First off, I read something about being able to increase the chances of finding special items (i.e. essences) while nurturing. Someone know what it is I can do to get that??

And secondly, when's the next festival?? I've got a golden eggling I'm itching to crack open.

Hmmm I don't know about anything increasing the chances of finding essences while nurturing...

You can get a rank in referrals that gives you a chance to get an extra scale when nurturing. But that's all.

The week of love is starting soon - Feb 10th according to the front page.

Maybe the referral thing was it. For the golden eggling with extra prizes, does it have to be opened during a spring/summer/fall/winter festival or can it be any festival??

Well all the details for the referral are here: http://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=10687

And I'm not 100% sure, but I would think they would work for any festival.

Just make sure to read the Thread when they'll release the festival, if they aren't over implementing any new Avatar Items, it's highly possible the Golden Eggling won't be "ready" for the Festival yet~ ;3
Just a little something so you don't get deceived if you open it too soon~ :3

That is very helpful. I've noticed things come out kinda slow. Figured I'd open it on v-day just in case :)

Yeah, we can't be mad, it's normal, otherwise we might just not receive everything or it would bug each time they had a new item and someone try to open one while they do that~ :o