Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ next free update adds Festivale event to the game

By Giovanni Colantonio January 26, 2021

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a free update on Thursday, January 28. The update adds a new event called Festivale to the game in February.

For longtime fans, Festivale may sound familiar. The event is Animal Crossing’s equivalent to Mardi Gras, and usually takes place one day before the real-world celebration. Festivale will take place in-game on February 15.

[Announcement]
Pave brings the Festivale event to your island in the next free update for #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons, launching on 1/28! #ACNH pic.twitter.com/8Tr4cW62H0

— Isabelle (@animalcrossing) January 26, 2021

The event brings a classic character to New Horizons, a colorful peacock named Pavé. The event revolves around catching colorful feathers scattered throughout the island and taking them back to Pavé. The quick video gives a very quick glimpse at some cosmetics that can be made out of feathers.

The trailer notes that Animal Crossing‘s next free update lands in March, which happens to be the game’s one year anniversary. A teaser image shows a Mario mushroom and star, implying that a crossover event is coming. Animal Crossing: New Leaf notably contained a variety of Nintendo-themed items, which are largely absent in New Horizons so far.

The latest update is a bit light compared to previous ones, which have brought new features and quality-of-life improvements to the game over the past year. Considering that New Horizons has almost gone through a full cycle, fans have now seen all of the unique events that happen in the game. But what we have yet to see is whether Nintendo will tweak events each year or offer new rewards. Keeping thing fresh will sustain interest in the game — hence Festivals will be a key test for the life simulator’s continued popularity.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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