Farm Aid’s annual festival — a full day of music, family farmers, HOMEGROWN food and agrarian experiences — is coming to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 30, at 10 a.m. ET, at LiveNation.com.
Farm Aid 2022 will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, as well as Chris Stapleton, Sheryl Crow, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Allison Russell, Charley Crockett, Brittney Spencer and Particle Kid. The festival will showcase how farmers are leading the way to mitigate climate change by sharing their stories on the Farm Aid stage and throughout the event.
This is the second time the Farm Aid festival has taken place in Raleigh, having made its debut there in 2014.
“I’ve always said that family farmers strengthen us all,” said Farm Aid President and Founder Willie Nelson. “Farmers in North Carolina, across the Southeast, and all over the country are growing solutions to our toughest challenges, including climate change. We’re bringing Farm Aid here to highlight their hard work and celebrate the ways we can all join farmers to help.”
Agriculture is the lifeblood of North Carolina, generating $92.7 billion annually and employing 17.5% of the state’s workforce (more than 700,000 jobs). Home to 41,500 farms, farmland makes up more than 8.3 million acres of the Tar Heel state. North Carolina’s agriculture is extremely diverse, with 150 different farm products produced. Farms across the state engage in direct-to-consumer sales, creating the foundation for a vibrant local food system. Across the state, climate change has a considerable impact — especially on communities of color, rural communities and those working in agriculture. North Carolina farmers are implementing techniques to mitigate climate change, including planting crops to cover soil between growing seasons, rotating crops, reducing soil tillage, integrating livestock and crop production, raising pastured livestock, and improving soil and water management.
Farm Aid festival attendees experience a full day of music and the taste of local flavors with Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Concessions®, which offer a diverse, fresh menu with ingredients that are produced by family farmers using ecological practices with a fair price paid to the farmers. Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Village features hands-on activities engaging festivalgoers with exhibits about soil, water, energy, food and farming. Festivalgoers can hear farmers and artists inform and inspire on the FarmYard Stage and celebrate the know-how and diversity of cultures of agriculture in the HOMEGROWN Skills tent.
“Everywhere we go, we hear from festivalgoers that there’s nothing quite like the Farm Aid experience,” said Farm Aid Executive Director Carolyn Mugar. “Farmers and eaters are inspired and empowered at the intersection of music and family farm food to support the source of our food — family farmers — and to join farmers in fighting for our soil and water. We will celebrate the family farmers of the Southeast and amplify their voices on the Farm Aid stage in September.”
Tickets will go on sale Saturday, July 30, at 10 a.m. ET. Ticket prices range from $75 to $315 and will be available for purchase at LiveNation.com. A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 27, at www.farmaid.org/tickets.
