Farm Aid

infobox music festival
music_festival_name = Farm Aid


location = Champaign, Illinois (1985)
Manor, Texas (1986)
Lincoln, Nebraska (1987)
Various (1989)
Indianapolis, Indiana (1990)
Irving, Texas (1992)
Ames, Iowa (1993)
New Orleans, Louisiana (1994)
Louisville, Kentucky (1995)
Columbia, South Carolina (1996)
Tinley Park, Illinois (1997-1998, 2005)
Bristow, Virginia (1999-2000)
Noblesville, Indiana (2001)
Burgettstown, Pennsylvania (2002)
Columbus, Ohio (2003)
Auburn, Washington (2004)
Camden, New Jersey (2006)
New York City, New York (2007)
Mansfield, Massachusetts (2008)
Participation = Various
founders = Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young
years_active = 1985 – 1987
1989 – 1990
1992 – Present
dates = Various
genre = All
website = [http://www.farmaid.org/ www.farmaid.org]

Farm Aid started as a benefit concert on September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, held to raise money for family farmers in the United States. The concert was organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, spurred on by Bob Dylan's comments at Live Aid earlier in that year. (Dylan said, "I hope that some of the money...maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe...one or two million, maybe...and use it, say, to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks....") Nelson and Mellencamp then brought family farmers before Congress to testify about the state of family farming in America. Congress subsequently passed the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to help save family farms from foreclosure.

Today, Farm Aid is an organization that works to increase awareness of the importance of family farms, and puts on an annual concert of country, blues and rock music with a variety of stars. The board of directors includes Nelson, Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Dave Matthews. Young's speeches about the environment are a highlight of the annual shows.

The 2005 concert, marked the 20th anniversary of Farm Aid, took place at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Illinois, with events in downtown Chicago as well. The 2007 Concert took place at Randalls Island in New York City (1st Farm Aid in New York) and was recorded in High Definition to be broadcasted on HDNet as a 2-Hour Special highlighting many of the performances from the Allman Brothers and Counting Crows to John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson.

List of concerts

As of 2008, Farm Aid concerts have been held in the following locations:

The Board of Directors

External links

* [http://www.farmaid.org/ Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/farmaid Official MySpace]
* [http://homerecording.about.com/od/interviewstipstricks/a/farmaid06.htm Farm Aid 2006 - Behind The Scenes]