Join us for a special event marking both the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa and the 40th anniversary of the death of Bruce Burnett – one of Aotearoa’s pioneering HIV activists and educators.

Bruce was instrumental in co-founding the AIDS Support Network in the early 1980s, which would become the New Zealand AIDS Foundation in 1985, later renamed to the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa in 2022.

Walk Tours NZ, in association with the Foundation, is hosting a very special walk tour to commemorate these two significant anniversaries. Starting outside the Āwhina Centre on Willis Street, we’ll walk through central Wellington, stopping at various locations to pay tribute to some of this country’s HIV pioneers.

Learn about personal and collective responses to the epidemic, and hear short archival recordings from those who experienced the early years first-hand.

As part of the walk tour, we’ll return to the Āwhina Centre where the Burnett Foundation team will talk about the current state of HIV in Aotearoa and show a couple of panels from the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Please note that we have cancelled the tour on Saturday 29 November 2025 (World AIDS Day special event) due to very low walker numbers.

Starts: 1pm, outside the Āwhina Centre, 220 Willis Street, Te Aro, Wellington

Ends: Āwhina Centre (approximately 2.40pm)

Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

Cost / Bookings: the tour is free but spaces are limited, so please register here

Areas covered: Willis Street, the waterfront, Cuba Street

Accessibility information: the tour is on flat public footpaths. Tours are limited to approximately 25 walkers.