabama Shakes, Sturgill Simpson, Jamey Johnson, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, and more. As has been tradition for several years, Dave Matthews will be joined by multi-instrumentalist, Tim Reynolds, for an acoustic set.
Since its inception, Farm Aid has raised over $50 million to promote a flourishing family farm system of agriculture. Farm Aid itself is a nonprofit organization that accomplishes its mission of keeping family farmers on their land by:
- Promoting food from family farms
- Growing the Good Food Movement
- Helping Farmers Thrive
- Taking action to change the system
In a statement on Farm Aid’s press release, Nelson said:
“Folks are educating themselves about where and how food is grown—they’re hungry for the truth. Family farmers bring us good food, protect our soil and water, and strengthen our country. The Farm Aid concert is a day for us to honor that truth and keep working for family farmers.”
In addition to a full day of music, attendees will be able to experience family farm-identified local and organic foods and the festival’s “Homegrown Concessions.” For those wanting to get their hands wet (literally) in the farming world, there will be hands-on activities involving soil, water, food, and farming taking place over the course of the day.
For those wanting to get involved in the digital world, Farm Aid also announced their #Road2FarmAid virtual campaign that invites people to share their actions in everyday life that are making a difference in their own communities.
Tickets will go on sale to the public on Monday, June 27th at 10 a.m. EDT and can be purchased on livenation.com.
For more information on the festival, its mission, ticket info and more, check out the festival’s official press release here.
The team here at ACountry truly supports full spectrum events that encompass music and community involvement. Aside from the living legends performing, we encourage any of our followers in the DC area to get their tix and get involved in a truly sustainable movement.
We’d love to see photos and hear your thoughts, so as always, feel free to Tweet us at @acountry or shoot us an email on this form!
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