World AIDS Day for all

There are numerous way to commemorate World AIDS Day. Head to the exuberant celebration of life which will be Sydney’s first WAD concert, or if the day inspires more quiet introspection, the annual event held at Medlow Bath Park in the Blue Mountains might offer the type of experience you connect with.

Started in the early ’90s by the Blue Mountains PLWHA Centre, Medlow Bath Park features 130 plaques in remembrance of people who died from AIDS-related illnesses.

Each year members of the Blue Mountains positive community come together to remember, commiserate and honour, starting with a working bee to clean the park and plaques before an official event on November 30 where people are encouraged to come and share their experiences and memories.

Though numbers have dipped and risen over the years, event organiser Matthew Vaughan is anticipating a large turnout for this year’s 25th anniversary.

I think people like to keep coming back to the park each year because of the memories. The Blue Mountains had a lot of people living with HIV/AIDS and it’s about people coming together and remembering their friends and loved ones. It’s also a really nice atmosphere, he said.

World AIDS Day is based on remembrance and it doesn’t matter if you don’t know somebody, it’s also about respect. So we would really appreciate it to see people come up and have a moment of memory. We definitely encourage people to come along and take half an hour to pay some respect, and to keep in their minds that this is still an issue within our community and it does affect everyone in the community in one way or another.

info: Medlow Bath Park event will be held on November 30 from 11am. For more information on WAD events head to www.worldaidsdaynsw.org.