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Farm Aid Comes to New York

Look out, city slickers: Farm Aid is coming to the Big Apple. New York City's Randall Island will be the site of the next Farm Aid benefit concert, set to take place September 9 with headliners Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp. The Farm Aid concert series, launched in 1985 by Nelson, Young and Mellencamp, has raised over $30 million for organizations that support family-run farms.

New York may seem an unlikely choice to host Farm Aid, but the concert's move to the big city is meant to highlight the important role urban communities can play in supporting more sustainable agriculture, according to Farm Aid organizers. "Farm Aid is coming to New York because your enthusiasm for family farm food is keeping family farmers on the land," said Nelson at a press conference earlier this week, which was also attended by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Added George Fertitta, the head of New York's tourism marketing organization, "New York City is committed to sustainable family farming in all five boroughs, particularly through our Greenmarket program, which supports approximately 180 local farmers at 47 locations throughout the city.... Farm Aid 2007 will show visitors a greener side of New York City, and we are honored to host this year's concert on Randalls Island."

Tickets for Farm Aid go on sale Saturday, June 16. For more information, visit the official Farm Aid website.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
06.15.07