The Bonnellys, one of the most famous and numerous families in the Dominican Republic, and which currently has more than 130 family branches around the world, will become the first to hold a family reunion in the Metaverse, with members connecting from more than 10 cities around the world.
Bonnelada 2022 will take place on Evveland.com, a metaverse created by a member of the family, technology entrepreneur Rafael Bonnelly Ricart, who explained that the idea arose in order to honor the memory of his grandfather, Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly Fondeur, President of the Dominican Republic 1962-1963, on the day of his 118th birthday.
Since the Bonnellys are scattered around the world, the chosen place is a virtual lunar base that has been installed on Bonnelly.org, and where hundreds of members of this family will meet to honor their ancestors and listen to many of the politicians, lawyers, judges, artists, chefs, filmmakers, engineers, designers, musicians and businessmen who are part of this family, which has more than 200 years of history on the Caribbean island.
In the last family reunion held in February 2016, more than 250 family members gathered at the Hard Rock Café in Santo Domingo, where they enjoyed the largest and most popular Bonnelada, an event with a centuries-old tradition.
On this occasion, the Bonnellys will have several galleries with images of their ancestors and the different branches that emerged from the trunk, a merchant sailor from Corsica and the daughter of a Haitian general who married in 1831 and had 10 children together. While this year’s event is focused on the online experience for attendees, that doesn’t mean the Bonnellys won’t meet up in person. On the contrary, there will be multiple in-person meetings, as several watch parties have been organized.
“It will be a very different Bonnelada from those already held, because for the first time all family members will have the opportunity to attend, no matter where they are,” said Sully Bonnelly, a fashion designer based in New York, who has recorded a video, inviting their relatives to participate in the event.
During the event, members of the family residing in Santo Domingo, Santiago, Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, Samaná, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Madrid and New Jersey, among other cities, will participate via the metaverse and videoconference.
The eldest member of the family, Manuel Ulises Bonnelly Valverde, 92 years old, confirmed his attendance and participation in the main panel, dedicated to the Values and Principles that should govern the lives of his relatives, in which Juan Sully Bonnelly Batlle, former President of the Central Electoral Board, Aida Consuelo Hernández Bonnelly, former Director of EDUCA, advisor to the Dominican Government on education, and Lourdes Bonnelly de Espaillat, founder and former director of the Plan LEA (Listín Diario) and VP of Constructora AE.
The second panel of the event is entitled The Bonnelly´s in 2050 and will be made up of Manuel Ulises Bonnelly Vega, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic, Sully Bonnelly Canaán, renowned fashion designer residing in New York, Elena Bonnelly Madina, holistic healer residing in San Francisco, Vanessa Espaillat Lovett, an architect and urban planner living in Los Angeles, among other members of the family.
The Bonnelada in the Metaverse will include a private session only for registered members of the family, in which they will be able to exchange with the other members of the family.
A gallery of ancestors will give users an understanding of the family roots and accomplishments.
The more than 200 members of the family who met in 2016 at the Hard Rock Café in Santo Domingo.
Each family will have a stand to showcase their content. Also they can promote their businesses.
