2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the first people in Aotearoa New Zealand to be identified as living with AIDS. In that same year (1983), the first AIDS Candlelight Memorials took place in San Francisco and New York City. 

To mark these significant anniversaries, PrideNZ.com has teamed up with filmmaker Peter Duncan to create an AIDS Candlelight Tribute featuring audio from previous Candlelight Memorial services combined with film footage shot in Wellington during 1993.  

The AIDS Candlelight Tribute (33-minutes) will run in the Adam Auditorium on a loop during the afternoon of Sunday 21 May 2023 - the day that International AIDS Candlelight Memorials are held throughout the world. 

The film footage includes the Beacons of Hope memorial, Love Parade (part of the Devotion festival), an unfolding of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Michael Fowler Centre, and a performance from Arthur Tauhore who passed away in 1993. Audio includes Tīwhanawhana, the Glamaphones and speakers Richard Tankersley, Chanel Hati, Trish McBride, and Kjel Griffiths.