This weekend sees the start of Fantasy Faire 2012, in aid of Relay for Life. From Saturday April 21 to Sunday April 29, 2012, thousands of Second Life residents and creators will come together to support the global fight for a world without cancer. In all, nine sims have been transformed into a mix of fantasy themes, with eight regions providing worlds of content to explore, shops to peruse and events to enjoy, with the ninth acting as a gateway and event point.

More than 130 of SL’s fantasy creators have come together to support this year’s event, with a huge range of creations on offer through stores, and special limited-edition items and other goodies to be auctioned-off as a part of the ongoing events.

The sims themselves are all magnificent builds, richly diverse and beautifully put together to present unique and eye-catching environments to explore.

When the Faire opens on the 21st, you can start your journey from the Fairelands Junction. Here you’ll find the auction wall and the main teleport hub to the other sims of the faire, each represented by its own alcoved fresco within the central round structure on the sim.

Where you go from here is up to you. I’ve had the good fortune to take a tour of the sims ahead of the opening, so hope to provide a quick tour here – click on the name of each region for details on the stores you’ll find there.

Deep in the jungle lies the mystical ruins of Nu Orne, where temple-like structures sit amidst the encroaching trees and undergrowth as the sun filters through the rising mists overhead.

As with all the sims, the teleport will deliver you to an arrival point directly outside the main sponsor’s store. From here, wander the walkways between the ancient buildings, explore the stores and keep an eye on things – there is much more going on with the builds in each of these sims than at first meets the eye.

From the rain forest-like enclave of Nu Orne, one passes to the verdant richness of Jungle Bungle.

Despite the name, Jungle Bungle is more open than one might imagine, and watched over by huge wood carvings made from living trees – are these the Children of the Forest from legend?

This is part of the attraction with this years’ Faire and it’s theme: The story starts with you – because you get to make up stories as to how each sim arose.

A great attraction with each is that as well as the shops and event areas, there are also places to meet and chat with friends and strangers – a camp fire here, a cauldron of bubbling soup (?) there – all inviting one to stay, sit and linger a while as the world turns and people come and go.

From jungle-y themes to the whimsical fancy of Meandervale, with its charming windmills with butterfly sails and (for me) memories of Charlar Linden, as trees row their little boats along the meandering waterways.