Nearly 200K players flocked to Madrid during Pokémon Go Fest 2024

Huge.

A promotional image for Pokémon Go Fest 2024 showing Marshadow
Image via Niantic

Madrid saw as many as 190,000 Pokémon Go players come together from all around the world this past weekend during the game’s biggest event of the year.

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After Sendai (May 30 to June 2), Pokémon Go Fest made its second stop in Madrid, Spain (June 14 to 16) to celebrate the debuts of rare Pokémon like Necrozma, Dusk Mane Necrozma, Dawn Wings Necrozma, and Marshadow, along with other cool perks. At the time of the three-day event, 190,000 individual players were playing the mobile game in Madrid.

Pokemon Go Fest Madrid banner
Pokémon Go players really showed up for this one. Image via Niantic

Throughout the weekend, 6.6 million Pokémon were captured in Juan Carlos I Park, but there was far more to the event than just catching the creatures. There were also opportunities to meet with international football stars in the Football Experience zone, as well as some more romantic moments. “We were also lucky to see five marriage proposals over the weekend,” Pokémon Go’s regional marketing director Philip Marz said.

With all the festivities wrapped up in Madrid, Go Fest will be heading to New York City next on July 5, where Shiny Buzzwole is set to make its debut. After that, the event will open up to the rest of the world for the global portion with both free and ticketed opportunities. That means you won’t have to travel far for Necrozma, Marshadow, Shiny Ultra Beasts, and the rest of what Go Fest has to offer. If Madrid’s attendance numbers are any indication, New York City and the global portion of the event should see success too.


Update on June 24 at 3:30pm CT: A previous version of this article implied the 190,000 statistic referred to the number of event ticket holders. This figure instead refers to the number of players in the city during the 2024 Pokémon Go event. We have updated this article to accurately reflect this information.

Author
Image of Karli Iwamasa
Karli Iwamasa
Karli is a freelance writer and editor for Dot Esports based in the Bay Area. She mostly writes about Pokémon with a focus on competitive VGC but also enjoys VALORANT.