Wednesday, September 26th will see the opening of the Festival of European Languages at Belle Isle, from 8 AM to 2 PM SLT. The Festival, meant to celebrate cultural diversity, will feature a large map of Europe that will provide landmarks to various language/cultural sites in SL, depending upon where in the map you stand.

From the press release: "In addition, speakers on language and edtech tools hold forth at Belle Isle's Harbor Theater. At the Pavilion and the Events center, one can see activities celebrating cultural uniquenesses, ethnic music, dancing, and, at 6pm GMT, a fashion show of traditional costumes and SL designer styles. At the vendor booths around the grounds, one might find language courses, edtech tools, multi-lingual translators, informational displays, and cultural tchachkes (souvenirs) to take home."

Cultures/languages represented include Greek, Finnish, Russian, Portugese, and Italian, among many others. For more information, contact Maxie Schneider or Birdie Newcomb.

(Thanks, Iris!)

To celebrate the completion of 'Phase 1' construction, Moscow Island invites everyone to their party on September 1st at 8 PM SL Time! Ti Nishi will DJ, and you can probably expect some great contempo Russian dance music from Uplifto Ochs, organizer of the event and Chief of RL music label UPLIFTO.

Now, the related website is in fact in Russian, but give it a go. The build is shaping up to be a thing of beauty, as you can see from the photo.

And what's more, the party coincides with the RL city's 860th anniversary! Auspicious! Anyone know what the gift is for the 860th year? I think it's tungsten.

(Thanks, Musasi!)