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POSTPONED: SF’s Biggest AIDS Quilt Display Ever

Massive AIDS quilt display at Golden Gate Park will be rescheduled for later in 2020
By - posted 3/12/2020 No Comment

UPDATE: The AIDS Memorial Quilt display planned for April 3-5 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is being rescheduled for a date later this year due to coronavirus concerns. “We are following the lead of the City and County of San Francisco, which announced the postponement of the 150th Anniversary Celebration of Golden Gate Park, previously planned for April 4,” said John Cunningham, Executive Director of the National AIDS Memorial, the stewards of the AIDS Quilt.

As of 3/12 no rescheduled date has been set yet.

Organizers of Golden Gate Park’s 150th Anniversary and representatives of the National AIDS Memorial announced that portions of the iconic AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display in Golden Gate Park April 3-5, 2020 to coincide with the official 150th birthday celebration of Golden Gate Park on April 4th that is expected to bring thousands of people to “Everybody’s Park” for free events, activities and entertainment.

The display of the Quilt will be the largest ever in San Francisco and consist of 1,920 panels, approximately the same size, and shape as the first major Quilt display that took place in Washington D.C. in 1987.

The Golden Gate Park 150th Anniversary Quilt display will take place in Robin Williams Meadows, along Bowling Green Drive, and in the National AIDS Memorial Grove. The Quilt panels on display will be comprised of panels that have been added to the Quilt’s nearly 50,000 panels in recent years, reflecting the story of HIV and AIDS during the past decade, particularly in communities of color.

The April 3-5 display will begin at 11 am on Friday, April 3 with a traditional unfolding ceremony and the reading of the names of those memorialized in the Quilt. The display will continue into Saturday, April 4, during Golden Gate Park’s Community Day anniversary event, and will close at 5 pm on Sunday, April 5. 

Outdoor displays of the Quilt are very rare, requiring hundreds of volunteers who can be trained in emergency rain fold procedures that can protect the entire Quilt from inclement weather in under 45 seconds. Extensive preparations are required to provide visitors with detailed maps of the names and locations of each panel, much like a cemetery directory. Outdoor displays also include aisles and walkways where visitors can walk onto the Quilt to experience each panel up close. Teams of volunteers remove the Quilt from the ground each evening for safekeeping and rebuild the display each morning.

The National AIDS Memorial welcomes volunteers to participate in the Quilt display. Sign-up information and more details about the Quilt display can be found at AIDSMemorial.org and GoldenGatePark150.com.