Farm Aid 2018 Music and Food Festival Heads to Connecticut on Saturday September 22

Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews to headline Farm Aid 2018 at XFINITY Theatre in Hartford, Conn.

Dave Mathews at Farm Aid 2017

 Farmaid.org Press Release - June 25, 2018

HARTFORD, Conn. — Farm Aid’s annual music and food festival featuring family farmers, homegrown food, inspiring music and agrarian experiences will come to Connecticut for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 22, at XFINITY Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, June 29, at 10 a.m. EDT.

Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson at Farm Aid 2017

Farm Aid 2018 will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, 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.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats at Farm Aid 2017

 This year, the organization undertakes the planning of Farm Aid 2018 in an economic climate similar to the one that sparked the first Farm Aid concert. Net farm income has dropped 53 percent since 2013 and median farm income is expected to be -$1,316 in 2018. In New England alone, more than 10,000 family dairy farmers have gone out of business since 1970. Farmer stress is growing, and a 2016 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the suicide rate for people working in agriculture, fishing and forestry is nearly five times that of the general population.

Neil Young with Micah Nelson/Promise of the Real at Farm Aid 2017

 “Family farmers are the backbone of our country,” Farm Aid President and founder Willie Nelson said. “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.”

John Mellencamp at Farm Aid 2017

Lukas Nelson at Farm Aid 2017

Jamey Johnson at Farm Aid 2017

Connecticut agriculture ranks third in New England in farm sales, contributing up to $4 billion to the state’s economy. Farming and food production generate 21,000 jobs in Connecticut annually and provide environmental and social benefits that significantly enhance communities’ quality of life. Hartford County, where Farm Aid 2018 will take place, represents a rare bright spot in the country, having gained more than 100 farms since 2007.

Neil Young at Farm Aid 2017

 Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual festival to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. For more than 30 years, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, 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.

Neil Young at Farm Aid 2017

 Tickets for Farm Aid 2018 will go on sale Friday, June 29, at 10 a.m. EDT. Ticket prices range from $54.50 to $279.50 and will be available for purchase at LiveNation.com and by phone at 800-745-3000.