Southwest Love Fest is the Tucson based conference on ethical non-monogamy, also known as polyamory. April 6-8 2018 was the launch of the first Southwest Love Fest, hosted at Hotel Tucson City Center. Featuring over 20 speakers the conference touched on a myriad of topics such as rewiring triggers, boundaries, mono-poly relationships, relationship anarchy, jealousy, family and household settings, inclusion, and more. Guests arrived from all across the country to hear the speakers and connect with other like minded folk.

For being an inaugural event, Southwest Love Fest was exceptionally well done. The co-founders Kate Kincaid and Sara Bachman-Williams pulled off an amazing weekend with the help of volunteers, all who worked tirelessly and with smiles on their faces.

Local businesses run by polyamorous people were featured, which is the vantage point that I experienced the conference. Greeting and feeding attendees as they went from session to session was a lovely experience. Meeting new people and making them smile was the perfect way to spend a weekend.

Southwest Love Fest took excellent care of their guests by offering child care and an emotional support team. If a break is in order a visit to the emotional support tent to lay down on pillows and have a calming conversation can make a huge difference. Integrating the lessons of self growth can sometimes call for a mental reset, so coloring books and games are provided.

In addition to a weekend full of amazing sessions, Friday night there was a pool party to start things off and on Saturday night a hotel wide party was thrown called Choose an Adventure Treasure Hunt. Follow clues from room to room with surprises around every corner. Lose yourself in the dance party and dress up at the photo booth. This party was an amazing experience and great way to loosen up and see peoples more playful side. Pirate and fantasy costumes abound!

Supporting to the community is an important goal of the SWLF team, this year 5% of the proceeds were donated to Marisposas Sin Fronteras, an amazing group that brings help to queer people who are in detention.

If the Southwest Love Fest is an event you are interested in being a part of, then save the date for next year. For more information, check out their website and subscribe to their email list for updates.