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Farm Aid 41 Details: Tickets, Music Lineup and More
- Bob Benenson
- Jun 9
- 5 min read
Virginia Beach is Venue for Annual Event Elevating Family Farmers
Local Food Forum overnight shared the announcement from the Farm Aid organization that its 41st Festival — a weekend advocating for and celebrating family farmers and a healthier, more sustainable food system — will take place in Virginia Beach, Virginia in late September.
The Festival begins with two days of informative and inspiring programs, including its Farmer Forum. The event culminates on Saturday, September 26 at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater with day-long concert — headlined by Farm Aid co-founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp and their fellow musician Board colleagues Dave Matthews, Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff.
Public ticket sales for Farm Aid 2026 begin on Friday (June 12) at 9 a.m. central time.
A limited number of presale tickets at all ticket levels will be available beginning at 9 a.m. central time on Wednesday (June 10) and ending at 4 p.m central on Thursday (or when presale tickets are sold out).
If you have followed Local Food Forum, you know that I am a huge fan of Farm Aid, and it's not just about the concert (though it is awesome) and the opportunity to pay tribute to Willie Nelson (still touring at 93), Neil Young and John Mellencamp, whose consistent advocacy since 1985 has influenced my second career as an advocate of better-for-people-and-the-planet food.
I've missed many great musical acts to spend time in the event's Homegrown Village — getting to know dozens of non-profit organizations (local to the venue or national) and the work they do to advance our cause — and to listen to panel discussions about key issues at the FarmStage. The Homegrown Concessions features foods produced by family farmers, many of them from the area surrounding the host city.
It is the truest "gathering of the tribe" I've experienced, and if you are a fellow true believer in building a better food system, I recommend that you attend at least once.
Here is Farm Aid's press release with lots of details, followed by some representative photos from Farm Aid's 40th anniversary Festival in Minneapolis last September.
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FARM AID BRINGS LEGENDARY MUSIC AND FOOD FESTIVAL
TO VIRGINIA BEACH SEPT. 26
Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Margo Price and
Nathaniel Rateliff will headline event to spotlight family farmers
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Farm Aid announced that its annual festival is heading to Virginia Beach for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater. Tickets for Farm Aid 2026 go on sale to the public Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m. ET, at www.FarmAid.org/2026.
Farm Aid 2026 — a full day of music, family farmers, HOMEGROWN food and agricultural experiences — will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young (& The Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (& Tim Reynolds), Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff, as well as Turnpike Troubadours, Lukas Nelson, Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, Jesse Welles, Sierra Ferrell, Mon Rovîa, I’m With Her, Amythyst Kiah, Lily Meola and Chris Pierce.
The festival will highlight the vital role that family farmers play in their communities — growing food, strengthening local economies and helping sustain the places we call home. Family farmers are currently facing the most serious threats to their livelihoods since the 1980s Farm Crisis. Farmers are navigating economic volatility, policy uncertainty and corporate consolidation, all of which harm both farmers and their communities because they are so closely linked.
“Family farmers grow our food and strengthen our communities. And when farmers struggle like they are now, communities feel it too,” said Farm Aid Founder Willie Nelson. “The challenges farmers face threaten their livelihoods and put all of us at risk. We’re bringing Farm Aid to Virginia to stand with the farmers and fishers who feed Hampton Roads and beyond — and to grow a food system that works for everyone.”
In Hampton Roads, direct markets and local food systems are growing even as the region faces many challenges, from inflation and farm policy choices to volatile weather, sea level rise, and land use pressures from development and data centers.
Farm Aid festival attendees will experience farmers’ contributions firsthand with HOMEGROWN Concessions®, which offers a delicious and fresh menu with ingredients that are grown or raised by farmers who use ecological practices and are paid a fair price. Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Village features hands-on activities engaging festivalgoers with exhibits about soil, water, energy, food and farming.
Tickets for Farm Aid 2026 go on sale on Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m. ET. Ticket prices range from $85 to $350 and will be available for purchase at www.FarmAid.org/2026 and the amphitheater box office (open only on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 10. Visit farmaid.org/festival for more information.
Farm Aid will convene farmers, ranchers, farmworkers, advocates and movement leaders from across the country for pre-festival programs. These events will explore the challenges family farmers face while advancing a shared vision for the future of agriculture, land, food and rural America and building collective power. The week
will culminate in a Friday evening celebration. Additional details will be announced soon.
This year’s festival and pre-festival events received support from “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.
Sponsors of Farm Aid 2026 include Virginia is For Farm Lovers, Visit Virginia Beach, Virginia Department of Agriculture, Tractor Beverage Co., Farmhand Foundation, Horizon Organic and Frontier Co-op. Farm Aid welcomes the participation of the business community and offers corporate sponsorship and VIP hospitality opportunities. For more information, contact sponsorship@farmaid.org.
For festival updates, follow Facebook (facebook.com/farmaid), Instagram (instagram.com/farmaid), TikTok (@farmaidofficial), X (@FarmAid), Bluesky (@farmaid.org), Threads (threads.net/@farmaid) and visit farmaid.org/festival.
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, Dave Matthews, Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff 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.
Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their
performances each year, has raised more than $90 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.
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