L I V I N G & H EA LT H
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MAKE A LOUD STATEMENT Imagine yourself drinking Red Bull and vodka while dancing to infectious electro-disco with 4,000 revellers wearing body paint, angel wings and pink flamingo headpieces in an extravagant neoGothic ballroom. That’s Life Ball, Europe’s largest HIV/AIDS fundraising event. Held annually in Vienna, Austria, outand inside of the city’s historic city hall, the Life Ball aims to makes a loud statement in the fight against HIV/AIDS and, with the help of international figures and celebrities, leave a lasting impression on the world. Defined by its exuberance and awe-inspiring moments, the Life Ball’s outdoor event attracts some 40,000 onlookers to Vienna’s downtown city square, vying for glimpses of celebrity guests and eye-popping performances. “It’s my first time at the LIfe Ball,” said headliner Janet Jackson, prior to making her entrance on the magenta carpet. “There’s a lot of love in the air and the energy is great. “ This year’s event boasted an array of outrageious visuals, including opera-singing angels, flying Trojan horses and 100 formally dressed male and female debutantes wearing pink flamingo headpieces performing ballroom choreography. Costume-clad guests, too, can make a ceremonial entrance and walk the magenta carpet, but only if approved by the Life Ball Style
Police, which stand guard at the gate entrance (anyone in feathers, wings, masks, drag or wrapped in balloons, it seemed, was given a green light this year, with the theme being “Spread the wings of tolerance”). VIPs who participated this year included Janet Jackson (who represented the American Foundation for AIDS Research), Brooke Shields, Bill Clinton, Holly Johnson, Vivienne Westwood, Natasha Bedingfield, Natalia Kills, Amanda Lepore, Kazaky, Cheyenne Jackson and hosts Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2 (who entered atop a Canadian-inspired Mini Cooper that they designed). The design duo closed the night with a Life Ball-inspired fashion show. The epic outdoor event went from 7:30pm till 11pm, and was free if you didn’t mind watching the action on projection screens from afar and pressing yourself up against a barricade with thousands of onlookers. The official party inside city hall was jumping by 11:30pm and continued on until 5am (many guests stayed till the end).
LIFE BALL Tickets sell out quickly. Talk to a travel agent about packages. lifeball.org. See video from this year’s event at intorontomag.com. VIENNA TOURSIM wien.info.
→ LIFE BALL Jewelled and feathered revellers at this year’s Life Ball, Europe’s largest HIV/AIDS fundraiser, partied inside and out of city hall until late.