(RED)ZONES Now Open
Tuesday night saw the launch of (RED)ZONES at the first U2 360 Degrees concert in Barcelona where U2 kicked off their new tour to a rapturous sold out crowd of 90,000 fans.
(RED)ZONES are prime location areas directly adjacent to the stage which will be present throughout the U2 tour. The tickets for the (RED)ZONES are available through auction with the band’s portion of the ticket sales going to the Global Fund to help fund AIDS programs in Africa.
“We’re really proud and grateful to have the support of U2 in our work. In a short time, (RED) has raised over $130 million for the Global Fund through partners and events and that money has already supported programs that have reached more than four million people,” said Susan Smith Ellis, CEO, (RED).
“(RED)’s contribution to the Global Fund in just three years is over $130 million. This is not only helping hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda, Swaziland, Ghana and Lesotho where the money is at work on the ground but (RED), through its partners’ marketing efforts is also having a tremendous impact on public awareness of the HIV pandemic in Africa. We are honoured to have both the crucial support of the money flowing in, and the vote of confidence in the Global Fund’s way of providing aid,” said Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The U2 360 Degrees Tour will play 15 cities in Europe finishing at Cardiff’s Millennium on 22nd August before heading to North America, 20 shows starting in Chicago September 12th. In 2009, in just 44 shows the tour will perform for over 3 million fans. And (RED) will be at all shows, with our sister organization ONE, letting people know how they can get involved in both helping eliminate AIDS in Africa through (RED) and fighting extreme poverty through ONE. Along with ONE and (RED), the tour is also associated with the Burma Campaign, Amnesty International, Music Rising, the Angiogenesis Foundation and Mencap.
(RED)ZONES are a continuation of (RED)’s growing musical partnerships including (RED)WIRE (http://www.redwire.com/), an online music service that raises money for the Global Fund, and (RED)NIGHTS, a series of concerts that engages artists and their fans to raise awareness for the issue of AIDS in Africa.