About Polyday

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.

During the day

In the daytime Polyday will be holding a number of facilitated discussion groups and workshops on a variety of topics related to non-monogamous living - an opportunity to hear how other people are living and to share your knowledge and experience.

Each workshop group will last just over an hour, with appointed facilitators guiding the discussion. The facilitator's job is not to be the "expert" on the topic, but to help discussion flow and ensure everyone who wants to has a chance to have their say.

If you don't fancy any of the workshops on at a given time, there will also be space open during the day for relaxing and socialising.

In the evening

There will be entertainment in the main hall in the evening, with the other spaces in the building open for socialising and relaxing.

Children

Children are welcome at Polyday, and all workshops will be clearly labelled with their content and possible implications for suitability for children. It is the responsibility of guardians and parents to judge what they wish their children to see and hear. There will be a supervised circus skills workshop specifically oriented towards children, if parents wish to attend another workshop at the same time.

The evening entertainment will be adult oriented, but we will allow children to attend if guardians understand they will be exposed to potentially offensive material.

What Polyday is not

Polyday is all about talking and socialising. It's not a sex club, a fetish club, or a dating service. See our code of conduct for more detail. We have no problem with those sorts of events - we just wanted to run something different.

Your privacy

Not everyone at Polyday will want the world to know the intimate details of how they live their lives. The code of conduct andates that you must respect the privacy of other attenders, and we will not be passing on your details to anyone else.

Nonetheless, you should be aware that some attenders may not respect your privacy; for all we know, some attenders could be undercover journalists working for the tabloid press. If you aren't entirely public about everything you discuss at Polyday, you may wish for example to be guarded about your real name and other identifying details.

Glossary

It often seems that no two participants in this community can agree exactly on any definition of the words we use, so this glossary can only be a rough guide - we hope you find it useful.

• An open relationship (sometimes open marriage) is one that includes the possibility for either partner to have sex with people outside the relationship with the other party's knowledge and consent
• A polyamorous relationship is one that's open to more than one loving and intimate relationship. More information on polyamory in the UK.
• Poly is short for "polyamorous". Incidentally, you might hear someone say "George is poly", but I've never heard someone say "George is a poly" - it's an adjective, not a noun.
• Swingers are couples who get together with other couples, or sometimes other individuals, as a way of enhancing their sex lives.
• Non-monogamy is an umbrella term that covers the whole spectrum of honest and negotiated alternatives to monogamy.
• Compersion is the opposite of jealousy - the joy of a loved one being made happy by another. In Britain we might say we feel frubbly.

Polyday was first run in Leicester in October 2004, by Grant. Last year's event was in Bristol, and this year, which is the seventh Polyday, we return to London. The organising team consists of a collection of poly and poly-friendly volunteers, and new helpers are always welcomed. Polyday has always been a non-profit event.

With many many thanks to all of the folks who have helped Polyday to exist, and to this years helpers,

Enjoy!

Maxine