After a day filled with trampling each other to spend money on the "greatest," potentially unnecessary Black Friday Deal, You should spend a couple bucks on something that really matters… Cherry Pop and Brandon Robert present the second annual World AIDS day charity event CODE:RED on November 29th, 2014. I had a chance to talk to both Cherry Pop and Brandon Robert about the event, their insights will make your day!

BowtieBoy (BB) : First, I want to thank you for opening up to PhillyGayCalander, I know your schedules must be crazy! The first questions I've got, What prompted you to host Code: Red?

Brandon Robert (BR): Well I myself don't host the event Cherry Pop asked me to produce it with her. I wanted to produce it because I feel it is such an important issue that a lot of people are scared to talk about. we didn't want to just throw an amazing event we wanted to open a dialog. "BREAK THE SILENCE"

Cherry Pop (CP): I wanted to reach out to my community and express the importance of safe sex and knowing your status. On 1/23/12 i was diagnosed with HIV, and since my diagnosis 12 friends have approached me for help and advice because they too were diagnosed. I felt that I needed to speak up… the main reason i decided to do CODE:RED was to inform the public that there is help all around the city. I have such a supportive family and group of friends that I can go to whenever I need advice or help. However that is not the case for everyone so I wanted to create an outlet where they can find others dealing with the same issues as well as learning about different places they can go for help; to open a door for those who may feel alone.

BB: Such awesome inspiration, and I can totally see why you're going in for Round 2 of Code: Red How is this year different than last year?

BR: We didn't want to change the format too much because it was such a success last year. The biggest difference is that we have more people supporting us! Voyeur has and remains very supportive of the show. Bee Reed from Drag Official has been very supportive of us this year. Tabu has jumped on board to help us with grtting the sets and fabric for our decor of the show. More queens have been added than last year as well! Last year (although they sold out the night of the show) we only sold 3 of the 7 VIP tables prior to the show. This year all 7 sold out in the first week of sales.

CP: This event has over 30 of Philly's finest entertainers, all donating their time and talent on stage to raise money for the cause. It's such an amazing blend of talent. DJ Carl Michaels agreed to be the DJ again for the event. Garrett Matthew agreed to be the photographer again for the event. This year Ty Worley has agreed to be the videographer for the event. Jeffrey Sotland from Tabu Lounge donated to us to for decorations and other needs for the show. Last year we had 204 people attend the show that night. We raised over $3000, this year we're hoping to raise even more!

CODE: RED takes place at Voyeur Nightclub. Doors open at 8pm and show begins at 8:45pm. Tickets can be pre-purchased here and will allow you access to Voyeur all night.

Keep an eye out for a more in-depth interview with Cherry Pop about the event!
Code Red 2014
codered2014.brownpapertickets.com