The Music festival bucket list: Farm Aid

November 9, 7:53 PMNashville Festivals ExaminerChris Griffy

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These days it seems like every cause has a star studded celebrity concert to raise money for it. Some singers like U2’s Bono have made charity concerts almost a second career. But in 1985, there was only one big charity concert, Bob Geldof’s Live Aid, to benefit famine relief in Ethopia.

During Live Aid, folk legend Bob Dylan was interviewed by a television crew covering the event. Dylan expressed support for the event, but wondered if some of the money raised during the Live Aid event would be better spent providing assistance to family farmers in the United States who found their careers and their homes being threatened by the rise of factory farms and predatory lenders.

While Dylan’s plea fell on deaf ears with the organizers of Live Aid, they did not go unheard. Fellow rockers Willie Nelson, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Neil Young agreed with Dylan’s assessment and went to work. Later that year, they rolled out Farm Aid in Champaigne, Illinois. The first Farm Aid was a who’s who of rock and country superstars, drawing the likes of Alabama, The Beach Boys, Jon Bon Jovi, Don Henley, B.B. King, Eddie Van Halen, and Lou Reed, in addition to performances by the festivals founders.

Since that time, Farm Aid has become an annual event, with Dave Matthews joining the original founders on the board of directors. Live Aid is held in different locations each year but continues to draw a stellar lineup of country and rock superstars. The 2009 Farm Aid, held October 4 in Maryland Heights, MO, featured performances from Gretchen Wilson, Wilco, and Billy Joe Shaver, with Nelson, Mellencamp, Young, and Matthews still contributing their own sets.

In its 24 years, Farm Aid has raised over $35 million to help promote a robust family farm system. Its organizers have successfully lobbied Congress on a number of bills relating to family farms.

For a mix of great music and a really great cause, you can’t go wrong with Farm Aid on your Music Festival Bucket List. Here are some of the sights and sounds of Farm Aid, with video from Youtube.

Have you been to Farm Aid? Have a memory to share? Let me know in the comments section. If you’d like to see the rest of my choices for a Music Festival Bucket List, you can find them here.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin