Upcoming Events

2013–14


● PolyCon – Claiming Our Right to Love
May 31 – June 2, 2013
Vancouver, BC, Canada.
This new convention is being organized by the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association (CPAA). "Friday night reception. Saturday all-day workshop sessions, and evening events hosted by local poly groups. Sunday [annual general meeting] for CPAA membership, and poly community leadership networking event. Watch the website for details as they unfold."

The Friday night keynote speaker will be Samantha Fraser on "Living Honestly and Creating Change." Co-organizer Zoe Duff writes, "We are looking for engaging presenters and facilitators from a broad range of backgrounds in keeping with the ‘Claiming our Right to Love’ theme…. PolyCon has a preference for Canadian presenters as we want to showcase what is happening in Canada and celebrate the gains achieved while brainstorming on the work ahead. International presenters are, however, welcome as we are happy to invite our global poly community to share its wisdom. Email info(at)polyadvocacy.ca." Facebook events page. Facebook group page.

● PolyFamilyCampBC 2013
July 12–14, 2013
Rathtrevor Provincial Park, Vancouver Island near Parksville, BC, Canada.
A kid-friendly polycamp with programs for grownups too. "A weekend of camping and activities with people who share a common philosophy of abundant love, honest and open communications on beautiful Vancouver Island.... Children from [poly] homes gain a sense of community from attending events like this one where other children from similar homes are in attendance," Zoe Duff writes. "Activities and workshops for all ages are simultaneously held, and the facilities are comfortably supportive of a community atmosphere."

Hot showers, sheltered communal cooking area, sandy beachfront for swimming. Camping spaces sold out in 2012. About the 2012 event Megh Blackburn wrote, "OMG we had such a good poly camp this weekend... Good feelings all around. What a great group of people (about 50). Everything went smoothly and the team we had rocked it!"

● Harbin Polyamory Conference
July 18–22, 2013
Harbin Hot Springs, Northern California.
Interesting changes may be happening to this. For years a Harbin Hot Springs gathering was put on by Sasha and Janet Kira Lessin, the “World Polyamory Association,” who have a New Age bent big on astral travel, UFOs, channeling from ascended masters, and so forth. Their audio account of the 2012 conference announced: "Janet and Sasha share how the elite--modern representatives of ETs from the planet Nibiru and the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious hierarchies the ETs spawned keep us pitted against each other as they exploit us all.... Janet warns of immanent preplanned attack, like the ones the elite engineered at Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers...."

This year's announcement strikes a very different note. California organizer Dave Doleshal of Saturnia Regna is co-producing (or entirely producing?) the event now, and in his call for presenters he writes: "Please note that this is specifically a POLYAMORY event, and we want only presentations specifically relevant to Polyamory, open relationships, polyfidelity, and other types of consensual nonmonogamy.... (This group is NOT interested in hearing from religious cults, spirits of "channeled beings," divine revelations from on high, extra-terrestrials, prima donas, or self-proclaimed gurus of any type)." Also: "Participation in all activities is strictly on a voluntary basis only!"

More new stuff: "The main conference starts at 12 Noon on Friday (July 19) and formally ends at 5 PM on Sunday evening July 21. However, there will also be a special pre-Conference intensive that happens Thursday, July 18, and a Post-conference intensive that happens Monday, July 22. There will also be a Polyamorous Political Summit on Sunday Evening (July 21). These are technically separate events, and require a separate payment and registration." Doleshal is coming off a successful experience organizing the first International Academic Polyamory Conference last February in Berkeley.

Adults only. "The Poly Conference's area is totally private within Harbin; in our area, we can be openly affectionate and sexually expressive. Harbin is a clothing-optional facility." For information write to dr_dave_doleshal (at) yahoo.com.

● Polycamp Northwest
August 23–26, 2013
Seattle area
This is a big, multi-day, kid- and family-friendly campout, now in its 10th year, with workshops, hikes, canoeing, singing, dance, games from Calvinball to frisbee golf. Adults-only workshops/discussions take place in their own separate area. In 2010 Polycamp NW had 190 people; in 2011 it had 196. See newspaper article about Polycamp by Dan Savage from 2010. Here is Anita Wagner's writeup of her experience in 2011.

Organizer Quintus writes, "We also do 3 other events each year:
— Post Polycamp Party
— Room Party at Norwescon (sci-fi convention)
— Polystrip (fundraiser for Polycamp; burlesque by members of the poly community)

● At Burning Man:
August 26 – September 2, 2013
Nevada desert
(Note: You cannot get into Burning Man without a ticket that's legitimate by Burning Man's anti-scalper rules. Beware of ticket scams.

— Poly Paradise theme camp.
Poly Paradise will be in its 15th year in 2013. In 2012 it was awarded a prime central location on the A ring. This is a large theme camp; in 2012 it ended up 200 x 600 feet and had 170 campers. Workshops and events will again include Heart of Now, Poly High Tea, the famous Human Carcass Wash, the Hiney Hygiene Station, Mind Melt, and Revolutionary Honesty.

— Poly Asylum theme camp.
This was new in 2011 and happened again in 2012. At 100 x 200 feet it's smaller than Poly Paradise. Pepper Mint, Danger Kitty, and friends organize and run it. Offerings have included The Poly Doctors Are In, Happy Insanity Hour, Dealing With Jealousy, Nurturing Secondary and Play-Buddy Relationships, Poly Perspectives Beyond Sex, and Nonmonogamy and Parenting.

● Polycamp Vancouver Island
Summer 2013; date and location to be decided.
Polycamp Vancouver Island in western Canada is for adults only (19+); not to be confused with PolyFamilyCampBC (July 12-14) above. "A camp for polyamorous people to gather and enjoy workshops and social events in a beautiful natural setting.... An annual gathering of people who celebrate the philosophy of building multiple loving relationships with radical honesty and mutual consent." In 2012 it was held at Neptune Farm & Retreat, Salt Spring Island, BC; 15 reportedly attended. One was a writer who published this not-unsympathetic article in the Vancouver edition of Xtra, "Canada's gay & lesbian news": Nonmonogamy and nerdiness in BC Poly Camp.

● Polykonferens (Sweden)
Summer 2013; date and location to be decided.
This "gathering for polyamorous people in Sweden" will be in its fifth year in 2013. In 2011 and 2012 it sold out well in advance. Helge writes, "In Sweden there is an active web community: polyheart.se. There are a number of active groups on Facebook, such as Poly i Sverige (den öppna gruppen)".

● Loving More's annual Conference Retreat
September 6–8, 2013
Easton Mountain Retreat Center, north of Albany, NY.
Relationship and communication workshops: navigating poly both for beginners and the advanced; building intimate community. Newbie-friendly, and warm fellowship of which I cannot speak enough. Beautiful rural setting, hot tubbing, sauna, pool, fun, stars. Clothing optional (though not many go bare except around the hot tub, sauna, and pool). A relatively small, intimate crowd: typical attendance 30 – 50. I have been coming to this since 2005 and will be back again in 2013. Highly recommended. See you there.

Loving More, "supporting polyamory and relationship choice since 1985," is the oldest poly organization of the modern era and played a central role in getting the movement going.

● Polyday 2013
UK; date and place to be decided.
Facilitated discussions, workshops, evening entertainment. "Whether you're in an open marriage, a polyfidelitous group, a poly family or a tribe of lovers and friends, or if you're new to the concept of polyamory and interested in learning more, Polyday is our day to get together and share the experiences, questions, lessons we've learned and joys we've experienced. It is a day for responsible non-monogamous people to experience a comfortable, non-judgemental environment with their fellow poly people."

Here's a curious visitor's impressions of Polyday 2012, no punches pulled. Also see the article that appeared in the UK Metro a week before Polyday 2011. That event drew about 200 people in all, the Guardian later reported, similar to other years.

● OpenCon 2013
October 4–7, 2013
Dorset, UK
OpenCon in the UK is a participant-created convention on the unconference model. This will be its fourth year. The first three sold out; attendance in 2012 was 87. "A 3-day event in the English countryside for everyone who knows that happy and honest relationships don't have to be monogamous. OpenCon combines discussions, workshops and socialising to give you a chance to meet like-minded people, to build our community and to celebrate its diversity.... OpenCon has grown out of Polyday, which has been run in various cities in the UK over the last several years. We hope you'll join us!"

Here are the self-generated schedule boards from 2011: 1, 2, 3, 4. (This is now an unconference works.) In 2011 "we had 33 workshops run, only 5 of which had been arranged in advance." Here is one participant's account of his experiences in 2011.

In 2012, as it became clear that the event would again sell out despite additional accommodations, the organizers made the controversial decision to close further registrations to unaccompanied men in hopes of achieving a more even gender balance. In 2011 the balance had been skewed 60% - 40% toward males, the skew was becoming larger this time, and as one organizer posted, "We know from experience that for every 5 unaccompanied men we invite in, we’re going to get 4 well-behaved men and one asshat" hitting on women to the point of annoying and unsettling many. As a result of the new policy the gender balance ended up about 50-50; those who got in approved of the policy overwhelmingly, and some who were left out disapproved furiously.

● Poly Palooza
October 11–14, 2013
Desert Hot Springs, CA
It's the first year for this new event, which will take over a rather expensive resort hotel. Kamala Devi and other members of the San Diego poly/tantra community invite you to "a heart opening 3-day polyamory festival at a clothing-optional hot springs resort. Immerse yourself in a sex-positive celebration of liberated love: learn from top love experts, express yourself in group, experiment at play parties, soak in healing waters, and create lifelong relationships in a worldwide tribe of love leaders.

"Why? Poly Palooza is happening because the planet is at a turning point in history, where marriage as an institution is not the only option and people are hungry for healthy new paradigms of love. We are co-creating an experience of paradise to role-model revolutionary new expressions of sex and relationship. By playing with new possibilities of love we intend to influence the future of humanity."


2014

● Poly Living Conference/ Philadelphia
February 7–9, 2014
Philadelphia, PA
This is put on each year by the Loving More nonprofit group. The format and people are similar to Loving More's September Retreat (see Sept. 2013 above), but Poly Living is much bigger and is held in an excellent large hotel with full amenities, near the Philadelphia airport and a train stop. Not clothing optional. Here's the 2013 program to give you the idea. The 2013 Poly Living had about 180 people all told, a record.

Here's my writeup of the first Poly Living I attended (2006). In 2012 I gave the keynote speech. I'll be back again this time. Hope to meet you there!

Loving More, "supporting polyamory and relationship choice since 1985," is the original poly organization of the modern era and played a central role in getting the whole movement going.

● Poly Living Conference/ Denver
April or May 2014; date to be decided
Denver, CO
Based on the success of Poly Living East in the last couple years, Loving More plans to start a Poly Living West in its directors' home state of Colorado. Stay tuned.

● Atlanta Poly Weekend
June 6–8, 2014
Northern perimeter of Atlanta, GA
This growing hotel conference began in 2011. It's a full 3-day weekend of talks and discussions on poly relationships and making them work, and whatever other topics people propose; comedy, dance, and games; community building and socializing. Kid-friendly; families encouraged: a "Kids Con" track runs all weekend (parents are asked to volunteer 2 hours per day per kid they bring).

I came to the first APW in 2011, was back again for 2012 (see my big writeup) and gave the closing keynote talk in 2013. Total attendance was 113 people the first year, 151 the second, and 200+ the third. Here's another attendee's impressions of APW; see his five March 2013 posts.

● OpenCon Catalonia
Date to be decided
Gallinera, Catalonia, Spain.
2014 will be OpenCon Catalonia's third year. It's modeled on the U.K. OpenCon with a self-generated "unconference" program. "A weekend-long international event in the Catalan countryside, open to anyone who knows that happy and honest relationships don’t have to be monogamous. Discussions, workshops and socialising to give you a chance to meet like-minded people, to build our community, and to celebrate its diversity." In 2012 there were about 40 people, a full house; here's more on what happened that year. The working language is English. Check the website for updates about 2014.

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To add an event (of wide geographic interest, please; not your local group's potluck), email it to me at alan7388 AT gmail.com.

You are also welcome to add comments below about events that you have attended.

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Another Poly Events List!

Poly Events All Over, which is set up as combined calendars. This includes local events, sorted by region. The site invites you to add your own group's calendar.

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Find LOCAL POLY GROUPS
and their get-togethers!

For socials, potlucks, discussions, etc. near you, find and join your local poly group(s). You can:

● Try googling polyamory [your state or city].

● Check Meetup.com, keyword polyamory; enter your zip code or city.

● Most important: look up your location in the following lists of local poly groups worldwide:

Modern Poly's Local Group Registry, with interactive map. Zoom in on the map to resolve separate pins in a single city. If you're in a functioning local group that's not on the map, please add it! This list is the most informative and the best maintained.

Tristan Taormino's big list, on the website of her book Opening Up. (Send additions, corrections, and changes to sarah -at- puckerup -dot- com )

Loving More's list. (Send additions, corrections, and changes to jvgarcia -at- lovemore -dot- com )

PolyMatchMaker's list. (Send additions, corrections, and changes to www.polymatchmaker.com/main.mvc?Screen=TICKET.)

Expansive Loving list. (Requires Yahoo Groups sign-in. Send additions, corrections, and changes to tara.shaktima -at- gmail -dot- com )

Some of these lists have been poorly maintained.

Can't find a local group near you? Maybe that's the universe saying you should start it! Here's an article suggesting how, by Serolynne (written before Meetup.com became as big as it is now).

And here is Tara Shakti-Ma's story of how she started a thriving local poly group in the middle of nowhere, now with about 25 regulars. (Among other things she put this notice in the free events listing of the regional newspaper; feel free to copy and re-use.)

And here are Joreth's many thoughts on the various kinds of poly community events that might work in your area. She's been an organizer for a long time and has pretty much done it all.

Prefer audio? Here's Polyamory Weekly podcast Episode #181, How to attend or organize your first poly munch.