- Home
- Technology
- Gaming
- Pokémon Go Fest gives a glimpse of things to come, and the perfect gamer holiday
❚ We may earn commission from links on this page. Our editorial is always independent (learn more).
Pokémon Go Fest gives a glimpse of things to come, and the perfect gamer holiday
The big 10th anniversary Go Fest was even better than expected
Radio Times Gaming
- Ben Williams
Published: Wednesday, 17 June 2026 at 5:49 pm
Stay ahead of the game! Sign up for our FREE gaming newsletter
Attending last year’s Pokémon Go Fest in Paris, Michael Steranka, the game’s senior product director at the time, teased how the game’s 10th anniversary was going to be ‘a Pokémon fan's dream come true’.
Ad
A year later in Copenhagen, the game’s 10th anniversary event celebrating all that’s good about the decade-old Niantic mobile game is here, and Steranka’s prediction has come true in more ways than one.
That’s because Go Fest in general is all about shining a light on the best of what the game has to offer, but this time especially, honing in on the joys of the city it’s based in.
In anticipation of the European leg of the event, Pokémon Go flew Radio Times Gaming to Copenhagen to see the full-scale weekend shindig, both in the delightful Fælledparken in Østerbro and the wider city.
Getting to talk to Lena Cillis, developer Niantic’s Marketing Manager of Live Events in the EMEA region, we also got to learn more about how the game’s core element of community has been more important than ever the more time has gone on — and why each Go Fest is worth your time and money if the idea of next year’s should take your fancy.
What’s the deal with Pokémon Go Fest?
The entrance of the park for Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming
Spread across multiple specific countries around the world, followed by a global version, Pokémon Go Fest is the annualised celebration of Niantic’s beloved mobile game and the Pocket Monsters franchise itself.
Because there are so many players spread across the world and fitting them all into one city would be a genuine challenge, each location-based Pokémon Go Fest is spread into three legs: 2026’s being split into in-person events in Chicago for its US leg, Tokyo for its Japan leg, and Copenhagen, Denmark, for its Europe leg.
Going to any of the three events each year essentially gives you roughly a month’s head start on what’s to come with Go Fest: Global — including in-depth Special Research, intense Raids, exclusive versions of other Pokémon, and other new additions which pop up each year, including in-person exclusives.
A group photo in front of the Rocket Hideout area of Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming
The 2026 edition is no exception, keeping the game’s 10th anniversary in mind. Not only does completing the main Special Research help you unlock Zeraora (the Electric-type Mythical from Gen VII), but Go Fest also marks the game’s debuts of Mewtwo’s Mega Evolutions: Mega Mewtwo X and Y — interestingly, only available in the game’s new Super Mega Raids at the end of each session in the park.
Being the most powerful of the original 151 Pokémon, the opportunity to catch Mewtwo, with the option to Mega Evolve it for the first time in the game as well, is a crowning fit for Go’s long-awaited 10th anniversary Fest.
What’s more, even though we’d have to wait until the final half-hour of each four-hour park session to battle Mega Mewtwo X or Y in these raids, standard raids with catchable Mewtwo as the boss were available as well throughout the day; so you could still stock up on Candy or keep farming as many raids as possible until you get the almighty Psychic Pokémon with perfect IVs or as a green-accented Shiny (if you’re the type of player who prioritises that kind of thing).
Why it’s the perfect vacation for Pokémon fans
A caught Zeraora and Shiny Mewtwo that can Mega Evolve from Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Niantic/Radio Times Gaming
That said, these super cool Mewtwos, the mighty Zeraora, and Pikachus with exclusive Team-themed caps will be available for all players who didn’t get to attend any in-person Go Fest at Go Fest: Global — kicking off on 11 July and running until the 12th.
What’s more, this year, Go Fest: Global is free for the first time as well; that means there won’t be any paywalls to participate, and any player can reap all of the big rewards it has to offer from the get-go.
So, it’s pretty understandable for any Pokémon Go player considering a future in-person Go Fest to ask themselves: "Why would I pay money to travel hundreds of miles and stay in a hotel in another country when I could just wait a few weeks to get the same rewards for free — or at least for a lot less?"
Want to see this content?
This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
Accept and continue
There in that question lies the heart of why travelling to an international Go Fest is so worth the time and expense in taking part: because you’re not only getting exclusive in-person experiences and early access to Raids against awesome new Legendaries; you’re getting the opportunity to revel in what’s special about whatever unique city you go to — along with the many thousands of other fans to meet and enjoy it all with you.
Part of that comes from what Niantic’s Lena Cillis told us about her pitch to a live event Go Fest would be: "Pokémon Go, in general, just has the beauty of bringing people together. It is such a highly accessible game, and Pokémon Go Fest, or our Pokémon Go live events, in particular, bring out all of the best aspects of the game. They really make sure to bring our community together, which is the heart of our game."
All throughout the three and a half days I spent in Copenhagen, taking part in the in-game and real-life festivities on various levels, that general theme of community together rang truer as time went on — and actually makes the game the best it’s ever been.
Battling Mega Mewtwo Y and X at Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Niantic/Radio Times Gaming
The absolute peak example of this was during one of the aforementioned half-hour window Super Mega Raids you need to take part in to defeat and catch Mewtwo in one of its higher-level Mega forms.
Given this was in the centre of Copenhagen’s Fælledparken garden and park, it was expected that at least a few hundred would take part, but lo and behold, over 2,000 players took part in Saturday’s Super Mega Raids against Mega Mewtwo at the same time.
It’s satisfying in its own right to see the Genetic Pokemon getting undisputedly throttled in less than a minute; these Mega Mewtwo raids with a multi-thousand-player turnout were also the product of Pokemon Go’s other new mechanic: Unity Raids, where many players are required to raise their devices in unison to smash through a boss Pokemon’s protective shield and finally deliver a crushing blow.
Using a Unity Attack in Unity Raids at Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming/Niantic
Cillis mentioned to us that the feedback from Super Mega Raids so far was that ‘everyone has this great feeling of accomplishment’, but witnessing firsthand over 2,000 Trainers raise their hands with their phones in unison — like helping Goku create a Spirit Bomb in Dragon Ball Z, really helped capture what it’s like when so many fans come together to have fun.
Frankly, it felt reminiscent of the summer of 2016 when Pokémon Go first came out, arguably one of the best times in gaming history, where countless players enjoyed a game in unison.
A curated Pokémon experience
Gameplay in the park's Cultivation Zone in Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming/Niantic
On the other hand, even if you’re the type of Pokémon player who keeps their circle quite tight — either exploring by yourself or with only a couple of friends, live in-person Go Fests are still worth the trip to enjoy all the skill-based zones and interactive activities Niantic and the PR teams set up for each park.
For instance, across the beautiful and varied Fælledparken, the whole humungous park and garden was split into different in-game areas with different mechanics: the Recruitment Zone in the large open main field to take on standard Raids and earn rewards, the Conservatory Zone for an increased variety of wild Pokemon, the stunning Cultivation Zone for more Pokémon-educational Special Research whilst surrounded by the many pretty flowers, and Team Rocket’s Hideout — packed with Rocket Battles and Shadow Raids to beat and catch many extra Legendaries for yourself (I got an extra Entei, Moltres, and even Primal Kyogre in this particular space).
Even when you’re not catching Pokémon, though, or during the one-hour breaks between park sessions each day, the Go teams make it so there’s still plenty to do at the venue to keep you busy.
Whether you want to hang out with the Eevee and Pikachu mascots once again (the site of another Pokemon-themed proposal), seeing the giant inflatable Pikachu, meeting one of the game’s ‘Notable Trainers’, taking part in pub-style quizzes, or even playing around in the new Lego experience tent: where you get the chance to get creative and build whatever you like, enter a competition to win one of the new Pokemon sets, or even make a free Lego Poke Ball like I did.
A proposal and engagement at Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming
Be that as it may, not every Pokémon Go Fest’s core venue is going to be as grand as the last. In Paris last year, with the lavish Parc de Sceaux as its backdrop, 2025’s Go Fest Europe was so naturally jaw-droppingly gorgeous and fittingly laid out with the festival’s zoned mechanics for the game — it was like literally playing in a work of art, while the layout in Fælledparken this year felt more scattered by comparison.
Nevertheless, a lot goes into each Go Fest, with the fact that ‘every year comes with a different challenge’ as Cillis also explained. Realistically, when you’re holding an annualised event in a different location each year, even when working with local communities ‘who know their city best’, you’re never going to get an iteration that’s a 10/10 in terms of park venue, city experience potential, and transport links to jump between the former two across the board.
Yet, Copenhagen’s Go Fest has come the closest so far. The extended time I got to spend in Copenhagen compared to Paris last year has also demonstrated why the European leg is the best among the three.
Why Go Fest: Europe beats the US & Japan
Catching a Shiny Team Valor Pikachu at Pokémon Go Fest Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming/Niantic
Due to the vast size of both countries and their closeness to certain others, each version of Go Fest’s US and Japan legs is held in their titular countries each year — just in a different state or area, but never the same twice in a row.
This is, of course, still great if you love America or Japan, and/or you’ve never had the chance to go, but Pokémon Go Fest: Europe stands out as a chance to visit a different country each year and get a fresh cultural experience each time, alongside what you’d get by playing the game.
With the usual size of venue at Go Fest: Europe, you can likely enjoy all that the park experience has to offer in a full day. Then, though, you can spend the extra time you have venturing out into the city and taking part in the other surprises Pokemon Go has set up.
Like with Fælledparken, the whole of Copenhagen had been split up into four in-game districts of their own — each with its own special Timed Research to earn Expert Badges and extra rewards.
Playing Pokémon Go at Nyhavn Harbour for Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming/Niantic
Added to getting to meet other players as you explore, being incentivised to look around all of Copenhagen is exactly why Pokémon Go Fest is so brilliant: letting you take in all the beautiful, unique sights and architecture, plus learning about a country’s history whilst you still play a different in-game experience for one of the best mobile games in the world you can’t get anywhere else.
And since Copenhagen is especially well interconnected as a city with its metro trains, buses, and taxis all over, getting from place to place was even more of a cinch compared to Paris.
That was summed up the best of all on the last day of the trip when I ventured just a short 10-minute Metro ride detour outside of Fælledparken to visit Nyhavn Harbour: the breathtaking 17th-century waterfront with a palette of colourful town houses, restaurants, and bars overlooking the many traditional wooden ships scattered amongst the canal.
All the while, since this was set in Pokémon Go’s in-game ‘Friendship District’, I got to complete more of the zone’s specific research in between asking tourists to take photos of me — plus catch another Team Valor Hat-Pikachu whilst at it.
Standing in front of a giant inflatable Pikachu at Pokémon Go Fest 2026 Copenhagen. Radio Times Gaming
By taking you to a different country each year, Pokémon Go Fest: Europe is essentially both your window to early access of in-game events and your travel agent all in one — also making it easy to play and make tons of new friends at the same time.
Hopefully, we can convince Niantic to go with Krakow or Amsterdam for next year.
Read more on Pokémon:
- Best Pokémon gifts - the greatest merch
- Best Pokémon games on Switch - our ranking
- Best shiny Pokémon - the coolest creatures
- Best Dragon-type Pokémon - who's your fave?
- All cat Pokémon - the felines to catch
- Pokémon natures guide - all you need to know
- Pokémon type chart - strengths and weaknesses explained
- Legendary Pokémon - the full list
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet cheats - handy hacks
- Pokémon Emerald cheats - what you need to know
- Pokémon Fire Red cheats - all codes
- Pokémon Go friend codes - and how to find them
- Pokémon games in order - where to start
Ad
Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Ben Williams
Ad
Ad
Subscribe for £1 per week
Too much to watch this autumn? Let Radio Times magazine and app do the choosing, with expert picks across TV, streaming and film.
Loading...
Ad
Loading...