The months between winter and summer are a busy time for gay Atlanta, as festivals, fundraisers and parties pack the social calendar with a number of opportunities to celebrate the season leading up to Atlanta Pride.

One of the year’s highlights, the annual Human Rights Campaign Dinner & Silent Auction, now in its 19th year, is expected to bring more funds than ever to the gay rights organization.

Event co-chair Chuck Stephens says he remembers the first time he attended the dinner.

"I was blown away by the sense of community and the opportunity for everyone to come together and really celebrate so much that we have and talk about where we need to go," Stephens says. "That’s really the value of this event, to really highlight both the positives and challenges that we have."

Stephens says last year’s dinner exceeded fundraising expectations by bringing in over $300,000, which is directed to the national HRC organization that helps fund local activities during the year. This year, Stephens expects about 1,300 attendees to usher even more cash through ticket sales and the auction, which features items from gay-owned furniture retailer Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams and travel packages among other items of interest.

This year’s event will be packed with entertainment, Stephens says, lending itself to a more relaxed atmosphere under the ‘60s retro theme "Truth. Love. Happiness."

The evening’s entertainment and speakers are still top secret, but organizers announced that Q100 lesbian radio personality Melissa Carter and Tony Conway will receive awards for their community leadership and humanitarianism.

IN Another top-tier gala on the spring horizon, the AIDS Consortium of Atlanta hosts "Uncork a Cure," a collaboration with several local restaurants and wineries that raised around $90,000 last year with the highest turnout ever, according to organizer Tom Garner, who expects the numbers to be even higher this year.

"It gives the community an opportunity to come together and enjoy a vast array of fine wines," Garner says. "We’re already up to 16 participating restaurants, and attendees have the option to bid on silent auction items from individuals and companies like art, jewelry, furniture, gift certificates and travel."

Garner says the funds raised at the event go to ARCA with a focus on programs for HIV prevention, testing and counseling.

On a lighter note, Pets Are Loving Support hosts its second annual K9 Cotillion in April. Last year, PALS raised about $20,000 for the non-profit services it provides to HIV-positive pet owners.

"If anything, come to see the dogs," says PALS Executive Director Ken Rich. "There are pure breeds and mixes, and it’s really just a fun afternoon."

The event features dog representatives that raise funds through the year. The dog that raises the most money is crowned the 2006 "spokesdog."

Other gay-oriented spring events are more about having fun than raising money.

The Southern Womyn’s Festival 2006 is a women-only weekend featuring music, crafts and kinship. Event founder Pat Cobb says organizers aren’t opposed to men, but the weekend is intended to provide the exclusive opportunity for women to share time with women.

"The safety of knowing that it’s just women …It’s such just a different feeling," she says.

This year’s entertainment includes Lola Gulley, Jen Foster and Stephanie Callahan of Halcyon, as well as number of other musicians and spoken word artists.

Cobb says the six-year-old festival, which usually draws about 100 attendees, is an intimate gathering that creates bonds between women that last through the years.

"It’s such a community that you feel like you know everyone, even people who are there for the first time," she says. "You just get to know everybody, and everyone gets in the spirit of being helpful to each other."

Other events this spring include the Atlanta Pride Wine Tasting Fundraiser on March 25. In April, look for the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, AIDS Survival Project’s Art of Dining, the Athens Boybutante Ball and Project Open Hand’s Dining Out Project, formerly Dining Out for Life.

In May, the City of Babylon Tour comes to town and continues the dance party tradition started during the run of "Queer As Folk." June sees the Southeast Leather Fest, and of course, Atlanta Pride.