Times have changed—and with them, the AIDS Walk for Life.

A diagnosis of HIV or AIDS used to be a death sentence. Entire social networks vanished. Activism about the pandemic surged in the 1980s and ’90s.

Now, HIV organizations are competing against an endless assortment of fundraisers that fill the calendar year, not to mention the rise of online fundraising. There’s also desensitization to the issue, partly due to medical progress and new generations growing up without having witnessed the harrowing onset of the epidemic.

As Positive Living BC chair Neil Self reveals, Vancouver’s AIDS walk has struggled with funding for the last few years.

Consequently, he says, “It was time to shake it up a little bit.”

This year, the walk is reborn as the Scotiabank AIDS Walk to tHrIVe on Sunday (September 25).

“There’s a misconception out there that HIV is over and you just need to take a pill and you’re fine,” Self says. He explains that while the walk-for-life concept is outdated, HIV-positive people still “need some support out there to thrive”.

Also, although two main groups with high rates of infection—young gay men and aboriginal populations—are areas of concern, Self says it’s important for people to remember that HIV and AIDS aren’t limited to any specific demographic groups.

Despite medical advances, he emphasizes that many uncertainties remain.

“They have bright futures at this point, but we’re not entirely sure, right? By all accounts, the medical evidence is they’re just going to be able to take pills and be very healthy. But again, that’s not for sure. I like to say this is like one big, large experiment happening because…we don’t actually know the long-term effects.”

Accordingly, the walk is being reinvented as a celebratory community-building event.

“This is a way to get people who don’t necessarily know that much about HIV and AIDS out there: the younger generation, the newly diagnosed people, because a lot of the newly diagnosed people don’t have that same sense of community that was forged in the fire of 20 years ago, so this is one way to sort of rebuild our community or re-establish the connections within our community,” Self says.

Proceeds will help low-income people with HIV purchase over-the-counter items and treatments, such as vitamins or therapies, not covered by health plans.

New this year is a music festival, which people can attend even if they don’t want to participate in the walk. (Tickets are $30, and a $20 tax receipt will be issued.)

The lineup is a showcase of local talent: vocalist Alita Dupray, singer-songwriter Andrew Allen, electronic duo Destineak, Vernon singer-songwriter Olivia, soulful outfit Pompadoors, and funky funksters Queer as Funk (with MC David Jones and host Symone Says).

This festive approach is part of the organization’s bid to attract newcomers. Yet Self, who has been HIV-positive for 27 years, says they understand the importance of maintaining connections with long-time community members.

“Quite frankly, a lot of them are feeling forgotten in this euphoria of the AIDS-free generation sort of thing,” he says.

Interested parties have three options for participation: volunteering, joining in the walk, or attending the concert.

The walk begins on Sunday (September 25) at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre at noon, travels along the seawall, and ends at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park, where the tHrIVe Music Festival and Wellness Fair will get the party started at 1:30 p.m. (A free shuttle bus will run from noon to 6 p.m. from the Roundhouse to Malkin Bowl.) For full details, visit the AIDS Walk to Thrive website.