Former President Clinton to speak at SF World Aids Day event Friday

Photo: Chris Stewart, STAFF In this 1996 file photo, President Bill Clinton points out his...

Former President Bill Clinton is set to speak Friday at a World AIDS Day event at San Francisco's AIDS Memorial Grove.

Friday's event will mark more than 25 years since work first began in 1991 on an AIDS memorial at the site of the de Laveaga Dell in Golden Gate Park near the park's tennis courts. It was conceived of by local activists in 1988 as a quiet place to grieve and remember those lost in the AIDS epidemic.

Clinton signed legislation by U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, in 1996 designating the 10-acre grove as the nation's only National AIDS Memorial.

White House



The White House in recent years has displayed a 28-foot ribbon on World AIDS Day.

White House



The White House in recent years has displayed a 28-foot ribbon on World AIDS Day. Buy photo Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Former President Clinton to speak at SF World Aids Day event Friday 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

This year's World AIDS Day events have the theme of Bending the Arc Toward Justice and will honor those who have made a difference in the fight against AIDS and celebrating the next generation of leaders, according to organizers.

At 6 p.m. today, the grove will be lit up for the "Light in the Grove" event, a nighttime vigil and "celebration of life."

Events on Friday will begin at 11:30 a.m. and end with a procession through the memorial to the Circle of Friends for the reading of new names to be engraved on the memorial.