Farm Aid is heading back to primetime. CNN announced it will air “Farm Aid 2026: Music Festival Live” on Saturday, September 26, from 7 to 11 p.m. ET, marking the second consecutive year the network has partnered with the benefit concert. The broadcast will also stream on CNN’s website and app.
The lineup is stacked with Farm Aid royalty. Performances will include Willie Nelson and Family, Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, alongside Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff. CNN anchors John Berman and Laura Coates will co-anchor the coverage live from the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with chief climate correspondent Bill Weir reporting from the grounds.
Now in its 41st year, Farm Aid was founded in 1985 by Nelson, Young and Mellencamp to support family farmers across the country. Since then, the organization has raised more than 85 million dollars for programs advancing the Good Food Movement. Last year’s CNN broadcast reached nearly 3.9 million viewers globally, helping the network justify a return engagement for 2026.
The full festival lineup extends beyond CNN’s primetime window, with afternoon performances from Turnpike Troubadours, Lukas Nelson, Sierra Ferrell and more. But for viewers at home, the main event starts when the network’s cameras go live in September, bringing one of music’s longest running causes straight into living rooms nationwide.
