It's that time again; time for Pokemon Go's premier yearly event, Go Fest 2023! This time around, Niantic is focusing on New York USA, Longon England, and Osaka Japan for the event, and this one promises to be really exciting. While we don't have many details yet, we do have a clue or two to work with, so let's get into the details!
Go Fest 2023
| Location | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| New York | August 18, 2023 | August 20, 2023 |
| London | August 4, 2023 | August 6, 2023 |
| Osaka | August 4, 2023 | August 6, 2023 |
| Global | August 26, 2023 | August 27, 2023 |
- Tickets are available for purchase here at a limited-time discount price of $25.00.
- Tickets for the Global portion of the event cost $15.00, and will grant additional rewards for the duration of the event
- Players who purchase a ticket for one of the three in-person Go Fest events will also be able to purchase the global ticket
Speculation
As of right now, we don't have a whole lot to go on, but we can definitely make some speculations based on what we know. First up; what does Go Fest typically introduce? Well, Pokemon Go has two major yearly events, and thus far each is known for one primary function:
- Go Fest: Introducing new Pokemon
- Go Tour: Adding more power to existing Pokemon
This has been proven true many times, with Go Fest traditionally introducing a new Mythical Pokemon alongside others while Go Tour tends to give additional power to Legends primarily, with the latest event giving us access to Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.
While these statements aren't absolutes, they seem to hold true year after year, so let's get into it using this basis of knowledge.
Being our main source of information, let's take a look at this year's Go Fest logo:
We can tell a lot about the upcoming Go Fest from the event's logo. For example, Go Fest 2021 featured musical notes in its design to elude to Meloetta, while Go Fest 2022 had leaves to point towards Shaymin.
So what do we have this time? Well, the background for the image is deep blue, which could point us towards another of the Generation 4 Mythical Pokemon, Manaphy (and Phione by extension, which perpetually lives in its shadow), but it also has a cut-jewel design that's somewhat reminiscent of of shell of the upcoming Pokemon Terapagos that will be featured in the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet/Violet DLC.
And while these are all possible (though Terapagos much less so), one other feature sort of stands out on this design; flanking the word "FEST" are two small, pink diamonds. So do we know of any Mythical Pokemon that utilizes pink diamonds in its design?
One of the Mythical Pokemon of Kalos, Diancie is a Rock/Fairy Type Pokemon that is pretty important, potentially. While it's not the greatest Pokemon in-and-of itself, it's also got its own Mega Evolution to look forward to, and it's quite something!
With a good Rock Type moveset and the potential to also get its own Signature Move, Diamond Storm, Mega Diancie will pretty much dominate the Rock Type Meta, and it also has the potential to dominate the Fairy Type meta given better moves on that side of the equation as well!
And while it doesn't seem super likely that Mega Diancie will drop this summer, at the very least Diancie itself seems like an easy call for Go Fest 2023. And if we're correct, then it's definitely worth picking up multiple of this Mythical Pokemon given tickets and the release of a Research Line 6-8 months after its initial debut. Worst-case, we can probably expect Mega Diancie for Go Tour: Kalos, which should be scheduled for 2026 if the current schedule continues. Of course, then the question arises; will Mega Diancie be a raid boss, or will we be granted the Mega Energy in another way to preserve the rarity of this Mythical Pokmemon? Time will tell.
The Paldea Possibility
And while Diancie is exciting, if we look back to last year we'll see that Pokemon Go was given hints of what was then the latest generation of the main series games; Galar. So is it possible that Go Fest 2023 could also bring a taste of Paldea? Time will tell!
Closing
We don't have a lot to go on right now, but current speculation puts our projected Mythical Pokemon as the most important one that we've seen released as a part of Go Fest to date. Time will tell if our predictions hold true, but either way this should be an entertaining event when it rolls around. Expect more information and blind speculation from us as the event draws near!
So tell us, do you intend to attend one of the in-person Go Fest events? How about the global ticketed event? We'd love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave us a comment and tell us what you think!
