Make wishtv.com your home page

Farm Aid returns to Indiana for first time since 2001

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp are bringing a few of their friends to Indiana for Farm Aid 2023.

The daylong festival is set for Saturday, Sept. 23, at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville.

Farm Aid 2023 will feature performances by Nelson, Mellencamp, and fellow Farm Aid board members Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds) and Margo Price.

The lineup also includes Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Allison Russell, The String Cheese Incident, and Particle Kid.

Pre-sale tickets go on sale Wednesday. General on-sale begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at livenation.com.

This is the third Farm Aid concert to take place in Indiana and the first since Farm Aid 2001: A Concert for America was held in Noblesville a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“We are honored and excited to bring the Farm Aid experience back to Indiana,” Mellencamp said in a release. “My home state holds deep meaning for me and for the generations of family farmers who have dedicated their lives to caring for the Earth and bringing us good food.”

Farm Aid 2023 will highlight the work of America’s family farmers to address climate change through new and innovative farming practices.

“As we face a changing climate, farmers in Indiana, across the Midwest, and all over the country are farming in ways that create more resilient farms to build healthy soils and protect our water,” Willie Nelson, Farm Aid president and founder, said.

Indiana is the eighth-largest farming state in the U.S., with more than 94,000 farmers generating $31.2 billion annually, Farm Aid says.

The state’s top crops are corn and soybeans, but Hoosier farmers grow more than 30 major fruits and vegetables, including melons, pumpkins, and mint.