"Quilt In the Capital" with The AIDS Memorial Quilt Kicks Off Saturday Prior to AIDS 2012 Conference

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT:     Following the display of 8,000 panels of The AIDS Memorial Quilt during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, The NAMES Project Foundation will now display the remaining 40,000 panels of The Quilt during "Quilt In the Capital" (QIC) throughout the Washington, D.C., area for the public to see as follows:

• 35,200 panels – 8,800 per day – will be on display July 21 through 24, on a portion of the National Mall, from 8th to 14th Streets
• 4,800 Quilt panels will be featured in more than 50 venues throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area from July 21 to 25 during the AIDS 2012 International AIDS Conference also taking place in Washington (see listing and map of 50+ venues displaying Quilt here: http://quilt2012.org/map-of-events/)

One special panel never before displayed publicly – called The Last One – will be a key part of the event's opening ceremony on July 21 and the focal point of the closing on July 25 on the National Mall.

QIC also will feature:

• A new interactive timeline on the history of AIDS and The Quilt
• New mobile web app "AIDS Quilt Touch," which enables people on-site and worldwide to locate a specific panel display and contribute comments to a Digital Guest Book; download at www.aidsquilttouch.org
• Daily morning ceremonies starting at 9am, traditional reading of names throughout the day, and folding of Quilt each afternoon
• The opportunity to sew new Quilt panels to be added to The Quilt
• Dedication of new panels to be added to The Quilt and the signing of signature squares

WHEN:     July 21-25, 2012
                   9:00 a.m. ET – 4:00 p.m. , Eastern Time
                   *** The Opening Ceremony is July 21, 2012 at 9 a.m., Eastern Time***

WHERE:   The National Mall, Washington, D.C.
                   (Between Madison and Jefferson Drives at 12th Street)

For more information, go to Quilt2012.org and/or contact Stephenie L. Fu, SLF Strategies, at [email protected], 202.431.5169.

SOURCE The NAMES Project Foundation