NORTHERLY ISLAND — Farm Aid, the long-running benefit show for farmers that first planted roots 30 years ago in Champaign, is returning to Illinois on Saturday at Northerly Island.
The all-day festival will feature board members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and many other acts. Here's everything you need to know before the bands hit the stage:
What Is Farm Aid? Nelson (along with Young and Mellencamp) founded Farm Aid in response to the 1980s farm crisis. The Federal Reserve in 1979 raised interest rates to combat inflation, but in turn lending rates soared to an all-time high of 21.5 percent. This especially affected independent farmers used to borrowing to finance equipment and supplies. Many of these farmers lost their land once crop prices dropped after the federal government halted exports to the Soviet Union. Only 2.2 million American farms remained in the mid-1980s, down from a high of 6.8 million in the 1930s.
Farm Aid has raised $48 million for farmers since its inception.
Cool. Who Else Is Playing? Other acts include Imagine Dragons, Jack Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Mavis Staples, Old Crow Medicine Show, Holly Williams, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Insects vs Robots and Blackwood Quartet. Here's the full lineup.
When Does It Start? Gates open at noon Saturday, with Blackwood Quartet opening the festival at 12:50 p.m.
How Do I Buy Tickets? Tickets are available on promoter Live Nation's website. Prices, including fees and taxes, range from $65.52 on the lawn to $219.17 for seats in the 200 level. Pre-sale and VIP tickets are already sold out. Children age 2 and younger do not need a ticket, but must sit on a guest's lap.
How Do I Get There? Where Can I Park? The venue is at 1300 S. Linn White Drive. No road closures are planned in association with the show, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. The Roosevelt station is the closest "L" stop, and various Downtown buses run close to Northerly Island.
Parking at Soldier Field's north parking garage off McFetridge Drive is included with a festival ticket. The garage will open at approximately 11 a.m. Saturday. A limited number of RVs can park in Soldier Field's south lot off 18th Street for $120.
Bike racks are outside Gate 1 of the venue, near Solidarity and Linn White drives. Downtown traffic may be impacted by a nearby triathlon in and around Grant Park.
Can I Camp? No camping or overnight parking is allowed.
What Can I Bring? Backpacks and purses (which will be subject to search), "non-professional" cameras without detachable lenses or zooms beyond one inch, one factory-sealed bottle of water, snacks in Ziploc bags, non-aerosol sunscreen and bug spray, blankets and tarps, stadium cushions, soft-sided six-pack-sized coolers, lawn chairs and service animals.
What Can't I Bring? Umbrellas (shows are rain or shine), strollers, other beverages, weapons, wallet chains, pocket knives, fireworks, electronics aside from phones, hard coolers, fireworks, sports balls, laser pointers and signs larger than a sheet of paper.
Are There Concessions? Yes, and they're all from family farms. Here's the menu. There's also a "homegrown village" focused on locally sourced food and local youths selling produce and baked goods.
What's the Illinois connection? Saturday marks the fifth time Farm Aid will be held in the state, but the first in Chicago. The first festival in 1985 was at Memorial Stadium in downstate Champaign, and suburban Tinley Park hosted festivals in 1997, 1998 and 2005.
"In Chicago we'll bring together so many of the people — farmers, eaters, advocates and activists — who have made the progress of the Good Food Movement possible," Nelson said in a statement. "At Farm Aid 30, we'll celebrate the impact we've had and rally our supporters for the work ahead."
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