Tag: American Cancer Society

Fantasy Faire in Second Life Runs April 22nd to May 9th, 2021

Fantasy Faire is back! According to their official press release for this year’s American Cancer Society fundraiser:

Celebrating its thirteenth year, Fantasy Faire 2021 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, roleplayers and performers in the virtual world. From Thursday, April 22 to Sunday May 9, treat yourself to shopping, dance and theater performances, DJ parties, auctions, questing, our Literary Festival, fantasy art, events and roleplaying as thousands of Second Life residents and creators bring their own visions together to support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer.

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As always, you’ll find fantasy avatars, clothing, furnishings, gadgets and exclusive items available from over 200 of Second Life’s top Fantasy Creators across stunning regions designed by some of the visionary artists behind many of the hottest spots on the Second Life destination guide.

In addition to the shopping regions there will also be Faireland realms that take us beyond commerce, from a Memorial Garden to the Fairelands Quest, the Literary Festival, Performance Stages, from Art Galleries to the Worldling Collection.

For a complete schedule of events, please see refer to the Events section of the official Fantasy Faire 2021 website. If you wish to make a donation to support the American Cancer Society on behalf of Fantasy Faire, you can do so here.

Here’s a little foretaste of the event, a minute-and-a-half YouTube video showing you what many of the Fantasy Faire sims look like, put together by Caitlin Tobias:

See you there!

Scarborough Fair Visits the Second Life Renaissance Festival

“O, where are you going?” “To Scarborough fair,”
    Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme;
“Remember me to a lass who lives there,
    For once she was a true love of mine.

“And tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
    Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,
Without any seam or needlework,
    And then she shall be a true love of mine.

“And tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,
    Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,
Where no water sprung, nor a drop of rain fell,
    And then she shall be a true love of mine.”

—Scarborough Fair, traditional English ballad
Scarborough Fair stands at the entrance bridge to the Second Life Renaissance Fair, wearing a lovely white laced tunic and brown leather girdle, part of an American Cancer Society Villager Outfit (there’s also a separate long purple skirt), for sale for only L$1 here at the Renaissance Fair. Many other historical roleplay outfits are available for sale.

I have a historical roleplay avatar with the actual legacy name of Scarborough Fair (I got very lucky; the last name “Fair” was only available for a two-week period way back in 2008, so I snapped up Vanity Fair and Scarborough Fair immediately!).

Scarborough Fair is usually a medieval troubadour (although she passes with ease in any age from Ancient Greece to the Victorian era). Today, I decided to pay a visit to the Second Life Renaissance Festival, an annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life (entrance SLURL; official website).

Evocative period music sets the atmosphere in six sims devoted to the world of historical roleplay, with a focus on the European Medieval and Renaissance eras, but touching on other places and periods as well. The Minstrel’s Corner shipyard dock stage offers a variety of live entertainment throughout the festival (here’s the schedule). There’s also storytelling, jousting and archery tournaments, melee fighting, and classes for you to learn how to have the best role-play experience in Second Life, on everything from “Role Play Basics 101” to “Playing Psychopaths”. Check the events calendar for all the details.

And, of course, there is shopping! Many vendors set up elaborate booths to showcase their wares, and many offer limited-edition items for the Renaissance Festival, with some or all of the proceeds going to support the work of the American Cancer Society. Here’s a list of all the vendors participating, with SLURLs to their stores.

A selection of merchandise for sale at the Viki store at the Renaissance Festival

There’s a Stag Hunt, where you are looking among the vendor booths for a small stone statue of a stag. Here are a few of the hunt prizes, modeled by Scarborough Fair (with one exception as noted below, all hunt prizes are L$25 each).

Rosemarie Dress, the Stag Hunt gift from Ari-Pari (L$25; comes with a 4-colour HUD)
A Knight’s Tale women’s armour, the Stag Hunt prize from Elite Equestrian (L$25)
Karmen Dress, from Mara’s Mysteries (this gown comes in a fatpack of ten different colours; best of all, this Stag Hunt prize costs only L$1!)

There’s also a gacha area at the festival, with an array of tempting goodies from many participating vendors to get you to part with some of your hard-earned Lindens! I honestly cannot believe my good luck—I actually won the entire fatpack of this beautiful jewelry set, created by Ari-Pari exclusively for the Renaissance Festival, on the very first pull! Not a bad result for only L$50 spent! Like I said, I was flabbergasted at my good luck!

The Renaissance Festival runs from Sept. 25th to Oct. 4th, 2020. See you there! I leave you with an eight-minute YouTube video by SL vlogger Lexy Nexen, who gives a good overview of what you can see and do at the festival:

The Second Life Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society Opens Today!

Did you know that nearly US$4 million has been raised in Second Life for the American Cancer Society across the many in-world fundraising events, since they first started in 2005? It’s an impressive feat.

The 2020 Relay for Life fundraising event for the American Cancer Society opened today, June 6th, 2020.

This year’s Relay for Life track runs through dozens of specially-built and landscaped sims, decorated by various groups in Second Life! The entire route is lined with luminaria, which you can light in dedication to a loved one with a small donation.

Today, RFL teams are walking, running, or wheeling their way around the track to raise funds in the ongoing fight against cancer. Here’s a list of today’s events, including a list of all the themed laps.

For more information about Relay for Life in Second Life, you can visit their website, check out their wiki, or watch the following video. Strawberry Singh recently interviewed the organizers behind the massive Relay for Life event on her talk show, Lab Gab:

If you’re looking for a starting point, you can teleport to American Cancer Society Island to join the event this weekend!

Fantasy Faire in Second Life Runs from April 23rd to May 10th, 2020

Celebrating its twelfth year, Fantasy Faire 2020 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, role-players and performers in Second Life, and a major in-world fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

So I decided to dress up Vanity Fair in full-blown fairy godmother mode, and go explore the 18 beautifully-decorated sims!

There are 13 shopping regions, with a wide variety of merchandise, some exclusive to the Faire, plus dance and theatre performances, DJ parties, auctions, questing, a Literary Festival, fantasy art, events and role-playing, as thousands of Second Life residents and creators bring their own visions together to help support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer.

Fantasy Faire is the perfect time to pick up that winged horse you always wanted!

Fantasy Faire’s extremely talented sim designers do such an amazing job each year. Here are just a few pictures I took in my travels:

If you’ve never been to Second Life before, Fantasy Faire is your perfect starting point! Why not come and join in the magic today? Here’s how to get started for free.

I’ll grant you three wishes!

Vanity Fair is wearing:

Gown and Wings: the Fairy Godmother gown set in dreamy blue by Silvan Moon Designs

Hair Roses: Light blue roses tiara (part of the Ninde gown set, a 14,000 members group gift from PurpleMoon Creations, a store which has since closed down after ten years operating on the grid, but still has a few items up on the SL Marketplace)

Jewelry: Antigone silver and ice earrings and necklace (a long-ago free gift from Kouse’s Sanctum, another store which has closed, but still has a few older items on the SL Marketplace)

Magic Wand: a free hunt prize from a long-ago hunt, I forget where I got this!

Shoes (not seen): Betty ballet flats by Damien Fate on the SL Marketplace

Hair: Meadow hair by Magika Hair

Animation Override: This is a gown AO by Kamilah Hauptmann selling for L$1,000 on the SL Marketplace, which has settings for various sizes and styles of full-skirted ballgowns. I bought this years and years ago and it has certainly served me well, but if I were starting out from scratch, I would purchase the Southern Belle & Woman in Ballgown Bento AO from Tuty instead, as it is only L$650 and has more natural upper body animations.

Particle Effects: Mystic Shower Sparkles in white from FallnAngel Creations (a free hunt prize from their amazing semiannual hunts; this store has since left the grid)

Face and Body Lights: Sometimes you just need a good, strong set of face and body lights to show off a look you’re proud of! This high-wattage version was a freebie from House of Heart, a hair store that has long since left the grid.

Vanity Fair is also wearing:

  • the Kimberly Catwa Bento mesh head
  • the Maitreya Lara mesh body
  • Daria skin by The Skinnery
  • and Realistic eyes in strong green by Miriel.

See you at Fantasy Faire!