In the city that made famous the waltz and formal balls attended by gents and dames in traditional garb, gays and straights of all ilk got to strut their stuff at the yearly fundraiser for the fight against AIDS.

The ball, with the theme "a choir of love against an army of ignorance," plays up a deliberately frivolous and wild side, but in the end its message is deadly serious.

As guest hostess Sharon Stone told a crowd of thousands at the opening event, a fashion show in front of Vienna's Town Hall: "I'm sure that most of you are aware that there are 40 million people living with AIDS."

The US film star, who is president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, told those stricken with the disease: "I am walking with you.. and I am fighting for your life."

For Joerg Kuks, a 33-year-old hairdresser from Linz, central Austria, decked out in little but glistening gold body paint, shorts and a rope around his neck, it was one of the "biggest AIDS festivals in Europe."

"There are more people here than go to the Opera Ball," he said, referring to the traditional main event of Vienna's ball season, held in February at the Austrian capital's august Staatsoper building.

Kuks' girlfriend, Karin Hoter, 32, said she had come in her skimpy outfit "just for fun".

One of the prime pleasures, she said, was that she "felt a little bit like a star, with all of these people watching and taking pictures of us. It's a very good feeling."

Sabina Steinherr, 24, drawing attention with her black leather and netting garb, said it was not all play as she led another young woman around on a chain.

Steinherr said she worked for a bar at the ball that was giving all the money it earned to the evening's organizers, the Aids Life charity.

Ian Reisner, a 37-year-old who had come from New York for the event, said it was "a mixing of all the elements of European society, from those on high to those who are low, from the straight to the gay, all gathered in front of Vienna's grandiose town hall in the most moving experience of my gay life."

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, in a red mini-dress, led the struts and pouts on the fashion show catwalk which featured looks from the Italian company Diesel and live appearances by popular music stars Anastacia, Nina Hagen and Kool and the Gang.

Campbell, who campaigns worldwide and especially in South Africa to fight AIDS, had earlier told reporters she had "lost many friends" to the disease and proclaimed, "I'm here for them."

French film star Catherine Deneuve presented an award of 100,000 euros (126,000 dollars) at the opening ceremony to Dr. Tito von Schoen-Angerer from the the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres, MSF).

Von Schoen-Angerer told AFP that he was among the first to experiment, in Thailand in 2000, with antiretroviral therapies to control AIDS, which is caused by HIV.

MSF was recognized for its work in trying to find a way to diagnose HIV in babies, an especially tough task since infants under 18 months still carry antibodies in their blood from their mothers.

The Life Ball, which began in 1993, raises close to a million euros each year for HIV projects, according to the Vienna city administration.

The ball is now focused "on the new HIV pandemic -- Asia, where there were more than 1.1 million new infections last year, the highest rate worldwide," according to a press release.

Some 4,000 revelers with tickets finally moved inside Vienna's Town Hall, where dancing and concerts were held beneath the building's Gothic arches.

Carsten Merten, a lawyer from Germany who was an impressive sight at 1.92 metres (six-feet-four-inches) tall and clad in a bra and a long latex dress -- an outfit that gave him access to a 75-euro entry ticket for creative dressing instead of the normal 135-euro price -- said he was at the ball "to make a party and to see and be seen."

And, he added, "to make a contribution to the fight against AIDS."

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