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Thrive Alabama will host its second Stomp Out HIV Festival this weekend in Huntsville

Thrive Alabama

Thrive Alabama will launch a festival to promote HIV testing and awareness.

The Huntsville healthcare provider will host its second annual Stomp Out HIV Festival. The festival is on June 25 from 12-5 p.m. at Big Spring International Park.

It will showcase more than 50 community organizations that offer services in substance and mental health treatment, homeless and housing services and voter registration. There are also more than a dozen local performers and performance groups taking the stage including a drumline.

The festival is in observance of National HIV Testing Day, which is on June 27. In addition to music and community services, Thrive Alabama is offering free HIV testing at its mobile unit again this year.

Director of Health Education Erin Bortel said this festival is important because it reminds community members that HIV is treatable and should not be shrouded in stigma.

“There’s stigma around getting tested,” Bortel said. “A lot of people feel that if their friends find out that they were tested or their family even that they might be judged. A lot of people don’t get tested for HIV because of that stigma. A lot of what we know from 30 years ago has changed. Unfortunately, the attitude that the public has in general has not.”

Bortel said she hopes the festival will present attendees with information and education about HIV or HIV prevention that is accessible, accurate and relatable to them.

“To fully understand a problem that exists–regardless of what the problem is–people need to be informed about it,” Bortel said. “They need to be informed in an unbiased, fair manner. What Stomp Out HIV does is bring attention to that issue. It creates the platform for conversation.”

Thrive Alabama reports that more than 15,000 people are living with HIV in Alabama. Of those 15,000, nearly 45% have progressed to an AIDs diagnosis.

Joshua LeBerte is a news intern for Alabama Public Radio.
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