Farm Aid 2025 to Air Live on CNN to Celebrate 40 Years of Supporting U.S. Farmers: How to Watch

This year, Farm Aid will take place in Minneapolis — but fans don’t need to be anywhere near Minnesota to catch the festival. As Billboard is exclusively announcing Wednesday morning (Sept. 3), CNN will help celebrate the annual event’s 40th anniversary by livestreaming sets from Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and more stars later this month.

CNN’s coverage of the music and food summit — which is this year being held at Huntington Bank Stadium — will take place from 7 p.m. to midnight ET on Saturday, Sept. 20. Viewers can tune in by streaming the presentation live on CNN, CNN.com or via CNN’s TV and mobile apps — no cable login needed.

“CNN is proud to join Farm Aid 40 to help bring attention to our nation’s farmers and agricultural communities,” Eric Sherling, the network’s executive vp of U.S. programming, said in a statement. “The broadcast of Farm Aid 40 is another example of CNN’s commitment to live programming and bringing viewers important cultural moments as they happen.”

In addition to Nelson, Young and Mellencamp — who founded Farm Aid in 1985 to raise funds for the country’s agricultural community — this year’s lineup will include Dave Matthews, Margo Price, Kenny Chesney, Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Trampled by Turtles, Wynonna Judd, Steve Earle, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and Wisdom Indian Dancers. CNN anchors John Berman and Laura Coates will helm the live special, while chief climate correspondent Bill Weir is slated to deliver on-the-ground reporting.

“Farm Aid is honored to partner with CNN to bring Farm Aid 40 to a broad and diverse audience,” added Farm Aid co-director Jennifer Fahy. “This partnership is critical to elevating the role of family farmers to their rightful place as essential for all of us and showcasing the extraordinary artists who have generously shared their voices of support for 40 years.”

In the four decades since the very first Farm Aid took place in Philadelphia, the event has raised more than $85 million to support farmers and their families across the United States. It’s a cause that hits close to home for the event’s founders, even all this time later.

“Farming was my first job,” Nelson told Billboard in 2015. “I picked ­cotton. I pulled corn. I knew firsthand what it meant to farm. I knew damn well how tough it was. My farm roots are deep-seated in the soil of my personal story.”

For those who’d like to attend in-person, tickets for Farm Aid 40 are available to purchase through the University of Minnesota’s website.