In honour of Pride Month, the Stratford Festival is holding an online silent auction for the AIDS Memorial Quilt featured in the 2023 production of Rent, with all proceeds going to organizations that support those living with HIV/AIDS.
Few will forget the final moment of that production – as the house lights came up, a colourful quilt remained draped on stage. The quilt is not just a prop but a memorial to the loved ones lost by the company and staff of the Stratford Festival to the AIDS epidemic.
The quilt honours a tradition started in the 1980s by the NAMES Project Foundation. During a time when social stigma prevented many HIV/AIDS victims from receiving funerals, the NAMES Project Foundation began honouring those lost to the epidemic by including their names on a massive memorial quilt. The AIDS memorial quilt movement continues to this day. The names on the many quilts created worldwide are a powerful symbol of the human cost of the AIDS epidemic and a reminder of the need to continue the fight against AIDS.
The quilt measures 14 feet by 18 feet and currently hangs in the Festival Theatre Lobby for in-person viewing. Please note that the purchaser must be able to collect the quilt in-person from the Festival Theatre in Stratford, ON by July 31, 2026.
Bidding runs June 1 to 14, 2026.
The link to enter the auction will be posted here by June 1.