The annual OpenSimulator Festival, known as OSFest, takes place September 15 through September 30 inside the OSFest virtual world grid. The sixteen-day event features live music, exhibits, talks, tours, social spaces, and shopping for attendees across the Hypergrid metaverse.
This year’s OSFest offers 94 hours of non-music events at free, themed exhibits, merchant stores, and sponsor exhibits as well as 98 hours of live music performances across four stages.
Participants can explore themed exhibit builds, shop merchant stores with special deals, and socialize at parties and dance events. There is no charge to attend OSFest.
To attend OSFest 2023, users simply need an account on any hypergrid-enabled OpenSim grid and use the map to teleport over. The hypergrid address is grid.opensimfest.com:8002:hg-welcome.
“We’re excited to welcome the extended metaverse community and hypergrid travelers to this year’s OSFest,” said lead organizer Shelenn Ayres. “It’s an immersive way to connect, have fun, and experience the breadth of creativity in virtual worlds.”
The event builds on the success of previous OSFests held annually since 2017. Each year, exhibits, stages, and infrastructure are created anew by volunteers. OSFest also relies on contributions from sponsors to cover basic hosting costs for the free event.
Major sponsors this year include Beyond Zen Life, Virtual Outworlding, Infinite Metaverse Alliance, Laxton Consulting, Virtual Vignette, and Wolf Territories Grid, among many others. The full list of sponsors is here.
“The generosity of sponsors and effort of volunteers is what keeps OSFest going every year,” Ayres said.
The full schedule, performer lineup, and interactive OSFest portal with information on all exhibits, presentations, and activities can be found at OpenSimFest.com.
Check the calendar page at OpenSimFest.com/calendar or the general schedule at OpenSimFest.com/schedule/osfest-2023.
Organizers recommend picking up a landmark box after arriving to help navigate the sprawling regions. With a theme of “Jazz Through the Ages,” costumes matching 1860s to 1970s styles are encouraged but not required.
