8 Surprise Dinners For One Serious Cause. Here’s What’s Going Down at Vancouver Entertains

Imagine this: you’re invited to an after-hours, three-course dinner at a luxury retailer with cocktails and shoulder-rubbing with 39 other diners. Only, you don’t know who the chef is, what the meal is or who the other guests are. What you do know is that it’s one of eight (mysterious and yet) exclusive dinners across the city, all of which will culminate in a huge shared party on top of Vancouver’s Telus Garden.

It’s all in honour of Canfar (Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research) and their gala (ahem, the largest in Canada) that supports HIV/AIDS research, Vancouver Entertains, on October 16.

With more than 250 guests expected to attend, many of whom you might recognize in the design community (this is a party for a fashionable bunch, after all!), it will be a night to remember.

This year, Kalu Interiors’ principal designer Aleem Kassam is on the committee, helping make the after-party at Telus Garden feel well-designed for a soiree: with a large step-and-repeat, a central circular bar, a stage and dance floor, additional bars and lounge areas, as well as the iconic red Canfar branding and illumination throughout the space.

Canfar’s Toronto version of the event, Bloor Street Entertains, was the inspiration for bringing it to Vancouver. Now in its second year here in Western Canada, it has connected to local organizations like Qmunity—bolstering them with fundraising and awareness.

“Because this is our only second year, I feel like we have to really show them what the West Coast is made of,” says Kassam. “I want to make sure that the work that we’re doing is genuine and being able to give back as much as possible.”

Western Canada has a long history of involvement in the HIV/AIDS research: in fact, Dr. Julio Montaner’s lab in Vancouver has been the site for groundbreaking treatment for HIV prevention. The funds raised go to charities that “can take those funds and actually make change with it.”

“Having centralized testing areas and self-testing kits is such an important way to help to remediate such a rapidly growing issue again in our country,” says Kassam. “So putting money behind that is why I got involved.”

Tickets for your surprise dinner and the Telus Garden after-party are $850, or you can reserve an entire dinner table (seats for 10)  for $8,500. If you’d rather just mingle and party, after party tickets are $175. Grab your tickets now.