Two-day Conference 16 and 17 February Pop-up workshops 14 – 24 Feb

But
love, first learned in a lady’s eyes,
Lives
not alone immured in the brain,
But,
with the motion of all elements,
Courses
as swift as thought in every power,
And
gives to every power a double power,
Above
their functions and their offices.
– William Shakespeare – Love’s Labour’s Lost Act IV. Scene 3

From the Festival brochure: “The Singapore Tourism Board latest tagline for Singapore is ‘Passion Made Possible’”. Is it really? The premise of the festival is a resounding, YES! With a two-day conference featuring luminaries in fields of passion, relationships, self-love, accualisation sexuality, dating, dance, and so much more and ten days of pop-up workshops spread across the Island.

This is a big-time event with an astounding line-up of speakers, panels, and exhibitions. It kicks off with the launch of {Un}Inhibited: Asian vulva photo book by author Dr.Martha Tara Lee and photographer Kelvin Lim on , appropriately enough, 14 February.

The organizers’ goal is “To reach out to at least 1,000 people” during the course of the event. Given the program they’ve put together and publicized, they have a very good chance of realizing their goal. Come February, there is so much going on, thank Goodness for a well-presented website with a clear slate of events and extras:
https://festoflove.com

The perceptive viewer will notice a few clicks from the top that janiqueel.com is the “Official blogger” for the festival. Excuse me while I give myself a pat on the back. After all, self-love and self-congratulation is a pillar of the festival – let it begin right here on janiqueel.com!

 

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“I’m not looking for The One; I am The One:” What it’s really like to marry yourself. You’re the one constant. Your parents will die, your children will grow up and your friends will move, but you’re always there. My commitment to #myself simply means I’m not waiting for someone else to fulfil me and there’s no other half I need to get on with my #life. . At its roots, self-marriage is a form of self-empowerment, a radical exhibition of self-acceptance wrapped up in an important ritual. It’s a validation of life as a single person, a #ceremony that declares sense of completeness rather than holding pattern awaiting a second half. . This ceremony will be facilitated by Relationship Counselor and Clinical Sexologist @drmarthalee at @festoflove on 23 Feb 2019 Saturday. #family and #friends would be allowed/invited to witness their vows. Interested? More info here: festoflove.com . We’re trying to rewrite fairytale, the fallacy that there’s only one way. ❤️

A post shared by Janice Leong 龍詩惠 (@janiqueel) on Dec 26, 2018 at 4:20pm PST

As Official Blogger, Janiqueel will post regular updates before the festival. Once the excitement is underway in February, Janiqueel will provide breaking news as well as on-the-scene reporting from ace writer, JKJ, and Janiqueel herself. We will be your eyes on the scene. Here’s a quick look at some highlights of the Festival of Love:

Dr. Martha Tara Lee is a core part of the festival. It’s fitting, then, that the launch
of {Un}Inhibited: Asian vulva photo book by author Dr Martha Tara Lee and photographer Kelvin Lim should open the festival on 13 February. The book is an open, honest look at a sometime taboo subject from an Asian perspective. That sentence is the key to the ambience and intent of the whole festival.

The two-day conference hosts speakers and exhibitors to echo that coda. Emphasizing the whole earth approach is the inclusion of environmental and animal rights.

There’s a plethora of pop-up workshops happening island-wide during and after the two-day conference. Janiqueel cannot cover them all, but will be on hand for as many as possible and provide reports from others.

As a coda to the festival, the penultimate day, will see a Self-marriage ceremony “…where
individuals can come together to marry themselves as a very powerful statement of self-empowerment and an expression of self-acceptance”. 

To be a tangible part of all this, consider a donation at

https://gogetfunding.com/festoflove/

And/or visit the website to see opportunities for volunteers here:

festoflove.com

https://www.instagram.com/festoflove/

Love
is in the air, everywhere I look around
Love
is in the air, every sight and every sound
And
I don’t know if I’m being foolish
Don’t
know if I’m being wise
But
it’s something that I must believe in

John
Paul Young, “Love is in the Air”