Kelly Rowland to Headline AIDS Walk Atlanta 2026 as Positive Impact Health Centers Joins Beneficiary Roster

Kelly Rowland will headline the 35th Annual AIDS Walk Atlanta Music Festival & 5K Run on Sept. 26, bringing music, movement and renewed urgency to a fundraiser expected to generate $1 million for 12 Atlanta-area HIV/AIDS service organizations.

The fight against HIV/AIDS has always been about more than medicine. It is a fight that requires access, housing, prevention, care without judgment, and a community willing to affirm that every person deserves to live fully and well.

That spirit will take center stage Saturday, Sept. 26, when AIDS Walk Atlanta returns to The Meadow at Piedmont Park, 400 Park Drive NE, for its 35th annual Music Festival & 5K Run.

The event, presented by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AHF Pharmacy and Wells Fargo, will bring together walkers, runners, advocates, artists and service providers to raise awareness and support for HIV prevention, treatment and care throughout metro Atlanta.

AIDS Walk Atlanta organizers expect the event to raise approximately $1 million for 12 local HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actor Kelly Rowland will headline the music festival following the 5K. Atlanta R&B singer Algebra Blassett and DJ Sed are also slated to perform, creating a homegrown celebration of collective care.

Rowland is also expected to receive the Velvet Guard Award, according to promotional material from the Center for Black Women’s Wellness. Her presence moves the moment beyond celebrity spectacle, positioning one of contemporary R&B’s most recognizable voices within a public conversation about an epidemic that continues to demand attention and investment. 

“This annual event offers a time to create a greater awareness of the impact of HIV and AIDS on the local Atlanta community as well as an opportunity to bring together thousands of individuals from across the region to raise critical funds,” Dr. Felicia Ivey, AHF Atlanta regional director, said in an event announcement.

AIDS Walk Atlanta will benefit 12 organizations whose work reflects the broad infrastructure necessary to support people living with HIV and to prevent new transmissions: AID Atlanta;  AIDS Healthcare Foundation;  A Vision 4 Hope; Aniz Inc.; Bridge of Light;  Center for Black Women’s Wellness;  Georgia Equality;  Lost-n-Found Youth;  Positive Impact Health Centers;  Rustin Institute;  Status: Home; and  Trans Women of Color Healing Project

For organizations such as Positive Impact Health Centers, the walk is not merely a fundraising event. It is a public investment in the care infrastructure that keeps thousands of Georgians connected to testing, treatment, prevention, and support.

Positive Impact Health Centers, known as PIHC, is among the 12 organizations benefiting from the 2026 AIDS Walk Atlanta. The agency is one of the Southeast’s largest HIV service organizations, providing sexual-health care to more than 12,000 people across 20 counties in and around metro Atlanta, according to PIHC.

For more than three decades, PIHC has worked from a care model that treats patients as whole people rather than diagnoses. The organization centers its mission on offering community members “a life worth loving,” pairing health care with the practical resources people may need to stay in care.

Access to HIV treatment and prevention can be shaped by far more than a doctor’s appointment. A patient may need transportation, help securing stable housing, behavioral-health care, a pharmacy nearby or a trusted provider who understands that stigma can be as formidable a barrier as distance or cost.

 

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PIHC offers HIV testing, treatment and prevention services, including PrEP, DoxyPEP and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Its service model also includes behavioral-health care, recovery programs, oral health services, medical case management, nutrition support, transportation assistance, housing support, pharmacies and laboratory services.

The organization’s clinical-care team includes physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians and medical assistants providing patient-centered primary and HIV specialty care. PIHC also offers rapid entry into care for people who are newly diagnosed or returning to HIV treatment.

PIHC has continued to broaden its reach with the opening of a Clayton County service location last year. The location joins the organization’s established service centers in Duluth, Decatur and Marietta, creating access points in the north, east, west and south areas of metro Atlanta.

The expansion reflects a simple but consequential principle: Care is most effective when people can reach it. For many patients, proximity can determine whether a diagnosis leads to prompt treatment, whether prevention remains consistent, and whether a person has the support to navigate a complicated health system.

PIHC also offers free HIV testing and prevention counseling in Duluth and Decatur, including walk-in testing options.

Donations to the organization’s AIDS Walk Atlanta team support these services and help PIHC continue to expand. The organization says gifts to its walk team are matched dollar for dollar and are tax-deductible.

For more information about PIHC’s services, locations and ways to connect to care, visit PIHCGA.org. To support the agency through the event, visit Positive Impact Health Centers’ AIDS Walk Atlanta fundraising team.

Registration, donations and additional event information are available at AIDS Walk Atlanta.