MOUNTAIN VILLAGE AIRS TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT FASHION SHOW

If you did not manage to get tickets to the Telluride AIDS Benefit Gala Fashion Show, the next best thing is to watch online. With the assistance of Telluride TV, the Town of Mountain Village will air the Gala live at townofmountainvillage.com/video and on Mountain Village Cable Channel 15 on Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m. In its 20th year, this signature community event takes place at the Telluride Conference Center in Mountain Village

“Last year was the first time we aired the show live to a remote audience, and the response was pretty wonderful,” said Community Relations Manager Nichole Zangara Riley. “We heard after the fact that people from coast-to-coast were hosting TAB viewing parties in their living rooms: the models, who put hundreds of hours of their time in to the show, had friends and family members watching; past and present TAB supporters and beneficiaries were online; full and part-time community members who weren’t in town or couldn’t purchase tickets to this sold-out show had a front-row seat nonetheless; and the fashion designers who donated clothing for this special event were able to see their designs on the runway. Again, it was wildly successful. And with this being TAB’s 20th anniversary, to extend this special event beyond the walls of the Conference Center is our pleasure.”

According to the Telluride AIDS Benefit (TAB) website, the Gala Fashion Show features local models and AIDS activists displaying the latest lines from Perry Ellis to Diane Von Furstenberg in a production that is best described by TAB’s Executive Director Stash Wislocki as Cirque de Soleil meets Burning Man meets the fashion world. Since 1994 TAB has donated $1.8 million towards HIV/AIDS education, advocacy and charities, with the Gala being one of their signature events.

Robert Presley, TAB”s muse at fashion show, 1997

“We had Stash on our show ‘Uptown’ this past month talking about TAB, and he put it best when he said 20 years of TAB is a bittersweet thing for the organization. He said although the Gala has been successful, we still have to have a Telluride AIDS Benefit,” Zangara Riley explained. “And that is why the town continues to support TAB – to help raise awareness of the fact that people still need help, that HIV/AIDS is still an issue not only in this country but around the world. The fashion show is simply a means to support organizations that so desperately need assistance.”

This year’s TAB beneficiaries include West Colorado AIDS Project, Children’s Hospital Immunodeficiency Program, Brother Jeff, Manzini Youth Care, and Ethiopian Family Fund. Ubuntu Africa, an organization dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of HIV-positive children in under-served communities in South Africa, is this year’s honorary beneficiary. According to Wislocki, its beneficiaries send regular reports regarding how funds are making a difference within their organization and their communities.