New convention debuts in London, Ont., celebrating a substance-free lifestyle

The Sober Connection Convention was held in London at Dundas Place on Sept. 16, 2023. (Marek Sutherland/CTV News London

A first-of-its-kind convention was held in London Saturday at Dundas Place, celebrating a substance-free lifestyle.

“This is the Sober Connection Convention. What we recognize is there’s lots of places and spaces that don’t serve alcohol, that don’t promote substance use. Whether you’re in addiction recovery or you just choose not to use those substances for health [related reasons]. We want to highlight those places and spaces here in London,” said convention spokesperson Sarah Montes.

The one-day event featured businesses and services that are geared towards those in a substance-free lifestyle. The hope for organizers is that this will become a larger, annual event.

The organization is also using its website to promote those businesses and events year-round.

“What we’re doing on [the website] is, we’re giving out free business listings. So, if you’re a sober-friendly business, or if you have sober-friendly events, you can go on the website and log in and register your business and get a free business listing,” said spokesperson Dean Anderson. “Then anybody who’s looking for sober-friendly, substance-free activities can go to the website and find you right there.”

You can follow this link to find their website.