GO Tour vs GO Fest: Which Pokémon GO Event Is Worth Traveling For?

Our first in-person Pokémon GO event ever was GO Tour Sinnoh in Los Angeles. Since then Cream and I have played a second GO Tour and six GO Fests in cities all over the world.

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In this guide 8 sections

The tours are still our favorite!

You can probably fly to one big event a year, maybe two. Tickets are the cheap part. Flights and the hotel are where the money goes, so GO Tour vs GO Fest turns into a real decision.

GO Fest isn't a bad trip! It gave us Madrid and Paris, plus both of our trips to Japan. The two events just suit different players, and which one you should fly for depends on how much you play.

GO Tour vs GO Fest: My Quick Answer

• GO Tour, for us. Our two GO Tours are the top two events we've ever done.
• GO Tour is more chill. You get a full day in the park (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in LA), it's not as busy, the spawns are rarer, and the whole event is themed around one region.
• GO Fest is bigger, and it draws everyone, even people who don't play much. The park session is four hours, so expect to rush.
• Pick GO Tour if you're a hardcore player. Pick GO Fest if you're bringing friends who barely play, or you want a summer trip built around the event.
• What's next: GO Tour: Alola, in Los Angeles and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from February 19 to 21, 2027. GO Fest 2027 hasn't been announced.

For our first Tour we were at the DoubleTree in Little Tokyo, and these are the three hotels we'd look at first for GO Tour in LA.

GO Tour vs GO Fest at a Glance

I put the 2026 events side by side here, because that's the latest year for both.

What	GO Tour	GO Fest
When	February	Late May to early July
Cities in 2026	Los Angeles and Tainan, Taiwan	Tokyo, Chicago, and Copenhagen
Park time	A full day: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in LA	One four-hour session, morning or afternoon
US ticket in 2026	$30, or $25 early bird	$33 in Chicago, or $28 early bird
Add-ons in the US	Raid Lover and Egg-thusiast, $15 each	Raid Lover and Egg-thusiast, $15 each
Theme	One region's Pokémon	A mix, usually more random
Who goes	More hardcore players	Everyone, including casual players
Our favorite	Sinnoh, Los Angeles, 2024	Madrid, 2024

Both run over a long weekend and a ticket covers one of the days, and at GO Fest that's one park session plus a full day of citywide play.² In LA, it's the park day.¹ I'd add citywide days if you're staying all weekend, because you'll play every day anyway.

GO Fest moves around a lot more, and in 2026 it went to three different cities.⁵ We played the one in Tokyo. In 2025 we went to all three GO Fests! Park sessions were four hours.³ GO Tour Kalos ran in Los Angeles and Tainan in 2026,⁹ and GO Tour has been in Los Angeles every year we've gone.

Every Pokémon GO Event We've Been To, Ranked

We ranked them from our favorite down, and both GO Tours made the top two.

1. GO Tour: Sinnoh, Los Angeles (2024) // Our First Event

Sinnoh was our first in-person event ever, and nothing has beaten it.

You'll never forget your first!

I gave Sinnoh a 10 out of 10 and Unova a 9, and our Pokémon GO Tour Los Angeles guide has the whole weekend plan for Alola.

2. GO Tour: Unova, Los Angeles (2025) // The Most Fun We've Had Playing

So many of our friends were there! Unova was the most fun we've ever had playing, and we played with a huge group in the park and around the city all weekend.

3. GO Fest Madrid (2024) // Our First GO Fest

Madrid was our first GO Fest. Spain was so much fun! We turned it into a whole month there, and we even took a transatlantic cruise to get to Spain.

4. GO Fest Tokyo (2026) // Epic for Year 10

Tokyo should probably be higher. It was Pokémon GO's 10th year, and it was epic! It's just hard to beat your first GO Fest. We played for eight days, and what to expect at Pokémon GO Fest Japan has everything we'd tell a friend going.

5. GO Fest Osaka (2025) // Our First Time Playing in Japan

Osaka was our first time playing in Japan, and our first time in Japan at all. It's unreal. Japan has more spawns and players than anywhere we've played and there are so many raids too, and we share all our favorite spots in Pokémon GO in Tokyo.

6. GO Fest Paris (2025) // Playing by the Eiffel Tower

Playing by the Eiffel Tower was so magical! I loved the sightseeing and the playing.

7. GO Fest New York (2024 and 2025) // Too Hot to Enjoy

New York comes last for us. It's too hot and never fun! We went twice, first to Randall's Island in July 2024. Then in June 2025 it moved across the river to Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

We've also done two City Safaris in Jakarta and Bangkok, but they're smaller citywide events and they aren't in this ranking.

Why GO Tour Is Our Favorite Event

A Full Park Day, So You Don't Have to Speed Run

I think GO Tour is more chill, and it's more fun. It's also not as busy! Every LA Tour has given you eight hours in the park, and you can do the research and raid and still sit with your friends and take photos.

Ours were both at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and our GO Tour park day guide covers the whole stadium from the lines right up to the 5 p.m. research deadline.

Rarer Spawns

I like the spawns more. You can get more rare ones!

To be fair, the park day isn't where the best spawns and shinies are. The city days are! We played ours in Santa Monica. It's one of the best places we've ever played an event, and Pokémon GO in Santa Monica has our routes.

Everything Is Themed

I love that it's all themed. GO Fest is kind of random.

Each GO Tour celebrates one region and Alola is next. Every spawn and raid matches the region, and so do the park habitats.

It's Where the Hardcore Players Go

GO Tour is for hardcore fans. That's why we love it. You're surrounded by people who play the way you do, and the friends you raid with all year show up.

What I Don't Like About GO Fest

The Park Goes by Too Fast

At GO Fest Tokyo, we could barely finish the park research and still play, because the park was so big that we had to speed run each habitat. By the time we finished we really wanted to hang out in the Shadow Pokémon area a little longer!

But we had to get to our spot for the Super Mega Raid. That's the big Unity Raid against Mega Mewtwo at the end of each session. Every ticket holder had an assigned spot, and you could only join from your assigned Gyms in the last 30 minutes.⁶ Ours was a 20-minute walk away, and there just wasn't enough time to enjoy the park and do all the tasks.

Summer Heat

New York was the worst. GO Fest is a summer event and some cities get so hot, and that heat is the whole reason New York is at the bottom of our list.

What I Don't Like About GO Tour

Only Two Cities, and LA Isn't Cheap

I'd plan GO Tour early. Alola only has Los Angeles and Kaohsiung as in-person cities.⁴ If neither is close, it's a long trip.

LA isn't cheap either. Hotels eat the budget, and we'd still stay in Santa Monica first. Little Tokyo is our second pick, and Pasadena only makes sense if you're coming just for the park day. We compare all three in where to stay for GO Tour LA.

LA is spread out and most visitors rent a car, and if you'll be driving to the Rose Bowl I'd compare rental cars at LAX early.

Not Every Tour Lands

I thought the 2026 Kalos Tour was lackluster, and a lot of community members felt the same. It's all about the region. We're hoping Alola is fun!

GO Tour or GO Fest: Which Should You Travel For?

I'd tell a friend this. GO Tour is for more hardcore Pokémon GO fans, while GO Fest attracts everyone, even people who don't play that much.

That Zeraora research was only for in-person GO Fest ticket holders in the three host cities.⁷

Can You Do Both in One Year?

Yes! We did both in 2024 and again in 2025. GO Tour is in February and GO Fest runs from late May into the summer, so they never clash.

Your phone works hard at both. A phone cooler and a battery pack come to every event with us, and they're in our travel shop. For the days themselves, our hour-by-hour plan is Catch, Hatch, Raid.

If you can't travel at all, both events have a global weekend you can play from home, and for Alola that's February 27 and 28, 2027.⁴

Is Pokémon GO Tour Worth It Over GO Fest?

For us, it is! GO Fest gave us a month in Spain and our first trips to Japan, and we'll keep going. But the tours are always our favorite events. If we could fly to only one a year, it would be GO Tour!

Next Steps for Your Pokémon GO Event Trip

• Pokémon GO Tour Los Angeles: dates, tickets, and our weekend plan for Alola
• The GO Tour park day: what a full day at the Rose Bowl is like
• Where to stay for GO Tour LA: Santa Monica, Little Tokyo, or Pasadena
• Pokémon GO Fest Japan: tickets, the park, and eight days of city play