Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, Pokémon GO Safari Zone, safari zone

Pokémon GO Announces Safari Zone Make-Ups For October 2021

Back in early 2020, Niantic announced that they've postponed all of that year's scheduled Safari Zone events in Pokémon GO due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than flat out reschedule them, Niantic partially followed through with the Safari Zones as remote events for ticket holders which functioned as a precursor to that year's remote GO Fest. Now that restrictions are loosening, Niantic has finally announced the rescheduled dates for these on-location Safari Zones in Pokémon GO. Let's get into the details.

Here are the rescheduled dates and locations for all of Pokémon GO's Safari Zones:

• Pokémon GO Safari Zone: Liverpool: Friday, October 15, 2021, to Sunday, October 17, 2021, in Sefton Park.
• Pokémon GO Safari Zone: Philadelphia: Friday, October 29, 2021, to Sunday, October 31, 2021, in Fairmount Park.
• Pokémon GO Safari Zone: St. Louis: Friday, November 12, 2021, to Sunday, November 14, 2021, in Tower Grove Park. Niantic notes here that the time of the event may be earlier than originally announced.

Now, let's get into some direct quotes from Niantic over on the Pokémon GO blog:

Not only will these Safari Zone celebrations take place in their original park locations, but also ticket holders will be able to participate in the event they have a ticket for, no matter where they are in the world. Global event hours will be based on each participant's local time; for example, a Friday Early Access ticket for Safari Zone Philadelphia will grant event access on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time.

High! Well, this is major. This sounds like even those who participated in the remote Safari Zones as given last year will once again be able to play the same events this year. Now, there is no word on if any new content has been added to these events, but I doubt it.

I do wonder, though, how these events, which are very close to each other, will interact with other events that will be going on in the game during this time. For example, Safari Zone: Philadelphia will be happening during Pokémon GO's highly anticipated annual Halloween event. While I paid for the Philly ticket, I for sure don't want those spawns again instead of the Halloween spawns. Let's see how this will shake out, though, before judging.

The features will include:

• Featured spawns in the wild and attracted to Incense.
• Special Research and Field Research tasks exclusive to the event. During the original remote version of these, the Special Research rewarded a guaranteed Shiny encounter with the new Shiny release.
• Eight-hour Incense.
• Four-hour Lures.
• 2 km event Eggs. These were absolutely great the first time around.
• Safari Zone Philadelphia ticket holders will receive snapshots.

Some more quotes from the Pokémon GO blog:

All ticket holders who would like to join an in-person event must RSVP. This is so that we have an accurate count of those who plan to attend an in-person event and to make sure we keep the event space safe for distanced gathering. Ticket holders will receive an email with more information on how to RSVP soon.

Will you be going in person? It'll be interesting to see how this on-location event does when the same content will be available remotely. It'll be a test for Niantic, I believe, to see how these events will shape up in the future.

Niantic continues at the Pokémon GO blog:

Safari Zone ticket holders will now see an updated date and time for their event in the Events tab. Ticket selections have not been modified; for example, if you purchased a Friday Early Access ticket, you'll have a Friday Early Access ticket for the updated event. No additional tickets will be sold for these events.

The City Explorer Pass experience has been removed from these events, and those who purchased this add-on will have it refunded. Niantic will initiate all refunds by October 2, 2021.

Stay tuned for coverage of these upcoming Pokémon GO Safari Zones.

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