World AIDS Day events

Nov. 30

Health fair and testing: Boston Medical Center marks World AIDS Day with an event featuring testimonies from patients living with HIV/AIDS. The event also includes a health fair and free rapid HIV testing, and a portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display. The event is free and open to the public, BMC Menino Pavilion, 840 Harrison Ave., beginning at 10 a.m. For more information e-mail [email protected] or call 617.638.8491.

HIV testing: Fenway Community Health Center will offer serum and rapid HIV antibody testing as well as refreshments and free chair massages. Testing will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

HIV testing: Dorchester's Upham's Corner Health Center offers free rapid HIV testing and refreshments, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Youth education: TeenAIDS devotes a day to in-school programs and local AIDS awareness activities among students in cities and towns in North Central Massachusetts. Programs are planned at Fitchburg, Leominster and Gardner High Schools, Fitchburg State College, Mount Wachusett Community College, Gardner, and 20 other area schools including Lunenburg, Montachusett Regional Vocational High School, Fitchburg and North Central Charter School. Additional teens will be involved through Boys and Girls Clubs, Three Pyramids, MOC of Fitchburg, Shriver Job Corps, Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, Fitchburg, Upward Bound, and the Spanish Center. Later, TeenAIDS will celebrate its 10th anniversary as a non-profit organization with a fundraising event from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Fay Club, Main Street, Fitchburg. Food, band, TV and silent auction. $100 a couple. Order tickets by contacting Dr. John Chittick at [email protected] or by calling 978-665-9383.

Dec. 1.

Medicine Wheel: Boston Center for the Arts plays host to Michael Dowling's 16th annual Medicine Wheel installation to mark World AIDS Day. For 24 hours Dowling and volunteers will process from the installation to the Fort Point Channel, filling buckets with water and carrying them back to the Medicine Wheel. The installation also includes 36 painted pedestals with shrines on them. Boston Center for the Arts, open to the public, for more information call 617.268.6700 or e-mail [email protected].

Celebration of life: Cambridge's Union Baptist Church holds a service to mark World AIDS Day, with featured speakers Dawn Breedon and Amadou Diagne. Free and open to the public, lunch will be served. 10 a.m - 2 p.m., Union Baptist Church, 874 Main St.

Activism: Healing Our Land holds its annual meeting, featuring a keynote speech by JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Health and Human Services for Massachusetts. Bigby will receive a Healer's Award, as will Rep. Gloria Fox, City Councilor Charles Yancy, Union United Methodist Church's Rev. Martin McLee, and other local advocates in the fight against AIDS/HIV in underserved communities. 11 a.m. at 565 Boylston St. For more information call 617.594.9955 or e-mail [email protected].

Cultural showcase: The Multicultural AIDS Coalition will host a cultural showcase and film festival to mark World AIDS Day. The event includes free HIV screening and light refreshments, from noon-6 p.m. Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., Roxbury. For more information call 617.442.1622 or visit www.mac-boston.org.

Concert and symposium: Longwood Symphony Orchestra will hold a symposium on current research and best-practice treatment for HIV/AIDS from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Boston University's George Sherman Union. At 8 p.m. that night at Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, the orchestra will hold a concert to commemorate World AIDS Day featuring performances of Leos Jan?ček's "Glagolitic Mass," Silvestre Revueltas' "Sensemaya," and "Coronation Scene" from Modest Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov." The symposium is free, although an R.S.V.P. is required; call 617-414-1440 or email [email protected]. Tickets to the concert are $15-$28 and can be purchased online at longwoodsymphony.tix.com or by phone at 617.667.1527. The concert raises funds for charitable medical organizations that benefit patients and healthcare policy in Massachusetts.

Community service: Metropolitan Community Church of Boston and Old West Methodist Church observe World AIDS Day with a special service. All are welcome. 7 p.m. at Old West Church, 131 Cambridge St., Boston.
info: www.mccboston.org

Musical memorial: Longwood Community Orchestra - the group composed of members of Boston's medical community - marks World AIDS Day with a performance of Jan?ček's "Glagoliti Mass" and selections from Boris Gudenov. 8 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston. Tickets $15 and $28,
info: 617.667.1527 or www.longwoodsymphony.org

Dec. 2

Dance-a-thon: AIDS Action Committee brings back its long-defunct dance-a-thon fundraiser, with theme hours devoted to music from the '70s, '80s and '90s. The event, held at Club Caf?, also includes a raffle and a costume contest. The minimum suggested fundraising goal is $300, and $500 gets you entry to the VIP reception. The VIP reception runs from 5-6 p.m., and the dance-a-thon runs from 6-11 p.m. To register or for more information visit www.aac.org.

AIDS Memorial Quilt: Temple Emunah in Lexington will host a viewing of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on Dec. 2 from 1:00-8:30 p.m. and Dec. 3 through Dec. 5, 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., 9 Piper Road, Lexington.

Dec. 3

Musical: Suffolk University presents a performance of the musical Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, based on the lives of people memorialized in the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Tickets are $5/$3 for students, and all proceeds benefit AIDS Action Committee. For tickets or more information call the Suffolk University Office of Diversity Services, 617.573.8613, or visit www.suffolk.edu/diversity.