Members of Grateful Dead have selected 16 charities to be beneficiaries of their upcoming “Fare Thee Well” 50th anniversary concerts, with the band releasing more than 300 tickets via a series of auctions on eBay Giving Works to benefit the organizations. The auctions will begin at 9 a.m. PST / noon EST on Wednesday, May 27 (today).
Fans looking to see the sold-out concerts can visit eBay.com/FareTheeWell where they will find pairs of tickets for each show, including reserved and general admission floor seating. Bidding starts at the face value of the tickets. A new set of tickets will be released every two days through the end of June, with all net proceeds split among the chosen charities.
Grateful Dead original members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, will be joined by Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti for the performances to celebrate the Grateful Dead’s 50th Anniversary in Santa Clara, CA (June 27 - 28) and Chicago, IL (July 3 - 5).
“We are eager to support these charities - some of whom have been staples of our community for decades - while also giving fans another opportunity to obtain tickets,” members of the Grateful Dead said in a statement.
Beneficiaries of the ticket auction include longtime Grateful Dead-affiliated charities like The Rex Foundation, The Unbroken Chain Foundation, The Rainforest Action Network, SEVA and HeadCount.
Each of the organizations will also have a presence at the concerts in a designated area called “Participation Row,” giving fans an opportunity to interact with the charities and celebrate the history of Grateful Dead philanthropy.
Other activities in Participation Row will include a silent auction for a one-of-a-kind D’Angelico commemorative guitar signed by all the performers, a food drive from the hunger organization Conscious Alliance, and the distribution of free, limited edition Fare Thee Well postcards illustrated by longtime Grateful Dead poster artists.
HeadCount, a non-profit organization best known for its work registering voters, is organizing both Participation Row and the ticket auction. More information can be found at www.HeadCount.org/
Other Participation Row charities include: Surfrider, The Owsley Stanley Foundation, The Hidden Wings School, Love Hope, Strength, REVERB, Oxfam, Represent.US, The Multidisciplinary Association for the Study of Psychedelics and Rock the Earth.
About HeadCount
HeadCount unleashes the power of musicians and fans to make a difference. Since 2004 we have registered over 300,000 voters, and motivated millions to be informed, vocal citizens. We turn the power of musicians, the passion of fans and the hard work of volunteers into organized efforts to drive participation. We make it easy for people to get behind things they believe in, so that the next generation of music fans will shape the future.
About eBay Giving Works
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce platform and payments leader connecting millions of buyers and sellers. As eBay helps to drive the next generation of commerce, they believe in the power of their employees, technologies and global networks to also enable positive social and environmental change in the world. Integrated into eBay's regular buying and selling platform, eBay Giving Works is a program that allows fundraising for nonprofits and fundraising for charity. The eBay Giving Works program is part of a portfolio of programs, resources, and tools across eBay Inc. that are intended to enable and inspire online charity donations at a scale never seen before. Learn more at givingworks.ebay.com
