Pokémon GO Fest is due to begin today, July 22, 2017, at 10am, CDT and will wrap-up at 7pm. This event is the most
anticipated one to happen since Pokémon Go’s launch, which was just over a year ago. There is so much hype behind GO Fest
because we could potentially encounter and catch the first Legendary Pokémon in Pokémon GO. It will require teamwork
from Trainers all across the World and especially from those attending the localized event in Chicago’s Grant Park for a
successful outcome.
There are three phases to this event. During Phase 1: Catch Challenge, there will be three Challenge Windows.
The first will be at 11am-11:30am, and then 1pm-1:30pm and finally 3pm-3:30pm. Within these Challenge Windows,
Trainers in attendance at Grant park will try to catch specific Pokémon-types (e.g., Fire, Water, Grass, Electric) in order
to unlock special perks for everyone else that is concurrently catching as many Pokémon as possible around the global.
The in-game perks vary from an extra Candy bonus, XP bonus, Stardust bonus, faster egg hatching and so on.
Overall, the goal is to catch as many Pokémon as humanly possible within the Challenge Windows for two reasons.
One, is to increase the duration of these perks; a Bronze Reward will extend a perks duration by 24 hours and a Silver Reward
will extend a perks duration by 48 hours. The second and most important reason to participate is to collectively catch
enough Pokémon to receive the Gold Reward. If Gold tier is achieved, it will unlock Phase 2: Mystery Challenge, in Grant Park.
After a successful Phase 1, a heavy burden will then fall upon the Trainers in Grant Park. From 6pm to 7pm CDT a new
Challenge Window will open causing a Legendary Pokémon to spawn in the game’s first ever Legendary Raid Battle.
If the Trainers actually defeat the Legendary Pokémon, the rest of the world will be rewarded with Phase 3: Global Reward.
Legendary Raids will begin popping up worldwide the day after Pokémon GO Fest. Sources say that the Global Reward
Challenge Window will be from July 23 to July 24, 2017.
Also:
Source: pokemongolive.com
Update: Words from Niantic regarding today's "technical issues"