Category: Events

The 2021 SL Renaissance Festival for Making Strides

Posted on by Inara Pey
via the SL Renaissance Festival 2021

The 2021 SL Renaissance Festival is currently open to visitors through until the end of Sunday, October 3rd, 2021. A signature event coordinated by the American Cancer Society, the event is in support of  Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC), an RFL of SL signature event aimed at raising awareness of the risks of breast cancer and raising funds to support research into, and treatment of, the disease.

Taking place across four regions adjoining the core American Cancer Society regions the festival presents a range of merchants, activities and entertainments linked to the medieval / renaissance periods for visitors to peruse, participate in and enjoy.

Please refer to the official SL Renaissance Festival web site for:

The jousting arena where residents can enjoy tournaments or even face Lindens and Moles at a special event on Thursday, September 30th, 2021

The event tournaments include daily rounds of jousting, archery, mounted archery, and mêlée, all of which are open to anyone who’d like to try their hand at any of them. In particular, and for those who wish to try their hand at jousting there is the added attraction of jousting against staff from Linden Lab and Moles from the Linden Department of Public Works.

Tickets to joust in this special event, which will be held between 12:00 noon and either 14:00 or 15:00 SLT on Thursday, September 30th, with tickets costing L$1,000 (proceeds to RFL of SL / Making Strides) to participate. Those from the Lab taking part comprise Constantine Linden, Derrick Linden and Patch Linden along with Abnor Mole, Alotta Mole, and Maximus Mole. Tickets can be purchased via the special kiosks at the event’s Welcome Areas.

The Tales of Heroes

As well as pavilion-based shopping within the festival’s shopping regions, visitors can also obtain special items by participating in the Stag Hunt. Just find the stag statue(s) in participating shops and in the role-play areas, and claim the goodies inside for a payment of L$25 (all payments go directly to Making Strides).

In addition, the event features:

All of which adds up to a lot to see and do! To help visitors get in the mood of the event, the landing points in the main merchant areas include a range of period costumes and accessories on sale with all funds raised again going directly to Making Strides.

URLs and SLurls

Tales from the (Seanchai) Library in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Monday, September 27th 19:00: The Weigher

A world dominated by sentiment big cats where the rule of law is enforced by the Weighers, a combination of judge, peacemaker and accountant through a brutal code of honour and combat. Without their violent intervention in things, all-out war and anarchy would ensue.

When two human explorers – fragile, weak and potentially easy prey – arrive on that world, Slasher, a Weigher of skill and talent in physical combat, finds herself defending them. In doing so, she finds herself a disgraced outcast.

Join Gyro Muggins as he resumes the story by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin.

Tuesday, September 28th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Nightbird

Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumoured to hide a monster. And two hundred years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig’s family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It’s time to break the spell.

Willow Moonfire read’s Alice Hoffman’s novel.

Wednesday, September 29th, 19:00 Selections from Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters

With Caledonia Skytower and Ktadhn Vesuvino in Ceiluradh Glen.

Thursday, September 30th

19:00: Abandoned

With Shandon Loring.

21:00: Ghostbusters

If there’s something weird
And it don’t look good
Who you gonna call?
Cale & Shand!

With Caledonia Skytower and Shandon Loring in Ceiluradh Glen.

A Spoonful of Sugar 2021 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
via the Spoonful of Sugar website

Currently underway in Second Life through until Saturday, October 2nd, 2021 is the annual Spoonful of Sugar festival in support of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)).

Also known as Doctors Without Borders, MSF was founded in Paris, France in 1971 as a non-profit, self-governed medical humanitarian organisation delivering emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare around the globe, based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

Since its founding, MSF has grown to a movement of 24 associations, bound together as MSF International, based in Switzerland. Thousands of health professionals, logistical and administrative staff – most of whom are hired locally – work on programmes in some 70 countries worldwide to provide medical and social care and support for a staggering 10+ million people annually. Much of this work is focused on third world countries where the likes of tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS continue to be major health threats to people of all ages.

How donations to SOS Help Every 3 seconds, someone in the world dies of malaria, many of them children. A donation to SOS of just L$100 gives one child a potentially live-saving treatment against the disease. 

In addition, MSF is often one of the first organisations to have feet on the ground following a disaster, and is also to be found carrying out vital work in work-torn countries such as Yemen, where over 91,000 people have been killed and many more wounded, injured and / or displaced in a 6-year-old war than gains little world-wide attention.

Spoonful of Sugar 2021

Since its foundation in 2016, Spoonful of Sugar has year-on-year consistently built on the amount it raises for MSF, with 2020 seeing the event contribute US $27,879. In all, and up to the opening of this year’s festival, Spoonful of Sugar had raised over US $80,000 for MSF, where over 80% of all funds raised by the organisation in turn go directly into its social and medical programmes, the remaining 19.5% being split between administration and management (4.5%) and global fund-raising initiatives by MSF (15%).

The 2021 Spoonful of Sugar opened on September 18th, 2021 with a special message from Greta Doucette, the Digital Marketing Associate for MSF Peer-to-Peer and Streaming Programmes, followed by the start of the events rolling music and entertainment schedule. Covering a total of six regions, the event combines shopping, entertainment, fashion and breedables in and event that has something for everyone.

The selected theme for Spoonful of Sugar 2021 is Mexico, with the shopping regions each featuring a little town in gay colours, complete with fund-raising kiosks along the broad streets. Some of these are of the “traditional” click-to-pay variety, others are more novel, offering the opportunity to buy special items such as the Astralia Taco Party set or grab yourself a Mexican recipes cook book.

Spoonful of Sugar 2021: fund-raising kiosks

All of the five shopping regions can be reached via a teleport station at the main landing point for the event (further stations can be found in each of the shopping regions). The landing point also provides information on the the festival and offers the opportunity to join the event’s chupacabra hunt that is packed with rewards from leading creators, and offers s free plushie on joining the event group.

Also to be found at the landing point is extensive information on a part of MSF’s work that is year-on-year becoming increasingly significant: dealing with the humanitarian crisis of forcibly displaced people. Those who are,  due to war, political or religious extremism, gang violence, terror, or other life-threatening circumstance, and unable to live safely within their preferred parts of their homelands (some 48 million people), or have been forced to flee their homeland entirely (30.3 million). At a time when those of certain politic stripes present the displaced and the homeless as some form of blight on society, the MSF information at Spoonful of Sugar is an important reminder of the reality of the plight of 82.4 million people world-wide.

I’m here to tell you that nobody wants to leave home. They love their cities, their neighbourhoods. They love speaking their own language. The people fleeing their home countries are running because their home countries aren’t safe. They are fleeing for their lives.

– Dr. Ahmed Abdalzarag, MSF neurosurgeon

Spoonful of Sugar: MSF information area

As such, Spoonful of Sugar is an event well worth the time taken to visit. Event if you don’t find anything to buy in the shopping regions, the donation kiosks will welcome your Linden dollars, and you can be absolutely sure that your money is going to a very worth cause..

SLurl and Links

Stories, music and poetry with Seanchai Library

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Monday, September 20th 19:00: The Weigher

A world dominated by sentiment big cats where the rule of law is enforced by the Weighers, a combination of judge, peacemaker and accountant through a brutal code of honour and combat. Without their violent intervention in things, all-out war and anarchy would ensue.

When two human explorers – fragile, weak and potentially easy prey – arrive on that world, Slasher, a Weigher of skill and talent in physical combat, finds herself defending them. In doing so, she finds herself a disgraced outcast.

Join Gyro Muggins as he resumes the story by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin.

Tuesday, September 21st

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Nightbird

Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumoured to hide a monster. And two hundred years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig’s family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It’s time to break the spell.

Willow Moonfire read’s Alice Hoffman’s novel.

Wednesday, September 22nd, 19:00 Autumn in Music and Poetry

With Caledonia Skytower and Ktadhn Vesuvino in Ceiluradh Glen.

Thursday, September 23rd

19:00: Selections from Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters

With Caledonia Skytower.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary science fiction and fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.

Aliens, fairy tales, music and witches in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Monday, September 13th 19:00: The Weigher

A world dominated by sentiment big cats where the rule of law is enforced by the Weighers, a combination of judge, peacemaker and accountant through a brutal code of honour and combat. Without their violent intervention in things, all-out war and anarchy would ensue.

When two human explorers – fragile, weak and potentially easy prey – arrive on that world, Slasher, a Weigher of skill and talent in physical combat, finds herself defending them. In doing so, she finds herself a disgraced outcast.

Join Gyro Muggins as he resumes the story by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin.

Tuesday, September 14th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Nightbird

Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumoured to hide a monster. And two hundred years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig’s family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It’s time to break the spell.

Willow Moonfire read’s Alice Hoffman’s novel.

Wednesday, September 15th, 19:00 TBA

Check the Seanchai Library website for updates.

Thursday, September 16th, 19:00: The Sea and Little Fishes

Caledonia Skytower takes us back to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld for a tidy little tale of allowing someone to prove they are wrong – whether in word or deed or both.

It is time for the annual Lancre Witch Trials, and  Lettice Earwig appoints herself as head of a cadre of witches who decide Granny Weatherwax should not compete on account of her winning every year. Asking her to step aside is anticipated as a possibly unpleasant task – so when she agree with disarming courtesy. Just what could it mean…?

First published in 1998, Pratchett later explained that the title of the story comes from an ancient saying (which he’d made up!): The big sea does not care which way the little fishes swim. 

Stories from around the world with Seanchai Library

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Monday, September 6th 19:00: The Weigher

A world dominated by sentiment big cats where the rule of law is enforced by the Weighers, a combination of judge, peacemaker and accountant through a brutal code of honour and combat. Without their violent intervention in things, all-out war and anarchy would ensue.

When two human explorers – fragile, weak and potentially easy prey – arrive on that world, Slasher, a Weigher of skill and talent in physical combat, finds herself defending them. In doing so, she finds herself a disgraced outcast.

Join Gyro Muggins as he resumes the story by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin.

Tuesday, September 7th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Nightbird

Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumoured to hide a monster. And two hundred years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig’s family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It’s time to break the spell.

Willow Moonfire read’s Alice Hoffman’s novel.

Wednesday, September 8th, 19:00 Hollywood Chickens and More…

… From the works of Terry Pratchett, with Caledonia Skytower.

Thursday, September 9th,

19:00: Sea of Time and Stars by Mara Amberly

With Shandon Loring.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary Sci-Fi-Fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.