Farm Aid

New Jersey will be hosting Farm Aid this year as the music festival celebrates its 21st anniversary.

The 2006 Farm Aid will feature performances by Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney and John Mayer, among many others. The founders of Farm Aid, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, will also play at the concert on September 30 at the Tweeter Center on the Waterfront in Camden, New Jersey. Nelson and Mellencamp created Farm Aid in 1985 to raise support and encouragement for American family farms.

The Color Purple seeing Green

The Color Purple has shattered box office records, making it the highest grossing production for the 2005-06 season.

The musical adaptation of Alice Walker's classic novel broke the Broadway Theatre's house record for gross amount earned in mid-June and has since broken its own record twice. At the 2006 Tony Awards, lead actress in the play, LaChanze, won for best actress in a musical beating out productions including The Drowsy Chaperone and Sweeney Todd. The Color Purple will be going on a national tour in 2007.

At the Starting Gates

The stakes have been raised as one of horse racing's most anticipated annual events prepares to get underway.

The 2006 Saratoga Thoroughbred Meet has announced the addition of the Woodward Stakes to the calendar. The high-stakes race has been tacked on to the final weekend of the annual Saratoga races, which will run from July 26 to September 4. The Saratoga Race Course's sister track, Belmont Park, will continue the action with the Belmont Stakes set for early October.

Highway Companions

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have confirmed the lineup for the third leg of their Highway Companions Tour this fall.

Guest performers, including John Mayer and The Strokes, will join Petty in various gigs this fall for the third leg. The tour, which has been packed with big-name musicians, featured Stevie Nicks as the surprise guest at the first eight shows. The second leg of the tour will run from July 29 to August 18 and see appearances from The Allman Brothers Band and Trey Anastasio.

The Pirate Queen

Pirates will take over Broadway next year as the swashbuckling musical The Pirate Queen sets sail this fall.

The production will debut in Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre for a two-month run this fall before it moves to Broadway in 2007. The Pirate Queen, which is currently rehearsing in Dublin, is a big-budget adventure story from the creators of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. The musical is based on the life of the legendary 16th century pirate chieftain, Grace O'Malley.