Things certainly are hotting up here in Toronto and it isn't just the weather. The delegates are arriving in their thousands and there isn't a hotel room to be had for miles.
We have even had fleeting sightings of some of the celebrity guests in downtown Toronto. Rumour had it that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were going to be here and if our eyes didn't deceive us we could have swore that they crossed the road in front of us on the way to the shops. Of course you never know in this, the age of the celebrity look-alikes.
The Rogers Stadium, the home of the Blue Jays, the local baseball team will also be rocking to the rafters on Sunday night. The all star line-up is still to be finally confirmed but definitely appearing will be Alicia Keys and Zimbabwean superstar Thomas Mapfumo.
But before cynics start criticising this as another cause célèbre for the celebs, remember that Keys, for one, has long been a supporter of AIDS benefits. Microsoft's Bill Gates, who is slowly trading in his geeky image for his new role as uber-philanthropist and co-chair with his wife of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will be delivering the keynote address.
On the night it is expected that Microsoft Bill will confirm the badly guarded secret that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are to donate $500 million to the battle against AIDS.
Then on Monday it will be down to the business end of things. We will, of course continue to keep you posted throughout the week.
About this article
Ciaran McFarlane, Lyra McKee, Emmet Barr, all 16, attended the International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006. Their diary was published on BBC Blast.
