Evergreen
Pokémon GO Event Types Through the Year
A field guide to Pokémon GO's recurring events: Spotlight Hour, Raid Hour, Community Day, focused days, seasons and the big premier events of the year.
Pokémon GO's calendar can look like a blur of names: Spotlight Hour, Raid Hour, Community Day, Raid Day, Hatch Day, GO Fest. Our events calendar guide explains how the calendar is layered. This page is the companion field guide: what each recurring event type actually is, how often it tends to come round, and what to do with it. Exact featured Pokémon, bonuses and times change constantly, so treat the patterns below as the shape of the year, and the in-game news as the final word. For the rest of the game, see the Trainer Hub guides.
At a glance
| Event type | Typical length | How often | Best use of your time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotlight Hour | One hour, in the evening | Weekly | Catching and candy for one featured Pokémon |
| Raid Hour | One hour, in the evening | Weekly | Group raids against the current top-tier boss |
| Community Day | A few hours | Monthly | Shiny hunting, candy and an exclusive move |
| Raid Day, Hatch Day, Research Day | A few hours | Occasional | One focused activity |
| Themed events | Several days to a couple of weeks | Most of the year | Spawns, Research and bonuses around a theme |
| Seasons | Around three months | Back to back | The background layer everything sits on |
| Premier events | A weekend or more | A few times a year | The biggest content drops, sometimes ticketed |
The weekly rhythm
Spotlight Hour
One Pokémon appears far more often in the wild for an hour, and a single bonus is active, such as extra Stardust, XP or candy for certain actions. For a long time it has run on Tuesday evenings in local time. It's the easiest recurring event to fit round a busy week: an hour near a few PokéStops with a stock of Poké Balls and berries is plenty.
Raid Hour
For an hour, usually on Wednesday evenings in local time, most Gyms host the current top-tier raid boss. It's the most reliable time to find a group for difficult raids, because every other local raider knows about it too. The Raid Day and Raid Hour FAQ covers preparation.
Other weekly slots
The game has added weekly features around newer mechanics as they arrive, such as a regular slot built around Max Battles in recent seasons. These come and go, so check the in-game news for what the current week includes.
The monthly rhythm
Community Day
The biggest regular event. For a window of a few hours on a weekend day, one featured Pokémon spawns everywhere, its shiny form is much easier to find, and evolving it during the event (or within a short time afterwards) teaches it a move it normally can't learn. Bonuses such as longer-lasting Lures and Incense are common. It's worth planning a route in advance, and it's usually the best monthly day to meet other local players.
Community Day Classic
A return of a featured Pokémon from an earlier Community Day, giving newer players a chance at its exclusive move and shiny form.
Focused days
Raid Days, Hatch Days and Research Days each put a few hours behind one activity: extra raids and often extra Raid Passes, a featured Pokémon in Eggs, or special Field Research from PokéStops. They don't appear on a fixed schedule, so they're the events most likely to catch you by surprise.
The seasonal rhythm
Everything above sits inside a season of roughly three months, which sets the background: which Pokémon spawn in each habitat, which Eggs hatch what, and some long-running bonuses. Themed events of a few days to a couple of weeks fill most of each season, often built around a holiday, a newly added Pokémon or a story beat. Our seasons explainer covers what changes at each turnover.
The yearly rhythm
In recent years, a few big moments have shaped the year:
- A GO Tour event early in the year, celebrating the Pokémon of one region, with in-person and global parts.
- GO Fest in the middle of the year, with in-person events in selected cities and a global event that everyone can join.
- Autumn and winter holiday events, with Ghost- and Dark-type themes around Halloween and a festive event at the end of the year.
- The competitive season, which builds towards the World Championships in the second half of the year.
Names, formats and host cities change from year to year. Our guide to GO Fest and premier events explains how the ticketed parts usually work.
Preparing for each type
- Hour-long events: stock Poké Balls, stand somewhere with several PokéStops in reach, and have a charged phone.
- Community Day: clear storage space, plan a walking loop and know the evolution deadline.
- Raid-focused events: check the boss's weaknesses, heal your best counters and line up a group in advance.
- Premier events: read the full announcement, including what's ticketed and what's free.