Category: Events

Virtual Ability: mental health awareness in Second Life 2025

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability: 14th annual Mental Health Symposium

The Virtual Ability community in Second Life is hosting its 14th annual Mental Health Symposium on Thursday, May 15th, 2025. The theme for this year’s event is Facing Our Fears: Managing Anxiety About Life’s Uncertainties.

Fear is a built-in human reaction. Fear of large carnivores, fire, dark, starvation and strangers likely contributed greatly to the survival and early evolution of humanity. The modern world has given people even more causes for fear: community violence, biased public institutions, horrific war, climate change, racism, gender violence and artificial intelligence, among many others. Fear can at times be useful, but it also impacts quality of life. Disabling fear is a treatable condition. The varied causes and levels of intrusiveness of a fear demand individualized therapeutic approaches. The broad theme of this conference allows us to look at the topic of fear from a number of different perspectives.

Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium 2025 introduction

Virtual Ability Inc  (VAI) and the Virtual Ability community hosts this annual Symposium to share information about mental health and mental disabilities with the general population. Within this cross-disability community are people who deal with a variety of mental health issues. So, not only is this an opportunity for community members to learn more about topics related to mental health from experts they probably would not have an opportunity to otherwise meet, it also  allows the general public to attend a professional conference for free.

Virtual Ability Island

The symposium will once again feature an international group of presenters offering a wide interpretation of the theme, based on their interests and academic backgrounds.

Speakers

(All times SLT)

  • 07:00: Dr. Manish Kumar Asthana, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee – Attenuating conditioned fear using imagery-based interventions.
  • 08:00: Mr. Aman Kumar Prajapati, Invertis University (India) – Near death experience and transformation of afterlife belief.
  • 09:30: Ms. Maria Nieves, Catholic University of Pelotas (Brazil) – Worry related to climate change among Brazilian adults.
  • 10:30: Ms. Jen Johnson, Private Practice, Learning from the Land: Growing Emotional Resilience in the Climate Crisis.
  • 12:00 Noon: Dr. Mustafa Demir, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA – Effects of trust in government, counterterrorism policies, and counterterrorism laws on fear of cyberterrorism and fear of terrorism.
  • 15:00: Dr. Veró Caridad Rabelo, San Francisco State University – When Safety for You Means Danger for Me (interview).

Panel Discussions

(All times SLT)

  • 12:30: Peer Support and Fear – Second Life panel discussion featuring Viola Mole, Pet Karu, Kip Yellowjacket and Demelza McGinnis. Moderator: Itico Spectre.
  • 13:30: Fear within Specific Disabilities – panel discussion featuring: Dr. Kathryn Post (Massachusetts General Hospital’s Cancer Outcomes Research & Education (CORE) Programme); Dr. Leigh Brosof (clinical psychologist specializing in research on and treatment of eating disorders) and Gloria Kraegel (Team Leader at Brain Energy Support Team, and Chief Groundskeeper at Etopia Sustainable Communities). Moderator: Cicero Kit.

All speaker sessions and panels will be available via the Virtual Ability You Tube channel.

The Symposium takes place in Virtual Ability’s Sojourner Auditorium, on Virtual Ability island and full information can be found here.

About Virtual Ability

Virtual Ability, Inc. is a non-profit corporation, chartered in the state of Colorado, USA.  We are a non-profit tax exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. This means that for US citizens, contributions made are deductible as a charitable donation for federal income tax purposes.

For further information on the board of directors, please visit the Virtual Ability About Us page.

Related links

Fantasy Faire 2025: your (almost) complete unofficial guide

Posted on by Inara Pey
Fantasy Faire 2025 – Izumo
If you are just after links and Surls, click here to jump to them!

The largest fantasy-related event to take place in Second Life, Fantasy Faire 2025, opened its gates to Fairelanders at 12:00 SLT on Thursday, April 17th, 2025. It will remain open through until Sunday May 4th, 2025 inclusive, once again raising money for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) efforts to bring about a World Without Cancer.

 Table of Contents

As with previous years, 2025 will see a wide range of activities and events taking place at the Faire, with role-play, parties, Jail & Bail, the LitFest, live performances, auctions, and more, together with the using multiple opportunities for fantasy- focused shopping.

The notes below are intended to get Fairelanders old and new up-to-speed with a one-page look at the event as it opens.

Fantasy Faire 2025, Holi

If You Are New to the Faire and Other Notes

If you are new to Fantasy Faire, the many regions it encompasses can be overwhelming to the point where you might fill panicked into trying to see everything at once.. But – the Fire is here for two weeks, so you have lots of time to visit, and remember: shopping and sightseeing can be much easier once all the initial rush is over!

The best place to start a first-time visit is Fairelands Junction. From here you can reach all of the regions via the teleport portals, so it makes a good hub for exploring. You can also grab a Fantasy Faire teleport HUD from here (or at the region landing points).

Also:

  • Keep up-to-date with the Faire and all that is going on through the official Fantasy Faire website.
  • The Fairelands have their own mythology and history. If fantasy is your thing, be sure to read about the History of the Fairelands.

Enjoying a Better Experience / Performance

  • For the best visual experience:
    • Make sure your viewer is set to Use Shared Environment (World → Environment) as the regions all have their own environment settings, and several have dedicated day / night cycles.
    • Try to travel light! Remove heavily scripted attachments you do not require for visiting the Fairelands – including any HUDs you don’t need while visiting (thus reducing things like the texture footprint they take up on your computer and the resources they might claim on the simulator, making the latter a little better for everyone).
    • Please don’t use particle-generating attachments / effects, they may look pretty on you, but they can really impact performance.
    • If you use them, turn off Shadows rendering.
    • When there is no Linden Water visible, set Water reflections to None: Opaque.
    • Reduce your Draw Distance to lighten loading.
    • If you’re familiar with it, use the Improve Graphics Speed floater to adjust your viewer’s rendering and performance on-the-fly.
  • Regions can be busy! So if you teleport into one, be sure to move a little way from the landing point as soon as you can to avoid becoming part of an avatar tower!
  • And, despite the comments about HUDs above, don’t forget to pick up the Fantasy Faire Teleport HUD for quick and easy access to all the regions!
Fantasy Faire 2025, The Wraithwoods

Shopping

Fantasy Faire is very much about shopping. Merchants from across SL can be found in the shopping regions, all of whom offer some of their items through official RFL of SL vendors, so that proceeds of sales go to RFL / ACS.

Parties, Entertainment and Performances

The Fairechylde: DJ Events

The Fairechylde will once again be docked at the Faire, spending her time within The Golden Hour region, hosting DJ parties to keep Fairelanders entertained. These parties – live or via Fantasy Faire Radio – will be running right throughout the Faire.

Fantasy Faire 2025, Xalren

Live Performances

Throughout the run of the Faire will be live performances by musicians, singers, dance troupes and more from across Second Life. Performances will be hosted on the Arts and Performance region of Pixieland.

The Fairelands Masked Ball

Fancy a more formal soiree where tuxedoes and gowns are encouraged and an air of mystery is added with eyes behind masks? Then head for the Fantasy Faire Masked Ball. This will be hosted on The Golden Hour on two dates, so as to suit multiple time zones:

  • Saturday, April 26th – Noon through 14:00 SLT.
  • Friday, May 2nd – 18:00 through 20:00 SLT.
Fantasy Faire 2025, Misplaced Melody

Events and Activities Highlights

Literature, Theatre and Film Festivals 2025

Now in its 11th year, the Fantasy Faire Literary Festival is  being hosted at The Golden Hour, and brings with it a celebration of fantasy in the form of story. The LitFest offers many ways to experience the stories of the Faire and inspire your own tales of journeys, wonders, and adventures.

Once again, the Festival will include a special Guest of Honour, English author Genevieve Cogman, and include the region tours to encourage the inner writer / poet.

The Theatre Festival is a new event for Fantasy Faire. It will feature Talks, Practical Sessions and Rehearsals all focused on stage productions in Second Life, and will include the premiere of a new play, 310788, at the end of the Faire!

The Film Festival is returning for its fourth year at Fantasy Faire. Led by Chantal Harvey and Saffia Widdershins, there will be an almost daily event at 11:00, including talks, discussions and retrospectives of the works of different machinematographers.

Role-Play Activites and Classes

Role-play lead by  Astrium will be taking place between April 19th and 22nd. In The Echowrite Quill, travellers venturing into Obsidian Sanctum, under the watch of the Dragon Council, they may find a gate that is not locked. Whilst they may enter expecting to find treasure, they may instead find themselves entrusted with a wondrous, and terrifying, secret.

Lost to time and swallowed by the stars, a quill drifts between forgotten realms and the world of now. It is no ordinary instrument, but a relic of boundless creation—capable of scripting entire realities into existence with a mere flick of its tip. For centuries, the dragons of Obsidian Sanctum have guarded this quill in secret, watching and waiting. Only one deemed truly worthy may claim it. But first, they must solve three ancient puzzles… and restore the Ink of Forever.

– from The Echowrite Quill

Find out more via these links:

Fantasy Faire Quest: The Dreamcaster’s Cauldron

This year’s chapter of the Fantasy Faire adventure quest series is The Dreamcaster’s Cauldron. Once again the Bard Queen will call upon adventurers bold of heart to purchaser a Quest HUD (also proceeds to RFL / ACS) and follow the clues in a quest of two parts.

You don’t have to join the Quest as soon as it opens; the prizes are for everyone who completes the adventure, and the Quest will be open right through until the end of the Faire.

Fantasy Faire 2025, Gwath

And There’s More

Don’t forget, all the staples of Fantasy Faire will again be available, including the live auction, the silent auction and jail and bail – see the Fantasy Faire website for details on these .

Links and Region SLurls

Website Links Event Region SLurls Shopping Region SLurls
Website Home Page

Social Media

VWBPE 2024: Catching Up With the Lindens – a summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Screen cap of Catching Up With the Lindens (l to r): Elli Pinion, Patch Linden, Grumpity Linden, Kali Linden and Kyle Linden
On Friday, April 4th, 2025 the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) conference held another of in their sessions featuring representatives from Linden Lab and various called over the years Above the Book, What’s Up at the Lab and now Catching Up With the Lindens.
Table of Contents

The following is a summary of the session covering the core topics raised. Notes are based on the official video of the session, which is embedded at the end of this article. Time stamps are also provided to the relevant points in the video for those who wish to listen to specific comments.

On hand for the session, hosted by Elli Pinion, were:

  • Grumpity Linden, Senior Vice President of Product and Engineering.
  • Patch Linden, Senior Vice President of Product Operations.
  • Kali Linden, Director of Engineering Web & Platform
  • Kyle Linden,  Product Manager (viewer).

Notes:

  • This is a summary, not a full transcript, and items have been grouped by topic, so may not be presented chronologically when compared to the video.
  • Timestamps are included to allow a direct jump to a subject.
  • Given these sessions are part of the VWBPE annual conference, there is obviously a lean towards matters of education and learning.

SL Mobile and Project Zero

SL Mobile

Resources:

[Video: 4:14-13:37]

  • A re-cap on work to date on SL Mobile, from the baseline starting point: could an app be built that could render avatars much as they appear within the viewer?
    • All the work tends to be iterative in nature – so, for example, avatar appearance and fixes form a tranche of on-going work as they are refined and improved.
    • Features are being added in terms of “journeys” – what would people like to do in SL when using a mobile app + what is practical to be able to to on a mobile device, and then building-out a specific “journey”.
    • The first such “journey” was called “going to a club” (although it can be applied to other in-world activities), and which incorporated capabilities  such as logging-in, seeing Friends on-line, finding an event / location, going to it, being able to chat / IM, listen to music, interact with objects, etc.
  • As the project has been opened out through the on-going Beta:
    • Development has been adjusted to try to take into account feedback and feature requests from users. developed and more and more feedback has been supplied by users (e.g. feature requests), and all of this is reviewed and considered in building-out the development roadmap.
    • One aspect of the Beta has been the need to better support incoming new users – hence the integration of the new user sign-up process with Mobile, the provision of an arrival / “welcome” area specifically for new users coming into SL via Mobile, etc.
One of the recent updates to SL Mobile was to integrate the new starter workflow – including avatar selection  – into it
  • The goal with the Mobile app is to have it as a companion means of accessing Second Life alongside of the desktop experience, with the eventual aim of having it stand on its own as a window into SL – but there is a lot of work / functionality to add before that point is reached.
  • However, some functionality will not be fully developed – such as the ability to build content from within  Mobile; screen size and other limitations do not allow for this, but users can expect the ability to interact / move content around on Mobile to customise spaces.

Project Zero

Resources:

[Video: 13:38-21:13]

  • Multi-faceted project:
    • Providing easier on-boarding for incoming / returning users by offering a direct path from sign-up to using the official viewer within a browser (Project Zero).
    • Providing a suitable new UI to with with the viewer when offered through a browser (React / HTML) (Project Zero).
    • Providing ability for existing users to access Second Life using a third-party viewer.
  • The payments aspect is in flux; streaming has costs associated with it, which LL need to cover (at the time of writing, around US $1.75 an hour per session – see: here and here for more), but at the same time those costs are gradually decreasing.
  • Firestorm Zero (see: Project Zero Update: Firestorm in your browser as well) has been a “first pass” at trying to offer access to a third-party viewer via a browser. This has been:
    • A limited-availability (in terms of available passes) offer.
    • A experiment in charging a nominal fee for access (L$250 for 5 hours) to see how that was received by existing users.
    • Testing the ability to have viewer settings persist across multiple log-ins using a browser-based version of the viewer.
  • LL are aware of the appetite among users to have browser-based access to SL, and more will be “coming, but not immediately coming.”
  • In terms of pay-to-use: LL are looking at various ways to reduce the cost to users (e.g. bundling so many hours of access per month to the SL subscription tiers before users on those tiers would have to start paying) – but this is all very much still in discussion.

WebRTC

[Video: 21:15-24:52-31:25]

  • Project recap: replacing Vivox Voice service and plug-in with the WebRTC communications protocol (RTC=”real-time communication”). Key benefits:
    • WebRTC supports a wide range of real-time communications tools in common use (e.g. Google Meet), supporting audio, video and data communications, and is thus something of a “standard” approach.
    • Offers a good range of features: automatic echo cancellation, better noise cancellation and automatic gain control, much improved audio sampling rates for improved audio quality.
    • Opens the door to features and capabilities to voice services which could not be implemented whilst using Vivox (e.g. text-to-speech / speech-to-text).
  • Currently, the majority of up-to-date viewer support both Vivox and WebRTC, and regions are running either WebRTC or Vivox on the back end.
    • The intention remains to turn off Vivox altogether on the back-end at some point, leaving only WebRTC.
    • This has been delayed due to the (now decreasing) number of users still using older versions of viewer which do not have the WebRTC updates, and so are reliant on Vivox.
    • It is hoped that, all things being equal, the switch-over can be made before the end of the second quarter of 2025 (e.g. by the end of June 2025).
  • In the meantime, region / estate holders wishing to try WebRTC on their regions can submit a support ticket to have their region moved from Vivox to WebRTC, with the understanding that (at the time of writing) WebRTC is still under development and might be a little unpredictable.

Combat 2.0

Resources:

[Video: 31:45-34:28]

  • Recap: a project (currently on hiatus) to overhaul the Second life Combat System (SLCS) and update it to support better combat capabilities and options, and make user engagement in combat simulations easier and more enjoyable.
  • Key additions to SLCS thus far include:
    • Damage Limit, Regeneration Speed, consequence of death (e.g. teleport victim home as per current SLCS or to a telehub  / landing point or take no action).
    • An on_damage event to account for intervening elements which may result in less severe damage being caused (e.g. when riding inside an armoured vehicle).
    • A new Region Combat Event Log (aka “Brigadier Linden”).
  • More work to come, with discussions often taking place during the weekly Simulator User Group meetings.

AI Integration

[Video: 35:51-40:45]

  • Recap:
    • LL originally launched the AI Character Generator utilising Convai, a platform for developers and creators proving an intuitive approach to designing AI characters, and with limited access in December 2024.
    • There was a lot of negative feedback, prompting the alpha test to be suspended, prior to re-opening in March 2025, with increased access, as a part of the March Membership Madness promotions.
  • LL is looking to work with various groups to make the capability more accessible / usable.
  • Due to the negativity from many towards AI (and some of the issues the wider use of generative AI has genuinely caused), the the Lab is looking to follow-up on Philip Rosedale’s promise to have a dedicated Town Hall / Community Round Table on the subject of AI, and get such a meeting scheduled.
  • There is acknowledgement that AI characters have a use within SL (e.g. the AI helper for new users that can answer questions, provide assistance, etc), and such use-cases could be widespread.
  • In developing AI capabilities for use with / in SL, LL is trying to be as thoughtful as possible, and respective of people’s views.
  • Concerns have been raised about people being able to know whether the character in front of them is an AI-driven agent rather than an avatar operated by a human.
    • Traditionally, the requirement has been for any scripted agent used in-world to be noted as so by the creator.
    • However, LL acknowledges that AI agents have a more nuanced capability over that of scripted agents (“bots”), and so a more granular distinction is likely required so that people do understand the nature of the avatar which whom they are interacting.

In Brief

From approx. 42 mins to end.

  • Mention of the SL server-side implementation of Luau scripting – referenced as “SLua”, currently in alpha testing on Aditi (the Beta grid).
  • SL22B: general notes that the birthday event will run from Friday, June 20th, 2025 through until Sunday, July 20th, and that (at the time of writing) performer and exhibitor applications are open.
  • Mention of the first cut of the glTF mesh model import to run alongside COLLADA – see my Content Creation User Group summaries for more.
  • Mention – without specifics – of two Linden Home releases that are on the horizon.
  • A reminder that SL users are welcome to attend all user group meetings.

Previewing the VWBPE 2025 conference in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
via VWBPE.org

The 18th Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education (VWBPE) conference takes place between Thursday, April 3rd and Saturday April 5th, 2025 inclusive.

A grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments, VWBPE attracts 2200-3500 educational professionals from around the world each year. Its primary goals are to foster discussion on, and learning about educational opportunities presented through the use of such virtual spaces, a defining core values and best practices in doing so, including:

  • Helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
  • Providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
  • Offering access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education.

In the context of the conference, a “virtual environment” is an on-line community through which users can interact with one another and use and create ideas irrespective of time and space. As such, typical examples include Second Life, OpenSimulator, Unity, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and so on, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any virtual environments characterised by an open social presence and in which the direction of the platform’s evolution is manifest in the community.

Every year, the event has an over-arching theme. For 2025 this is Transitions, which the organisers describe thus:

Transitions, like pivotal shifts in a story, capture the profound changes educators and students have faced in recent years. These shifts highlight the need to adapt and redefine social dynamics within virtual environments as education evolves to meet new challenges.
Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.
VWBPE 2025 Gateway

Programme

As with previous VWBPE conferences, this year’s event includes speakers, workshops, presentations, social activities and more.

The best way to find out what is going on over the three days of the conference is through the VWBPE programme page,  However, here are some of the highlights of major events (note: all times SLT and held at the main auditorium unless otherwise stated):

  • Thursday April 3rd:
  • Friday April 4th:
  • Saturday April 5th:
    • 07:00-08:00: Workshop Area B – Immersive AI Companion Design, presenter: ErlinaAzure (Helena Galani, TESOL International).
    • 08:00-09:00 Lecture Area B – Navigating Transitions Through Community Learning, a roundtable discussion with host: Rhiannon Chatnoir (RL: Joyce Bettencourt, Avacon, Inc.).
    • 09:00-10:00 – Auditorium Keynote – Rabindra Ratan (SL: Rabidth Rote) – Auditorium Floating Meadows entrance; Auditorium Rainbow Basin entrance.
    • 10:00-11:00: Workshop Area A –  Round the Campfire on Student Agency, presenter: Bluebarker Lowtide (Vasili A. Giannoutsos, VBCPS).
    • 12:00 noon-13:00: Lecture Area B – Go Ahead, Accept Failure, Fall Forward, and Fly, presenter: Zinnia Zauber (Renne Emiko Brock, Peninsula College).
    • 14:00-15:00: Lecture Area A – Transitioning from Virtual World Student to Pro, presenter: Kreatya Shannon (Shannon Broden, Graduate, San Jose State University).

If you cannot get in-world to attend any of these or the other major talks and presentations at the conference, note that you can watch them via You Tube – check the VWBPE Livestream Guide for the full schedule of events streamed to the VWBPE You Tube channel.

WWBPE Wetlands Visitor Centre

Region Themes and Facilities

For 2025, the conference continues with its Earth build, with each region representing a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be able to explore 3D immersive virtual representations of these biomes.

The VWBPE Gateway

At the VWBPE Gateway you can find information on the conference – including the schedule for the day, a Swag Bag which includes the conference teleport HUD for easy access to all locations and venues, information on the biomes comprising the conference regions, and more. And, of course, VWBPE volunteers are on hand to answer your questions!

The VWBPE 2025 Swag Bag (from the conference gateway) includes a Teleport HUD for hopping around the conference more easily

Core Facilities and SLurls

Within these regions the following core facilities for the conference can be found – but please refer to your conference Swag Bag (and teleport HUD!) for full  information on all locations and facilities at this year’s conference.

VWBPE 2023: The Hearth

To keep up-to-date with the conference, be sure to check the VWBPE website daily.

Additional Links

SL22B: Performer Applications Open

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

June 2025 will mark the 22nd anniversary of Second Life opening to public access – and as has been recently announced, celebrations to mark the event will be taking place between Friday, June 20th, 2025 and Sunday, July 20th.

Theme

This theme for 2025 is Myths and Legends, which the Lab describes thus:

It reflects the Second Life experience because we are all the heroes of our own adventures! The emphasis is on the characters and stories people create in SL both personally and within their communities. 

Performer Applications

Are you a DJ who can spin up a great party set or a live performer who can jam all night? You might be one of the grid’s amazing Dance companies, or perhaps you’re a Particle Performer? Do you do tarot readings? Perhaps you are a Roleplay guru who has adventures to share; or even a scripter extraordinaire with mad skills ready to teach an intro class in LSL.

– From the SL22B Performer Application form

Applications for SL22B performers were officially opened on March 27th, 2025. Key points for those planning to apply:

  • Applications will be accepted through until Monday, May 19th, 2025.
  • Submission of an application does not guarantee a performance slot. However:
    • Accepted performers will be informed via a follow-up in-world note delivered to the user name given on the application form.
    • Performers can then reserve a performance time, and performances will be scheduled in the order applied.
  • Maturity ratings and requirements:
    • All performances with the G-rated estate regions must be in keeping with the Second Life General Maturity Rating (e.g. no nudity –artistic or otherwise–, no Adult animations and/or gestures, furniture, etc, must not contain Adult poses / animations, etc.).
    • Performers applying for slot on the event stage within the Adult rated region will be permitted more explicit lyrics and adult attire.
  • Set-up time, props and tip jars:
    • All performances are limited to one-hour (including set-up time).
    • There is a 350 LI allowance for props and rezzable items for DJ and live music shows. A limited DJ set-up is allowed (e.g. spin table, speakers, small light emitters/effects) – but performers should not create set / backdrops that cover the entire stage.
    • Dance troupes or other performing groups requiring purpose-built stages might be permitted up to 1000 LI, as deemed appropriate by the Mole Coordinators.
    • Performers are asked to show up an hour in advance of their scheduled performance time in order to make sure everything is working and ready.
    • DJs, live artists and people performing on the designated events stages are permitted to rez ONE low-prim tip jar. Donation kiosks are not allowed.
  • Please read all the rules and requirements as given in the application form, linked-to below.

Performer Application Form.

Exhibitor Application Recap

As I’ve previously reported, Exhibitor applications opened on April 4th, 2024. Again, key points:

  • Applications will be accepted through until Monday, May 19th, 2025.
  • There are both General and Adult rated regions available to exhibitors.
  • Exhibits do not have to be in keeping with the Myths and Legends theme, as noted above.
  • Exhibits must not be commercial in nature (e.g. no selling items, no tip jars or the solicitation of donations – this includes tip jars, etc., associated with any performers appearing within an exhibitor space), but gifts may be provided to SL22B visitors.
  • Maturity ratings and requirements:
    • Exhibits to be presented within the General rated regions of the event must be in accordance with the General Maturity Rating (e.g. no nudity –artistic or otherwise–, no Adult animations and/or gestures, furniture, etc, must not contain Adult poses / animations, etc.).
    • Adult exhibitions and content are restricted to the separate Adult rated event regions and must conform to the Second Life ToS and the Second Life Community Standards.
  • Performances, live music and / or DJ events cannot be hosts within ant exhibitor space before Monday, June 30th, 20 2025.

Exhibitor Application Form.

Please note: All enquiries about exhibitions or performances at SL22B should be directed to Linden Lab, not this blog.

Related Links

SL22B: theme, exhibitor applications now open

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

June 2025 will mark the 22nd anniversary of Second Life opening to public access – and as we’ve all come to expect, the month will mark the start of several weeks of events and celebrations running into July under the umbrella of the Second Life Birthday (SLB) otherwise know for this year as SL22B.

On Thursday, March 13th, Linden Lab officially announced the dates and theme of this year’s festivities,  and opened applications for those wishing to create and host an exhibition within the SL22B event regions.

Dates and Theme

This year the SLB festivities will open on Friday, June 20th, 2025 and will run through until Sunday, July 20th. The theme for 2025 is Myths and Legends, which the Lab describes thus:

It reflects the Second Life experience because we are all the heroes of our own adventures! The emphasis is on the characters and stories people create in SL both personally and within their communities. 

However, as has been the case over the last several birthday events, exhibitions are not confined to the theme itself, with the Lab additionally noting:

Share your Second Life passions with us. Your interests. Your communities. Your world! Every year we celebrate because of you, the amazing and creative Residents who have chosen to call Second Life home. What has drawn you into this world, and what keeps you here? These annual festivities are an opportunity to show us what fuels your Second Life. Let’s celebrate that together!
The SL21B Stonehold Stage, June 2024

Exhibitor Applications

The announcement also notes that applications for those wishing to host exhibits within the Birthday regions are now open. Those wishing to apply should note the following high-level requirements, and refer to the application form for a full set of exhibitor rules.

  • Applications will be accepted through until Monday, May 19th, 2025.
  • There will be both General and Adult rated regions available to exhibitors.
  • Exhibits do not have to be in keeping with the Myths and Legends theme, as noted above.
  • Exhibits must not be commercial in nature (e.g. no selling items, no tip jars or the solicitation of donations – this includes tip jars, etc., associated with any performers appearing within an exhibitor space), but gifts may be provided to SL22B visitors.
  • Exhibits to be presented within the General rated regions of the event must be in accordance with the General Maturity Rating (e.g. no nudity –artistic or otherwise–, no Adult animations and/or gestures, furniture, etc, must not contain Adult poses / animations, etc.).
  • Adult exhibitions and content are restricted to the separate Adult rated event regions and must conform to the Second Life ToS and the Second Life Community Standards.
  • Performances, live music and / or DJ events cannot be hosts within ant exhibitor space before Monday, June 30th, 20 2025.

Exhibitor Application Form.

Please note: All enquiries about hosting exhibitions at SL22B should be directed to Linden Lab, not this blog.

Related Links