Day: December 4, 2021

RFL Christmas Expo 2021 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
RFL of SL Xmas Expo 2021

The annual RFL Christmas Expo opened its gates on Friday, December 3rd, 2021, and will run through until December 14th in support of The American Cancer Society and RFL of SL.

Located on fifteen regions, this year’s expo once again offers a wide range of shopping opportunities, entertainment and more, all presented around the theme The 12 Days of Christmas. As with recent years, all funds raised during the event will go towards supporting The American Cancer Society’s Childhood Cancer initiatives, where they will be used in support, research and palliative efforts to help children with cancer.,

Merchants from all fields are participating in this year’s event, which includes daily entertainment at the Holly Jolly Café featuring a mix of live performances and DJs. The schedule of entertainment provides a day-by-day breakdown of all music events at the Exp, with the Holly Jolly Café the centre for almost non-stop entertainment. In addition, visitors can buy a ticket for the Holiday Shopping raffles, visit the Christmas Tree Lot and the Merchant village or stop for a Picture With Santa.

Activities and Special Events

This year’s Expo includes a number of activities and special events:

Shopping: over 150 merchants offering a variety of shopping options. Check the on-line shopping directory for direct SLurls to stores.

And don’t forget, that as a part of the shopping experience is the Christmas Stockings hunt. Hanging in participating Expo merchants shops is one or more Christmas stocking that has something very special from the merchant.

The Winter Breedables Fair: three regions of animals and breedables, culminating in the giant Winter Breedable Auction. See the Winter Breedables Fair page for details.

Holiday Raffles: this year sees the Expo offer two raffles:

  • The Shopping Spree Raffle, with the draw to be held on December 14th at the Holly Jolly Café. With tickets at L$100 or 3 for L$200, available via the kiosks to be found throughout the Expo. Two lucky winner stand to gain over 200 gift cards from stores across Second Life.
  • The Daily Holiday Shopping Raffle can be found at the Holly Jolly Café, with prizes valued at between L$250 and L$1,000. Tickets are L$50 each or three for L$100, with daily draws at 19:00 SLT at the Holly Jolly Café.
RFL of SL Xmas Expo 2021 – Lights of Hope

Lights of Hope: once again Second Life’s premier builders are joining the SL Christmas Expo to present the Annual Lights of Hope Home Decoration Contest. Each of the builders has decorated the outside of one of their stunning houses in holiday style and brought it to the Expo.  Stroll the Holiday Road neighbourhood at the Expo and vote for your favourites by donation to the American Cancer Society kiosk in front of each home! 100% of all donations go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Also be sure to pop over to the Real Estate Office in the neighbourhood where some of the builders have graciously placed out their entry home for sale in an American Cancer Society Christmas Expo vendor.

The Annual Holidays of Hope Ball: will take place from 13:00 on Sunday, December 12th. Sponsored by T1Radio, this formal ball is open to all Second Life residents, and will feature live entertainment.

New Linden Homes preview: catch the new Linden Homes theme in a special preview to be unveiled at the Expo on Monday, December 6th.

Also awaiting visitors, are opportunities to collect your own limited edition Patch on a Shelf elf via the special kiosks within the Expo regions, and have your picture taken with “Santa” Patch and the “Elf” Moles on December 10th between noon and 15:00 SLT, sleigh rides and more.

RFL of SL Xmas Expo 2021 – photos with “Santa” Patch and the “Elf” Moles

Thus, there is a huge amount to see and do at the Expo, so be sure to check out the official website for more information.

SLurls and Links

All regions rated Moderate.

Frogmore’s Swedish winter Crispness in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, December 2021 – click any image for full size

“It’s small but I wanted to be able to add details,” Tolia Crisp told me after inviting me to visit her winter setting, an offshoot of her Frogmore (and Mousehole) regions (although quite separate from them). I have no problem with small settings, even when a complete Homestead region is concerned, because small can often be better.

In the case of Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, small brings us a  little and engaging touch of Tolia’s homeland, as she notes in the About Land description:

A tiny Swedish Village of childhood memories, snow covered landscape, warm Fika Shoppes, and the light sound of Reindeer paws.
Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, December 2021

For those unfamiliar with fika is at the heart of Swedish coffee culture, a social institution involving the practice of taking a break with a beverage and snack that is widely accepted as central to Swedish life. Traditionally, it involves a cup of coffee enjoyed with a pastry, although the coffee can be replaced by alternate hot beverages such as tea and hot chocolate, and juices and squashes for children. In addition, the term can also be used to mean an informal meeting, generally within a business and between management and business.

Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, December 2021

Crisp Kringle offers plenty of opportunities for both. Along the little village street  can be found a little fika café where a hoot drink and pastry can be enjoyed indoors, while a couple of outdoor spots offer either hot chocolate or mulled wine for those needing a warming of the hands an tummy without necessarily wanting to stop and sit a while. And while the idea of a fika and a meeting might be couched in business, here it also relates to the way people can visit, meet, explore and enjoy entirely informally.

Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, December 2021

From the icy landing point, the street rises by a series of steps to pass between various small businesses (including one with a sense of being Santa’s workshop) before descending down to another frozen body of water. This is large enough to support some ice skating (skates available via a sign on the ice), with the ice certain think enough to support a lot of weight, despite someone having hack a hole through it  for some ice fishing, as evidence by the reindeer (large and small) stress testing it from time to time with heavy jumps.

Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, December 2021

Also to be found are cabins where further warmth can be found, together with opportunities for cuddles, or the for daring, an outdoor, coal-fired hot tub awaits.  While for those who fancy a quite skate away from the main pond and the town, a small pond sits over the hills.

Small, but with a lot of detail to be discovered and photographed, Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region offers a nice winter setting with just a hint of Christmas to be found within it without a hint of the usual schmaltz to spoil it.

Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, December 2021

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