Farm Aid to mark 20th anniversary

Farm Aid will move to Chicago for a weeklong series of events and concerts to mark its 20th anniversary in September, promoters said Monday.

The capstone of the celebration will be a Sept. 18 concert headlined by festival mainstays Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews.

Mellencamp said the first Farm Aid began in an atmosphere of “optimism and idealism.” The concerts have raised $27 million for family farms.

“I had no inkling when we started that we’d be having a 20th anniversary,” Mellencamp said. “We were very excited and thought we were going to be able to correct a lot of things. Now I’m not sure Farm Aid has had any effect on policy, but it has helped a lot of individuals. It’s worth doing for that reason.”