Florida AIDS Walk Turns 20 with Headliner Rita Ora

AHF’s annual 5k and music festival celebrates two decades of raising millions for South Florida AIDS nonprofit organizations as fight against HIV continues

Internationally renowned singer, songwriter and actress Rita Ora will headline AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s 20^th year celebration of the Florida AIDS Walk & Music Festival sponsored by AHF Pharmacy at Fort Lauderdale Beach on Saturday March 15^th.

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(Graphic: Business Wire)

The annual 5k walk and concert raised more than $3M in 2024 for local nonprofit AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) serving people living with HIV in the South Florida region and is on track to match that benchmark again this year. Legendary DJ and rapper DJ Spinderella, who opened for Ricky Martin during AHF’s World AIDS Day Concert in Miami in December, is returning to open for Rita Ora during AHF’s beachside celebration.

“We are honored to have a longtime LGBTQ+ advocate and international talent like Rita Ora lend her star power to Florida AIDS Walk’s 20-year celebration,” said Tracy Jones, AHF Southern Bureau Chief. “Now more than ever, we need to make sure the service organizations tending to our most at-risk populations have the support they need to keep up the fight against HIV and AIDS. While we have made progress since Florida AIDS Walk started 20 years ago, South Florida continues to see disproportionately high incidents of new HIV diagnoses. The money we raise through FAW helps people get educated, get tested, get into care, and stay in care – all keys to helping stop the spread, end the HIV epidemic, and save lives.”

2025 Beneficiaries: Afro Pride Florida, Aqua, Broward House, Equality Florida, Latinos Salud, The McKenzie Project, Inc., Positive People Network, The Pride Center at Equality Park, Prism, Safe Schools South Florida, SAVE LGBTQ, SunServe, Transinclusive, Ujima Men’s Collective, and World AIDS Museum and Educational Center.

About HIV/AIDS in Florida:

• The South makes up more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses. (CDC)
• Florida ranks third in the number of new HIV diagnoses as of 2022. (KFF)
• More than 51,000 people are living with HIV in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. (FLHealthCharts)
• Of the top 20 U.S. cities with the highest HIV/AIDS rates, the Fort Lauderdale/Pompano Beach/Sunrise metropolitan area was ranked first. The Miami/Miami Beach/Kendall metropolitan area was ranked second, and the Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Pompano Beach coastal region was ranked fourth. (Insider Monkey)
• In 2022 and 2023, Miami-Dade County had the highest HIV prevalence in Florida, followed by Broward County which had the second highest HIV prevalence. (CDC AtlasPlus, FLHealthCharts)

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.2 million individuals across 47 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

About Rita Ora

Rita Ora is an international critically acclaimed singer-songwriter with over 10 billion global streams and 13 Top 10 UK singles, four of which have gone #1. Her latest single “Ask & You Shall Receive” was praised by Forbes as “a summery floor filler,” and followed her latest album, You & I, which landed the coveted #1 spot on the UK Official Independent Albums Chart, and was summarized by Rolling Stone as “a collection of stunning love songs.” The album features the #1 US Dance Radio hit “Praising You (feat. Fatboy Slim),” which PAPER declared “a house banger” and “You Only Love Me,” for which Billboard praised Rita as “an expert in the type of sleekly-designed, electro-tinged pop on display.”

You & I follows previous releases: Bang, a collaboration EP with GRAMMY-winning DJ and producer Imanbek; Phoenix, which has amassed over four billion streams and spawned four platinum singles; and Ora, her certified platinum debut album, which entered at #1 on the UK charts. Rita’s acclaimed singles and star-studded collaborations have earned her seven Top 10 hits on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs Chart, five of which reached #1, six Top 20 singles on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart, and a #3 Billboard Hot 100 song.

As a multi-talented industry leader across TV, culture and fashion, with brand partnerships in key sectors, Rita has continuously expanded her personal brand to new heights. In 2024, Rita launched the performance-led haircare brand TYPEBEA alongside Anna Lahey, and the year before, she partnered with Primark to launch her first collection as part of a global multiseason collaboration, bringing together her creative vision with her long-term love of the brand. Her film and television credits include starring in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, Detective Pikachu, Twist, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, and Descendants: The Rise of Red, which broke records and became Disney Branded Television’s most-viewed Disney Channel Original Movie premiere ever on Disney+ by amassing nearly seven million views within its first three days of streaming. Rita’s additional TV credits include co-hosting Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and the MTV EMAs, serving as a panelist on The Masked Singer U.S. and U.K., and a judge on The Voice Australia. Rita will soon appear in the upcoming films Tin Soldier, He Bled Neon, and Voltron.

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