On February 14, 2013, for 24 hours starting at midnight Pacific Standard Time, Second Life residents will join with activists around the world in a spectacular 24-hour dance event for ONE BILLION RISING, the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.
Within Second Life, we are joining in the movement with 24 hours of music, dance and art across four regions specially commissioned for the event, and sponsored by many famous names within Second Life.
With members of the in-world press and bloggers from the community, I was fortunate enough to get an advanced look at the regions, the stage and the art installations – and can say with hand-on-heart that this is going to be one amazing event.
The four regions, supplied by Fruit Islands, and paid for by fifteen of the sponsors supporting the event, are arranged in a square, with the main stage straddling the centre portion of all four to provide the maximum of space for dancing with – hopefully – the minimum of lag.
Eighteen of Second Life’s top artists have provided installations around the edges of the sims, forming a walk which visitors will be encouraged to take during the event – in fact, in order that people might get to see everything, the regions will be opening for a 12-hour Open House from midnight SLT on Tuesday, 12th February, during which visitors will be free to walk the four sims and visit the art installations – several of which are interactive.
The event itself will open at 23:00 SLT on Wednesday 13th February, in order to let people enter the regions and have a further look around before gathering at the magnificent main stage ready for the dancing and music to kick-off on the stoke of midnight. For the next twenty-four, through until midnight on the 14th February, there will be non-stop music and dancing on the stage, with an open invitation to everyone in Second Life to come along for whatever time they can and join in.
In all, twenty-four DJs will be stream the music, with a full schedule now available on the OBR in SL website. In addition, every hour Break the Chain, the anthem of One Billion Rising will be streamed in-world.
The stage itself is not only spectacular itself, it has been specifically designed to be accessible to as many types of avatars as possible – so there are ramps rather than steps, for example – and to provide dances for as many avatar types as possible – human, tiny, animal, merfolk (there is an underwater dance area beneath the stage).
For those unable to attend the event, it will be streamed live throughout. This is especially welcome as a number of groups supporting women who have suffered abuse RL, and who are uncomfortable with joining a large, open event, will be organising small activities for their members and sharing via the feed.
One Billion Rising in Second Life is not about raising funds. It is about rising awareness and adding our collective voices – women and men, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters – in the call to bring an end to violence against women whenever, wherever and however it darkens lives. However, for those who do wish to contribute directly to One Billion Rising in real life, please follow the links below to the One Billion Rising website.
So – get ready to Dance and Rise and to be a part of One Billion Rising!
With thanks to all those event staff and volunteers and their helpers, and those who are sponsoring and supporting the organisation of the event, for making OBR in SL possible.
The Run-up Schedule
All times SLT
- Regions Open to the public for 12-hour Open house: midnight, 12/13th February
- Regions closed for final load-tests: midday, 13th February
- Regions open to public access for the event: 23:00, 13th February
- Event kick-off: midnight, 13/14th February
- Event ends: midnight, 14th February
Further Information
- SLurls for the event (all rated General):
- Blog for One Billion Rising SL
- One Billion Rising in-world group
- Facebook Page for One Billion Rising SL
- One Billion Rising in SL on Twitter
- One Billion Rising in SL Flickr group
- One Billion Rising in SL livestream (14th February)
- Event webpage at the official One Billion Rising website
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
One thought on “OBR: the stage is set – get ready to RISE!”
Comments are closed.