Over 400 well dressed guests attended Aurora’s Hollywood themed Annual Dinner on Saturday night, raising over $60,000 for the charity.

Sparkling duo Bob Downe and Nell Schofield hosted the evening, Neil Armfield and Clover Moore both gave inspiring speeches, Ita Buttrose and Maria Venuti were in the house, Virginia Gay belted out a very stripped back cabaret version of Sweet Transvestite, Mitzi MacIntosh performed a tribute to The Sound Of Music and Peter Cousens made everyone’s dessert that much sweeter.

‘I am so thrilled that Aurora’s ninth Annual Dinner was such a success – a great celebration and a great fundraiser,” said Alex Sosnov, Aurora Group Chairperson. “We raised over $60,000 on the night from the generosity of our supporters which will allow us to continue supporting important work in our community. A huge thank you to everyone involved.”

Paddington Town Hall was described as the ‘spiritual home’ of Aurora, given that it was home to the first Mardi Gras party and the first Sleaze Ball. The venue looked truly glamorous – guests arrived on a red carpet and were greeted by glittering drag queens, the dining room was beautifully decked out with elegant table settings, soft lighting, metres of draped fabric and a dramatic cluster of white stars that seemed to explode above the crowd.

The two biggest auction items from the night were dinners with two of last year’s Same Same 25 – Dinner with Penny Wong, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, went for $15,000, and Dinner with Bob Brown, Leader of the Greens, went for $10,000.

A framed photograph of Matthew Mitcham by Myles Formby, as well as a pair of signed swimmers from Matthew, fetched a cool $1,000.

The Aurora Dinner really is a unique community event – not only does it generate much needed cash for community groups, but there’s also something really special about sitting down and sharing a meal together and listening to community leaders talk about issues close to our heart.

Check out our photos from the night by clicking here.