Virtual Xmas, but joy is real

With Christmas and the New year round the corner, Second Life is gearing up for celebrations. And what better to usher in the yuletide spirit than the annual Second Life Winter Festival? Linden Labs officially started the festival on Friday, December 14 and will continue till January 8, 2008. It follows last year’s theme of offering a central event registry for resident-hosted experiences.

There are two categories of experiences this year: events and venues. Events have both a host and duration while Venues are un-hosted and function as self-guided tours, scenic vistas, places to relax and so on.

December 15 was the first full day of Winterfest’07 and had an amazing array of events. It started with the Joysco Winter Festival that featured live music, live voice interviews, a skating party, a community awareness program and a grand fashion show. Then the very formal Poetry in Pixels - Yuletide Ball at the Coconut Grove with Live jazz by Aisha Yao and DJ Miriam Antonelli.

Then there was the Illusion Theater Winter Village Party at Koala Point with DJ Cindi and the enSync dancers having a different music theme each hour. Finally it was the La Place Mall Christmas Party at Hauwai with a carnival, dancing, fun, food and more.

There’s a jam-packed schedule for the 25th and you have to be there to believe it. There’s the all day long salsa ballroom party at the Tropicana Ballroom Mall. There are prizes for the best salsa couple and other great prizes too.

Then there’s the widely popular Treasure Quest where you can explore SL while you hunt treasures as you get clues, solve puzzles, and gain wonderful prizes along the way. Catch a glimpse of the giant moving balloons of all shapes towering over your head & fantastic floats sauntering down the street at the Christmas Parade.

In the evening, its romance at the Half Note Jazz Club with slow music to dance, date, flirt, fall in love, make new friends or play a game on the rooftop. As the clock strikes midnight, head over to Teaser’s Nightclub playing all the best tunes from ’80s to the present day, rock, dance and other genres.

Gift ideas

And here are some Christmas gift ideas for your near and dear (and not so close) ones who are also on SL. Your close buddies probably have everything already, so you can’t really be innovative there. Be a dear and pay their land rental for three months. This will ensure they have a guaranteed home in SL for that period. They will in-turn allow you to be the MC for the New Year bash at their club. Or maybe, give passes to the invitation only parties.

For acquaintances, the best thing would be one of the many SL guide books available on Amazon. And what about your girlfriend? Well, you have to be perfect here. Chances are that she has a fabulous avatar and she spent a lot of time creating it. So what’s better than a real world replica of her avatar? Click over to www.fabjectory.com and order one for her. You need to shell out $49 for a 2-inch tall model, $75 for a 5-inch model, and $99 for a 7-inch tall model.

There’s loads more planned for the New Year. But that’s for next time. On behalf of the entire SL community, I wish all of you a great Christmas and a very happy new year. Have a blast!