My bags were packed days ago, but after making an arduous journey I found the gates locked. Fluttering my eyelashes, offers of much mead or rather menacing frowns would not tempt the guardians at the gates to let me in early, but as of just over an hour ago the day finally arrived when Fantasy Faire 2016 in Second Life open!

Between today and May 1st a wonderful celebration of many things fantasy in the Second Life virtual world will be taking place and I’ll be there to capture moments, as time permits! Pesky thing time, I think the Sci-Fi community should help us out a bit.

The event is also for a good cause as it’s part of the Relay For Life fundraising effort within Second Life, which raises money for The American Cancer Society. Last year Fantasy Faire raised US$ 31,642 as part of that effort, this year, US$5,927 has already been raised as the gates open.

Now you may be wondering where you find about all the shennanigans for this year’s event, the best source of information will be at : https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/

There you will find a calendar events, descriptions of the regions and much more, because this event isn’t just about shopping.

Adventurers behold, there’s a quest in the shape and form of The Tale of The Exiles and here’s a video trailer regarding that :

There’s more, as well as shopping, singing, dancing, finding taverns …. that might just be me, magic, Elves, ok ok yes there will be Elves. As well as all of that, there’s also a Literary Festival, where fans of storytelling, poetry and even Shakespeare can meet and swap tales.

As if that’s not enough, there are themes for art and entertainment with displays of user created fantasy art to behold.

That’s before we get to the admiration of those who have created this setting with so many beautifully crafted user created regions and store displays.

There is of course the social aspect, there will be plenty of people to meet. Now if you want some sort of idea of what it’s like inside Fantasy Faire but you haven’t yet plucked up the courage to visit, Inara Pey, has created a video to give you an overview.

All that is left for me at the moment is to find somewhere to lodge for the duration of the event, hopefully somewhere with a tavern nearby, any suggestions?