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Pokémon Go Fest 2020 start time, ticket price, and Go Fest 2020 activities explained

Everything you need to know about this year's Pokémon Go Fest.

Pokémon Go Fest 2020 celebrates the fourth anniversary of Pokémon Go by taking the festivities worldwide!

In preparation of Go Fest 2020, you'll be able to complete a selection of weekly challenges and then, once the event begins, there will be a host of activities to complete in Pokémon Go.

This page covers everything you need to know about Pokémon Go Fest 2020 - from the time and date of the event to the ticket price.

On this page:

Pokémon Go Fest 2020 start time explained: What time does Pokémon Go Fest start?

Four years after the release of Pokémon Go, we're celebrating the fourth Pokémon Go Fest, occurring on Saturday, July 25th and Sunday, July 26th.

The Go Fest 2020 start time is 10am to 8pm local time on each day.

Don't worry if you're planning to not take part in Go Fest 2020 - there will still be a variety of activities to partake in!

Pokémon Go Fest 2020 ticket price: How much does a Pokémon Go Fest 2020 ticket cost?

A ticket for Pokémon Go Fest 2020 will cost $14.99, which is roughly £11.99, and will allow you to partake in both days.

This purchase is non-refundable and it can't be purchased using PokéCoins.

Tickets will be available for purchase from Monday, June 15th at the following times:

  • UK: 6pm (BST)
  • Europe: 7pm (CEST / West Europe)
  • East Coast US: 1pm (EST / East Coast US)
  • West Coast US: 10am (PST / West Coast US)

You'll be able to purchase tickets until the end of Pokémon Go Fest 2020 itself on Sunday, July 26th.

You can't use PokéCoins to purchase a Go Fest 2020 ticket.

All money raised from the ticket sales for Pokémon Go Fest 2020 will be donated as part of Nantic's plan to donate a minimum of $5 million to various programs that support the Black community.

Half of the proceeds will help fund new projects from Black gaming and AR creators, which can live on the Niantic platform, while the rest will go to US based nonprofit organisations that will help the local communities rebuild.

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How to purchase a ticket for Pokémon Go Fest 2020 in Pokémon Go

You can purchase a ticket for Pokémon Go Fest 2020 from the in-game Pokémon Go store.

The in-game store is accessed via the main Poké Ball menu and, once you're viewing the store, you need to scroll down till you find a ticketed-event banner advertising 'Pokemon Go Fest 2020.'

Select 'Learn More' beneath this banner and then the option to 'Purchase.' This will then take you through the steps of purchasing a ticket for this event.

After this has been completed successfully, you'll receive a pop-up informing you that a ticket for Pokémon Go Fest 2020 has been purchased and is in your Item Bag.

You'll now receive a medal a few days before the event begins and you'll receive the Special Research plotline when you log into Pokémon Go on Sunday, 26th July.

Pokémon Go Fest 2020 activities explained

Each day of Pokémon Go Fest 2020 offers a variety of different activities for you to partake in and what's on changes from Saturday to the Sunday. This means you should definitely play Pokémon Go on both days to take full advantage of the event.

Though we're yet to learn everything about Pokémon Go Fest 2020, you can find everything we know so far about the activities on offer below:

Day One - Saturday, July 25th

Global Challenge Arena

The first day of Pokémon Go Fest will be divided up into five different rotating habitats, with each one focusing on a different group of Pokémon that fit the theme of the habitat.

The habitats are:

  • Fire
  • Water
  • Grass
  • Battle
  • Friendship

Each habitat will occur twice throughout the day, meaning that it will be hard for you to miss your chance of catching one of the 75 plus Pokémon that can appear throughout the day.

You'll also be able to take part in the Global Challenge Arena, where, every hour, you can team up with other players from around the world to complete a challenge. If this challenge is completed successfully, then a worldwide bonus will be unlocked for the reminder of this hour.

Finally, there will be a new Special Research quest that can only be unlocked by logging into Pokémon Go on this first day of the event.

Day Two - Sunday, July 26th

Day Two sees access to a new Special Research questline - Rocket Straight to Victory, which sees you rewarded with a mythical Pokémon reward (no spoilers here!).

You'll be able to complete this Special Research questline whenever you like, so don't worry about having to complete before the end of Go Fest. You must, however, login to Pokémon Go during this day to collect the Special Research or else you'll miss it.


The World of Wonders season has come to Pokémon Go, which has brought Rediscover Kanto and Sustainability Week, along with the World of Wonders quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.


Pokémon Go Fest 2020 weekly challenges explained

Regardless of whether or not you personally plan on taking part in Pokémon Go Fest 2020, every trainer across the world will be able to take part in the weekly challenges that build up to the event.

In total there will be three sets of Timed Research challenges, with each one running in a week of July before Pokémon Go Fest 2020 itself.

The dates for these Timed Research challenges are:

  • Week One - Skill - Friday, 3rd July to Wednesday, 8th July
  • Week Two - Battle - Friday, 10th July to Wednesday, 15th July
  • Week Three - Friendship - Friday 17th July to Wednesday, 22th July

This time frame would allow for the final Timed Research challenges to finish the day before Pokémon Go Fest 2020 begins.

Completing the Timed Research lines will help unlock additional Pokémon for the Pokémon Go Fest 2020 weekend, which means that it's in your best interest to complete these challenges if you're planning on taking part in the event.

Though we don't know much about the challenges themselves yet, they might work in a similar way to the recent Throwback Challenges, which were also Timed Research challenges and focused around a specific region in the Pokémon world, such as Sinnoh.

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