Polyday 2012 is two weeks away!

Saturday, June 16th marks this year's Polyday, an annual one-day event in the UK. The event will be held at Dragon Hall, a community center in Central London. The day will begin with workshops and discussion sessions relating to non-monogamy, and in the evening, there will be music and socializing.

One of the organizers describes the event as follows:

Polyday is a one-day annual event where we get the chance to celebrate polyamory, and bring together our ever growing community. There will be a day of workshops, and an evening of chilled out socialising in a safe, comfortable space. It's an opportunity to be yourself without worrying about answering awkward questions about your relationships. You get the chance to meet a whole variety of poly people, find out how they do poly, and share the tales of your own adventures in the exciting lovescape we inhabit. It’s a great experience whether you’re new to polyamory, or a weathered old veteran of ethical non-monogamy.

Find out more at the Polyday website. Tickets are £15 can be purchased online.

Brits making open relationships work

Arianne Cohen has been in an open relationship for three years, so in this story she wrote for Britain's The Guardian, she begins with the tale of her relationship. But she also profiles several other poly configurations.

Cohen lets the folks speak for themselves, so the article is chock full of quotes from people in various types of open relationships, as they discuss the logistics of their relationships and how being open works for them.

Cohen muses:

This seems to be a particularly British take on non-monogamy: comfort with the act, mixed with a compulsive need for privacy. Doing it? Fine. Speaking about it? Never. Claire struggles to articulate this side of her life. "It doesn't come up terribly often, because most of the people to whom I might be describing it already know. I guess if I was describing it, I'd say 'open'. Of our larger friend group of 25, it's not new. Maybe a third are currently in open relationships." I asked Claire if anyone had ever reacted badly. "Not recently, and possibly not ever," she says. Her advice for other potential non-monogamists is straightforward: "Think first. Discuss first. Don't be an idiot. Rules of life, really."

Read the rest on The Guardian.

Media opportunities for UK poly folks

Do you live in the UK and want to participate in an art or media project? Bobbu at Polytical recently received a couple requests for UK poly folks for upcoming projects.

The first project is a portrait and still life photography project by Emli Bendixen, a London-based editorial photographer hoping to document the modern family unit. She is especially interested in the "many shapes" that families can take; one of her latest photoshoots for the project can be seen here. Bendixen can be contacted by email, phone, or Skype -- see her contact page for the info.

The second project is a TV documentary from North One Television producer/director, Ida Bruusgaard. Bruusgaard is creating a program about marriage, and hopes to include a polyamorous family as an example of an alternative to the traditional idea of marriage. Bruusgaard writes,

I’m interested in debunking the myth around the 'traditional' nuclear family. It seems to me that the idea that two people should be able to find indefinite happiness within their own four walls without much support / input / pressure taken off them by other adults, is in fact a very new phenomenon. Our homes used to be more open, with family members, neighbours and friends more intimately involved in our business. It makes me wonder whether 'privacy' and 'space' for married couples can cause isolation and trouble as much as being of benefit to a marriage.

I would love to find polyamorous people who are either married or in long term-ish relationships to feature in the documentary. I realise that a polyamorous lifestyle can be a sensitive subject, but I'd like to think it’s a chance to get a very positive message out there which will resonate with our viewers in ways they may not have expected.

Bruusgaard's contact info can be found on the Polytical post.

If you are interested in either of these opportunities and live in the UK, get in touch with Bendixen or Bruusgaard!