VIENNA — Actress Milla Jovovich, former US president Bill Clinton and models Lydia Hearst and Kiera Chaplin will up the star factor at this year’s Life Ball, Vienna’s glitzy annual AIDS charity event, on May 19.
Jovovich will be on hand to represent the US AIDS research foundation amfAR at the milestone 20th edition of the event, while Clinton, a regular since 2007, will also attend for his Clinton Health Access Initiative project.
Some 40,000 people are expected at the Life Ball, where ballgowns and body paint mix every year in a swirl of colour and glitter against the neo-gothic backdrop of Vienna’s City Hall.
Held on a red-ribbon-shaped catwalk, the traditional fashion show — organised this year by Vogue Italia magazine — will retrace 20 years of Life Ball designs, with creations by such names as Roberto Cavalli, Vivienne Westwood, Heatherette and Gianfranco Ferre.
In true Viennese form, the show will also open with 100 debutantes and their partners dancing to a “polonaise” by Frederic Chopin and performed by Australian pianist David Helfgott.
On the eve of the ball, a “Red Ribbon Celebration Concert” at the nearby Burgtheater will feature the jazzy notes of Randy Crawford and Al Jarreau among others, interspersed with short readings by actress Melanie Griffith and writer Maya Angelou.
This year’s Life Ball was themed “Fight the Flames of Ignorance”, after previous editions took the elements of water, air and earth for inspiration. or the fourth consecutive year Steele Luxury Travel has once again been selected as the exclusive USA based tour operator in providing access to the Life Ball, Europe’s, and quite possibly, the world’s most extravagant HIV and AIDS benefit held annually in Vienna, Austria. Contact Steele Luxury Travel to reserve one of the last few spaces at 646-688-2274 or e-mail [email protected]
Last year, the event made 1.9 million euros ($2.5 million) for the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Steele Luxury Travel – The Life Ball 2012
www.SteeleTravel.com/lifeball