On a January morning with the mercury below freezing, Star Jones, appropriately donned in fur, climbs into the back of a New York City cab.  She’s on the move from the upper East Side to midtown Manhattan, but she’d prefer to send the cabbie to JFK.

“You can’t imagine how excited I am about this year’s festival,” she says.

Star Jones is one of the devoted romantics flocking to Bermuda on Valentine’s Day Weekend for the Bermuda International Love Festival.  The former co-host of "The View" became a Love Festival disciple last year after a nudge from longtime friend Wanda Henton Brown, the wife of Bermuda’s Premier Ewart Brown.

“Whenever you see them together you can’t help but fall a little bit more in love,” said Ms Jones of the Browns.  “We were having a conversation about love and the First Lady said I’ve got to come down for the Love Festival.  I said, ‘the what!’”

It took a few minutes for Mrs. Brown to sell the premise to her friend during an unrelated reception they both attended in the United States.   Ms Jones initially thought the Love Festival sounded like a place for singles to “hook up”.

“But that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said in a cell phone interview from a taxi heading down Park Avenue.  “It is the most elegant weekend, the classiest weekend.  It’s a time to reconnect with your significant others and like-minded couples.”

The Love Festival is an annual weekend getaway of romance with chic cocktail receptions, candlelit meals and concerts in intimate settings.  Time for golf and spa is also encouraged.  The Bermuda Department of Tourism calls it an “ultimate luxury love experience for the well-deserving couple”.

Star Jones attended with a date in 2009 and they’ll both be back in 2010.  She referred to him sparingly during the conversation, but always affectionately, calling him “my guy”.

“I’m lucky enough to get to go to many events across the world and the thing that I love about the Love Festival is that there are different activities that could appeal to a variety of adults,” she said. 

“It’s a big family once you get to see the different couples that are there.  You don’t have to come with a lot of people because you spend an hour at a cocktail party and you immediately have a new group of friends.  Everybody is just very welcoming.”

R&B artist Babyface will headline the Love Festival’s main concert on February 13^th.  He has a tough act to follow.  Last year’s performance by Earth, Wind & Fire electrified the audience in a way not even Bermuda favourite Gladys Knight could accomplish in 2008.

This year the Love Festival – February 12th to 14th – will be hosted by the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and boasts an opening reception at the luxurious Tucker's Point Hotel, a private white tablecloth dinner party at Port O'Call Restaurant, a golf outing at the newly reconstructed Port Royal Golf Course and brunch at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.  The Wycliffe Gordon Quartet and Chuck Jackson are also on the concert lineup with Babyface.