Anyone can participate in Pokémon Go Fest 2020 from July 25th to 26th as long as they have a virtual ticket.
Each day offers unique events, Pokémon and more for trainers to catch and take part in. Unlike traditional Pokémon Go Fests that take place in a set location, a single ticket allows players access to both days of the 2020 virtual festival.
The tickets cost $20.99 CAD in Canada and are available via the Pokémon Go in-app store.
Saturday, July 25th
Starting at 10am (your local time), you’ll start to notice a new ‘Special Research’ story that launches on the 25th.
This day ends festivities at 8pm (local time), but you’ll be able to continue your story mission progress outside of the event if you don’t finish it.
Beyond that, the game world rotates through various habitats, including fire, water, grass, battle and friendship. Every hour these change, so you’ll be able to interact with each zone twice during the event.
A new feature coming to the game for the event is called the ‘Global Challenge Arena.’ It’s a page that shows a global challenge and lists tasks players need to work together to complete every hour. In the example screenshot, the Global Challenge is ‘Send 100,000 gifts to friends.’ If players are able to beat the challenge in less than an hour, they get a bonus for the remainder of the hour.
The final note that Niantic is sharing about day one is that players can expect to interact with over 75 species of Pokémon, which should help a lot of people fill out their PokéDex.
Sunday, July 26th
Sunday’s festivities run during the same 10am to 8pm (local time), but the developers are keeping the main event secret.
The online blog post says, “Trainers will enjoy…something very different! We want the Day 2 experience to be a surprise, so ticket holders will learn what we have in store that very day. There’ll also be another Special Research story for Trainers to enjoy.”
I’m pretty excited for this day, and I have faith that Niantic will make it worthwhile for players.
Leading up to the event
All trainers, regardless if they bought Go Fest tickets or not, are getting three weeks of challenges leading up to Go Fest. These are timed challenges, so you’ll need to check into the app often to see if they’re available.
The more of these you complete, the more monsters you’ll be able to find during the actual event. More details should be released regarding these events as Go Fest gets closer.
As we near Go Fest 2020, Niantic is also launching a new Go Fest website to detail the event and give players fun papercraft blueprints to make. Last year at the Montreal event, the company offered Pikachu hats people could make and wear.
There will also be three micro-sites that replicate the team lounges at past Go Fests by holding fun giveaways and other team-related things. Niantic says this website release until later.
If you live in the U.S., you can also order Pokémon Go clothing, but unfortunately, the website doesn’t ship to Canada.
The last thing to note is that Niantic is going to donate half of the ticket sales or a minimum of $5 million USD (roughly $6.8 million CAD).
“Half of the proceeds donated will be used to fund new projects from Black gaming and AR creators that can live on the Niantic platform, with the goal of increasing content that represents a more diverse view of the world. The other half will go to US nonprofit organizations that are helping local communities rebuild,” reads the company’s blog post.
Source: Niantic
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