Tickets are now on sale for next month’s San Diego Pride festival, which will feature an unprecedented number of bands, dance troupes and comedians on 10 different performance stages set up throughout the festival grounds.

More than 70 groups will perform at the two-day event, scheduled for July 29 and 30 at Marston Point in Balboa Park. Featured artists include Flock of Seagulls, Tiffany, Deborah Gibson, When in Rome, Jason and deMarco, Debby Holiday and Sister Funk, among others.

“Every musical genre will be represented,” said Ron deHarte, Pride executive director. “Pride-goers can enjoy jazz, rock, funk, R&B, folk and everything in between in a festival atmosphere brimming with lively sights and sounds. There’s something for everyone from queer pop, a transgender pop-rock band and even a San Francisco rock band featuring vocals channeled through Ethel Merman.”

Also new to the festival is Cinema in the Park, featuring two movies projected on a giant outdoor screen. The films are Jim in Bold, which explores the impact of nationally tolerated homophobia in our culture, and Gay Pioneers, a documentary about the start of the organized gay and lesbian civil rights movement in the U.S. The movies will be screened inside the festival shortly after sunset on July 29.

Additionally, three T-dances will be held over the two-day weekend. The Pride T-Dance will take place on Saturday, July 29, from 5:00 to 9:45 p.m. on the HiNRG Dance Floor. It features a live performance by Debby Holiday. The Club Papi Latin T-dance is scheduled for Sunday, July 30, from 4:00 to 7:45 p.m. also on the HiNRG Dance Floor. A Women’s T-Dance will take place on Sunday, July 30, from 5:00 to 7:45 p.m. on the Women’s Space Dance Floor.

Other highlights include an interfaith pavilion with eight local churches taking part in workshops and presentations, plus an expanded Senior Connection space for GLBT adults 50 and older, carnival games, couples dance lessons, three beer gardens and Smirnoff vodka stations, 250 food and merchandise vendors, and more.

Among the many festival changes is the honoring of active military for their service to the country with free admission (with valid military ID). Children 15 years and under are admitted free when accompanied by a parent or guardian. Regular admission price is $12 per day or $20 for a two-day pass. For seniors (60 and older) and students 16 to 24 years of age (with current student ID), the cost is $8 in advance and $10 at the gate. Senior and student ticket outlets are listed on the Pride Web site, www.sdpride.org. All persons 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to enter the festival.

Advance tickets can be purchased on the Pride Web site and at Babette Schwartz, Obelisk Bookstore, The Crypt and Raw.

For more information, call the Pride office at (619) 297-7683.

S.A.G.E. (Seniors Active in a Gay Environment) members and their friends will gather at the Jasmine restaurant, located at 4609-A Convoy St. (between Balboa and Clairemont Mesa), on Thursday, June 22, at 11:30 a.m. for a dim sum luncheon.

A popular S.A.G.E. activity, dim sum luncheons are held on the fourth Thursday of each month, unless the fourth Thursday is a major holiday. No reservations are needed, just meet in the lobby. For more information, call (619) 298-9900.

AIDS Walk San Diego marks the 25th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS with a call for increased participation in its upcoming 17th annual event.

The first published report on the disease that would later become known as AIDS came from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and appeared on June 5, 1981. Since that time, approximately 25 million people worldwide have died of HIV/AIDS and 40.3 million more are known to be infected with HIV.

In honor of this anniversary, AIDS Walk San Diego is calling on all concerned San Diegans to participate in this year’s AIDS Walk and to raise critically-needed funds for San Diego County HIV/AIDS service providers.

“As we look back to the beginnings of HIV/AIDS, remember those who lost their lives to this disease and honor those who fought it, I think it is equally important that we commemorate this day with a commitment to action. I urge every San Diegan to sign up for AIDS Walk San Diego 2006 as a show of continued commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS and supporting those affected by it,” said Patrick Loose, director of programs and operations for The Center. AIDS Walk San Diego is a program of The Center.

“While we’ve made tremendous strides in the past 25 years, funding challenges and government funding cuts continue to make it impossible to provide adequate services and programs for all the men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in San Diego County,” Loose said. “We hope that San Diegans will take this opportunity to truly make a difference by participating in AIDS Walk San Diego and helping raise dollars for HIV/AIDS services in our county.”

The 17th annual AIDS Walk San Diego will take place Sunday, Oct. 1, in Balboa Park. It is the largest one-day HIV/AIDS fund-raising event for San Diego County HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Established in 1989, AIDS Walk San Diego is San Diego’s largest one-day HIV/AIDS fund-raiser and the biggest nongovernmental financial provider for HIV/AIDS in San Diego County. Dozens of agencies serving thousands of clients rely on funds raised at the annual AIDS Walk to help provide essential prevention and care programs to thousands of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.

To register, form a team or get more information, contact AIDS Walk San Diego at (619) 291-WALK (9255) or e-mail info@aidswalksd.org.

The San Diego Police Athletic Federation (SDPAF) will host the Western States Police & Fire Games (formerly the California Police & Fire Games) June 18-25. This is the 40th anniversary of the event, which originated in San Diego.

The games offer over 70 sports in 55 different sporting venues throughout San Diego County. Its purpose is to promote friendship, physical fitness, athletic competition and camaraderie among law enforcement and firefighting communities.

The games are expected to attract approximately 6,000 competitors from Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Volunteers are needed to assist in a variety of roles, from score keeping to time keepers, race monitors to traffic controllers. Volunteers are also needed at the host hotel, the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center, located at 500 Hotel Circle North in Mission Valley.

Visit www.wspfg2006.org to obtain a brochure, application and instructions. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt and meals for shifts worked.

For more information, call (858) 573-1199 or e-mail volunteer4games@aol.com.

Local GLBT student film Altared Lives, developed in partnership with ArcoIris Lounge that premiered at this year’s first Cine Gay showcase at the San Diego Latino Film Festival, has been chosen to screen this June at Frameline30, the San Francisco GLBT film festival.

The 11-day film festival is one of the largest GLBT film festivals in the U.S. Altared Lives will screen on June 21 at 6:00 p.m. at the Roxie Film Center, located at 3117 16th St. in San Francisco.

“What an amazing development. Everyone at the Media Arts Center San Diego is thrilled for these young filmmakers. It’s quite an honor to have their first film picked up at such a prestigious festival,” said Cine Gay curator Patric Stillman. “I’m personally excited to see what impact this exposure will have on the future works of these young documentarians. I hope to see great things from them in the future.”

Altared Lives is about 10 young GLBT adults coming together for 15 weeks to shoot, edit and produce a video documentary about religion, family, culture and sexuality.

The Media Arts Center San Diego is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to nurture and support media artists working in film, video, audio and computer-based multimedia.

The San Diego Latino Film Festival was originally established as a student film festival. Since that time, the festival has developed into one of the larger and well-respected Latino film festivals in the country. More than 120,000 people have attended and more than 1,000 films/videos from across Latin America and the U.S. have been screened.

For more information about the Media Arts Center San Diego and the San Diego Latino Film Festival, visit www.mediaartscenter.org, www.sdlatinofilm.com or call (619) 230-1938.

The Center’s Hillcrest Youth Center will host its fifth annual youth prom event on Saturday, June 24.

This year’s event, entitled “The Other Prom: The Rainbow Rave,” will take place from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St. The evening is a free event for GLBT and questioning youth ages 14-20 with ID.

“The Other Prom is an opportunity for LGBTQ youth to experience a prom where they can feel safe, welcomed and affirmed. This will be a fun and formal event where these young people can be their true selves,” said Britton Nuebacher, coordinator of the Hillcrest Youth Center. “We hope as many youth as possible will join us for this wonderful evening featuring great DJs, activities, food, multi-media art and performance.”

The Other Prom is sponsored by The Center, In the Mix and the Metropolitan Community Church.

For more information, visit www.youthcentersd.org, or contact the Hillcrest Youth Center at (619) 497-2920 ext. 113 or hyc@thecentersd.org.