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The Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party is an annual party held every year in Los Angeles, California since 1993, following the Academy Awards ceremony. The first party was held in February 1993 at Maple Drive Restaurant and raised $300,000. It had been produced by Patrick Lippert, an AIDS activist who died of the disease just months later. In recent years it has been held at the Pacific Design Center and was attended by 650 people in 2009. It is hosted by Elton John and the AIDS Foundation, and is one of the most high-profile parties in the Hollywood film industry, particularly for people of British origin working in Hollywood films or the entertainment industry. The annual party contributes to the foundation fund by its high priced ticket sales which are given by invitation only ($3500 or £2400 as of 2009) and a celebrity auction. The 2010 party raised over $8 million or £4 million.