Pokémon Go Fest 2024 dates, start time, ticket price and Go Fest Global activities explained

Pokémon Go Fest 2024 start time: When is the Go Fest Global 2024 event?

The Go Fest 2024: Global event is running on Saturday 13th July and Sunday 14th July. The event will start at 10am (local time) and end at 6pm (local time) on both days.

Every Pokémon Go player can hunt down Pokémon during the habitat hours or battle Necrozma, the new Legendary Pokémon, in five-star raids on Saturday. Sunday, meanwhile, sees the global release of the new Fusion mechanic, alongside Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wings Necrozma. Purchasing a Go Fest 2024 ticket grants you access to additional bonuses, activities and the Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper quest - one of which will let you catch the mythical Marshadow.

If you'd like to learn more about the Go Fest 2024: Global event, including the different free-to-play and ticketed activities, then look below...

Free-to-play activities during Pokémon Go Fest 2024

There's a wide range of free-to-play activities running throughout Go Fest 2024: Global in Pokémon Go - from bonuses to new Pokémon releases to rotating habitat hours. Some of these activities run throughout the weekend, while others are only available on a specific day.

So here's everything we know about the free-to-play activities in Go Fest 2024 so far:

Activities live throughout Go Fest 2024

Let's start by taking a look at the bonuses running throughout the Go Fest 2024: Global. Every player will be able to enjoy Incense lasting for an hour, Pokémon photobombing Go Snapshot and, best of all, there will be no Remote Raid Pass limit from Friday 12th July to Sunday 14th July. (Presumably the Remote Raid Pass limit will return at 6pm local time when Go Fest 2024 ends.)

Next there's the new shiny Pokémon. Go Fest 2024: Global marks the release of shiny Jangmo-o who you can evolve to get shiny versions of its evolutions, Hakamo-o and Kommo-o. Shiny Buzzwole, Pheromosa and Xurkitree were also released this week as part of the Inbound from Ultra Space event. You'll still have the chance to catch these shiny forms as they'll be appearing in the five-star raids on Saturday.

There is, of course, new costume Pokémon as well - four of them in fact. As is tradition, there's some new Pikachu costumes in the form of Moon Crown Pikachu and Sun Crown Pikachu. You'll be able to find both in the wild and one-star raids.

The other two costume four are Day Scarf Espeon and Night Scarf Umbreon. While both of these Pokémon will be in three-star raids, ticketed players will also be able to encounter them by using Incense.

Following a Route during Go Fest 2024: Global sees you having an increased chance of encountering Ducklett, Emolga and Crabrawler.

While not free, every player can also now purchase a range of new avatar clothing from the in-game shop. This includes the Pokémon Go Fest 2024 Tee, a Sun Crown, a Moon Crown, items from the Necrozma set (Top, Pants, Shoes, Shades) and the Alolan Exeggutor Hat, which is a choice.

Finally, there's the Go Fest 2024 stickers. These have been available in the in-game shop for a while, but you can now get them from spinning PokéStops and opening Gifts until Go Fest ends on Sunday 14th July.

Day One Activities - Saturday 13th July

The main event of Go Fest 2024: Global's Day One is the worldwide release of Necrozma in five-star raids. While players who attended the in-person Go Fest events have already had the chance to catch Necrozma, now every Pokémon Go trainer has the opportunity to battle and catch this Legendary Pokémon. Defeating this Psychic-type Pokémon is well worth your time too as you'll need one if you want to experiment with the new Fusion mechanic being globally released on Day Two.

Necrozma will be joined in the five-star raid pool by Nihilego, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, Xurkitree, Celesteela, Kartana and Guzzlord. This means you not only have the chance to grab a new Legendary Pokémon, but also any Ultra Beast who might be missing from your Pokédex.

If you do catch any of these Ultra Beasts or Necrozma during Day One, you'll find that the Pokémon will have a Special Background. These new backgrounds appear on the Pokémon's summary page and will only be released for the specific events - similar to how the Location Backgrounds are currently only released for in-person events. While a Special Background doesn't give the Pokémon any additional prowess, it will make it look a little cooler.

Rotating habitat hours make their unsurprising return for Go Fest 2024: Global too. This year's habitat hours are themed around periods of the day being called Dawn Meadow, Shining Day, Creeping Dusk and Darkest Night. You'll be able to catch a range of Pokémon from across the generations throughout them, including a couple of regional exclusives with Heatmor and Illumise making an appearance among a couple of others.

Each habitat hour also has its own set of Field Research tasks for you to complete, which will be themed around said habitat. Just like the rotating habitats, these Field Research tasks will change on the hour, so keep an eye out for the new tasks heading your way.

Day Two Activities - Sunday 14th July

This day marks the global release of Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wings Necrozma alongside the new Fusion mechanic. Both Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wings Necrozma will be in raids and defeating them will allow you to collect Solar Fusion Energy (Dusk Mane) or Lunar Fusion Energy (Dawn Wings).

To conduct a Fusion, however, you will need a Necrozma and either a Solgaleo or Lunala. Thankfully, Necrozma is still in five-star raids along with its different forms on Day Two and you're still able to get a Special Background when catching it. This Special Background will remain once you've fused your Necrozma with either Solgaleo or Lunala.

Both Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wings Necrozma also have their own featured attacks, which are also Adventure Effects:

• Dusk Mane Necrozma - Sunsteel Strike (Steel-type Charged Attack)
• Trainer battles - 135 Power
• Gyms and raids - 230 Power
• Dawn Wings Necrozma - Moongeist Beam (Ghost-type Charged Attack)
• Trainer battles - 135 Power
• Gyms and raids - 230 Power

There's no need to worry if you don't have a Solgaleo or Lunala though, because this day also marks the release of a free Special Research quest, called The Dawn of a New Discovery. There you'll embark on another Ultra Wormhole-themed adventure where you'll encounter Cosmog, which can eventually be evolved into either of the two Legendary Pokémon.

Finally, since there are no habitat hours, all of the Pokémon in all four habitat hour pools will be appearing throughout the wild on Day Two. With these Pokémon free of their hourly confines, you're now able to focus on hunting down the specific creatures you might need freely throughout the event hours.

The Shared Skies Season is here! The Strength of Steel event is currently running in Pokémon Go. Go Fest 2024 may have been and gone, but you can still play around with the Fusion mechanic. Meanwhile, ticket holders can finish Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper and The Dusk Settles. 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.

Pay-to-play activities during Pokémon Go Fest 2024

Purchasing a Pokémon Go Fest 2024: Global ticket grants you full access to the event. This comes in the form of additional bonuses, new Special Research tasks and even more Pokémon to catch. Just like the free-to-play activities, some of these bonuses are available throughout the event and some are released on specific days.

Here's everything we know about the pay-to-play Go Fest 2024 activities so far:

Activities live throughout Go Fest 2024

The bonuses for ticketed Go Fest 2024: Global players have actually already begun! Until Sunday 14th July at 11:59pm (local time), ticketed players will see the hatch distance for any egg placed in an Incubator halved, can open 40 Gifts and have a special 7km egg pool from which the chances of receiving a shiny Pokémon have been increased.

Since this egg pool includes Jangmo-o, you may get this shiny dragon before the Go Fest weekend!

Here is the full 7km egg pool for ticketed players:

Tier One

• Ducklett
• Emolga
• Crabrawler
• Jangmo-o

Tier Two

• Corsola
• Budew
• Maractus
• Vullaby
• Rockruff

Tier Three

• Larvesta
• Rockruff with the ability to evolve into Dusk Forme Lycanroc

The bonuses don't stop there though as ticketed players also have access to an additional bonus set once the event hours for Go Fest 2024: Global roll around. This includes an increased chance of encountering shiny Pokémon, nine free Raid Passes earned by spinning Gyms, double friendship bonus damage when raiding and the ability to make six Special Trades per day. This final bonus means ticket holders can conduct a total of 12 Special Trades throughout Go Fest 2024.

Finally, ticketed players who enjoy using Party Play will have access to a number of exclusive Party Play challenges. The rewards for which are encounters with Sun Crown Pikachu and Moon Crown Pikachu.

Day One Activities - Saturday 13th July

This is the day where ticket holders will receive the Marshadow Special Research quest, called Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper. Marshadow is a mythical Fighting and Ghost-type Pokémon from Gen 7. Alongside letting you add Marshadow to your Pokédex, this quest will reward you with a new avatar pose and a Marshadow themed-shirt.

It's important to note that players who attended an in-person Go Fest event in either Sendai, Madrid or New York will receive Marshadow Candy from this quest rather than an additional Marshadow encounter. These players will have also already earned the new pose and shirt from the first Marshadow quest they completed.

The Global Challenge Arena also returns for Go Fest ticket holders on Saturday. Here players from across the world will work together to complete a challenge and, if they're successful, everyone will enjoy an additional bonus for an hour. When the hour changes, the bonus will end and a new challenge will begin.

If 20 Global Challenges are completed, then this year's Ultra Unlocks will be - well - unlocked. At the time of writing, much about these Ultra Unlocks still remains a mystery, but there's a brief overview of everything we know so far:

• Part 1: Better Together - Wednesday 17th July to Sunday 22nd July
• Includes a new Pokémon debut, timed research quest, double catch candy, x4 catch XP and Friendship levels increasing fast.
• Part 2: Strength of Steel - Thursday 25th July to Tuesday 30th July
• New shiny Pokémon debut.
• Part 3: Mega Raid Day - Saturday 27th July
• New Mega Pokémon debut.

Heading back over to Go Fest 2024, ticketed players can complete Collection Challenges themed around the four habitat hours. Since every habitat hour appears twice on Saturday, you'll have two hours to complete each of these challenges on Saturday.

Finally, using Incense during the habitat hours will attract an additional pool of Pokémon. This pool includes a selection of Unowns, Day Scarf Espeon and Night Scarf Umbreon, along with the regionally exclusive Maractus and Corsola.

Day Two Activities - Sunday 14th July

Ticket holders will unlock another Special Research quest at the beginning of Day Two, called The Dusk Settles. This is a branching quest themed around the new Fusion mechanic and the path you take will see you encountering either a Solgaleo or Lunala.

You'll also earn either Solar Fusion Energy or Lunar Fusion Energy depending on the path you take, so it's worth considering whether you want to have Dusk Mane Necrozma or Dawn Wings Necrozma before truly embarking on this quest.

Pokémon Go Fest 2024 ticket price: How much does Go Fest Global 2024 cost?

A ticket for Go Fest 2024 costs £14.99, $14.99 or the equivalent in your local currency.

Tickets are currently available for purchase on both in-game shop and web store. You'll also be able to buy one during the event itself. It's important to remember though that the tickets are non-refundable and can't be purchased using PokéCoin.

If you do decide to purchase your Go Fest 2024 ticket from the web store, you'll receive a free in-game Go Fest 2024 shirt for your avatar.

How to purchase a ticket for Pokémon Go Fest 2024

There's now two ways to purchase a ticket for Go Fest 2024: Global - either in-game or via the web store.

If you want to purchase your ticket in-game, simply open the store via the main menu and then select the Go Fest 2024 banner. (It has Marshadow on it.) Next, you'll need to select the 'Buy' option and follow the purchase instructions for your specific device. The Go Fest 2024 ticket should automatically appear in your inventory, but, if it doesn't, try closing and reopening Pokémon Go.

To purchase from the web store, you first need to visit the Pokémon Go web store. (Who saw that coming...) Once there select the 'Pokémon Go Fest 2024: Global Ticket' followed by purchase. If you haven't done so already, you'll then need to log into the store to continue following the purchase instructions. After this, you'll automatically receive the Go Fest 2024: Global medal a couple of days before the event begins.

Purchasing your Go Fest 2024: Global ticket from the web store also earns you an exclusive Pokémon Go Fest 2024 T-shirt. This will also arrive in the 'Style' section of your Trainer profile close to the event itself.

Hope you enjoy Go Fest 2024: Global!