Successful One World Beat 2004 - we made a difference!

More than 200 concerts took place in more than 40 countries on the weekend of March 19-21, and local musicians raised funds for Keep A Child Alive.

But it wasn't just about raising money - even more important the artists, organizers and media talked about AIDS - raising awareness and understanding for the people living with the terrible disease.

AIDS kills thousands of people every day. In Africa alone, 9,000 people die of AIDS every day. AIDS has killed 25 million people already, including five million children. Another 500,000 children will die this year without treatment. There are currently 40 million people infected by AIDS.

One of the main problems is lack of access to life saving treatment. In Africa, only 1% of the population infected by AIDS have access to treatment, the other 99% are dying even though life-saving treatment is available.

The money raised by One World Beat 2004 is going directly to saving the lives of children and families affected by AIDS. One World Beat is a volunteer-only organisation, so 100% of donations received go directly to Keep A Child Alive.

One World Beat united the global village in a single goal - to make a difference through music.

The festival was endorsed by Westlife, Phil Collins, The Cardigans, Paula Abdul, Sheena Easton, Bonnie Tyler, Europe, Michelle Gayle and Level 42.

For a period of several weeks leading up to the festival, the One World Beat website had more than 3,000 visitors every day.

One World Beat reached out to people around the world through our website partners, volunteers, live webcasting and global media.

The festival was publicised on television, radio and the internet and in magazines and newspapers in many countries around the world.
Media in countries which did not host One World Beat events even gave publicity to the festival.

An example of the type of publicity achieved by One World Beat was a live television appearance on the BBC1 Breakfast show on the first day of the festival. Millions of viewers around the world saw One World Beat spokesperson Michelle Gayle and One World Beat's UK manager Mark Roach talk about the festival.

One World Beat would like to thank everyone involved in making the 2004 festival a major success - and would like to invite you all back to participate in what we hope will be an even more successful 2005 festival!