Willie Nelson with son, Lukas, performing at Farm Aid 2018
Farm Aid has announced the lineup and location for its 2022 event, with performances by board members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, and many others. But for the second year in a row, fellow board member Neil Young will not be participating. This year’s concert will take place on Sept. 24 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The all-day celebration will be held at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek. Tickets go on sale July 30 at 10 a.m. ET here.
Also scheduled to perform: 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.
“I’ve always said that family farmers strengthen us all,” said Farm Aid President and Founder Willie Nelson in the July 26 announcement. “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.”
Neil Young performing at Farm Aid 2017
It’s the second year in a row that Young has decided not to participate. “I am not ready for that yet,” he wrote in a letter uncovered by the unofficial Young news blog, Thrasher’s Wheat. “I don’t think it is safe in the pandemic. I miss it very much.”
When he pulled out last year, he wrote, “While I respect Willie, John and Dave’s decisions to stick with it and play, I am not of the same mind. It is a tough call. All you people who can’t go to a concert because you still don’t feel safe, I stand with you. I don’t want you to see me playing and think it’s safe now. I don’t want to play until you feel safe, and it is indeed, safe.
“My soul tells me it would be wrong to risk having anyone die because they wanted to hear music and be with friends.”
From the announcement: 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.
A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. ET on July 27, here.
Watch the finale medley from Farm Aid 2021
Farm Aid 2022 will air live on FarmAid.org and Farm Aid’s YouTube channel. Returning as the exclusive broadcast partner for the second year in a row, country lifestyle network Circle will broadcast the festival live on air, as well as on its Facebook, Twitter and TikTok pages. Fans can find Circle on its linear feed and across most streaming platforms, including Roku, DISH, Samsung TV Plus, Peacock, VIZIO SmartCast, Tubi, Redbox and more.
3 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationNeil Young actually sounds rational, though some will, no doubt, judge him as misguided. Like all of us, it’s his call. But at least he’s not being disruptive, which is a positive thing for him.
Can’t think of anyone else still seeing it Neil’s way At this point he must feel silly watching from home Neil do you still have internet?
Agree with You Neil !
I just got over Covid + I had received both Covid Vaccines + both Boosters and it was Nasty !