This year, Festivale falls on February 20th, which sees Pavé stop by the Plaza for the 3rd time since New Horizons launched back in 2020.

Festivale is, of course, inspired by Mardi-Gras Celebrations that take place on the last day of Carnival. During the Event, we will be able to collect limited-time Feather crafting materials and exchange them with Pavé for exclusive Festivale-themed items.The Event itself plays out much the same as in previous years, given it is a reoccurring Holiday Event.

However, after experiencing the update of this event, players should also notice some changes! Now, unlike Halloween, or Toy Day, for example, the day of Festivale is celebrated on different dates each year. This is because the Festivale takes place 40 days before Bunny Day. Something Pavé discusses with us in The Roost, where he reminds us of Festivale’s connections with Lent.

In 2023, Festivale takes place on February 20th, which directly affects the Event, and introduces us to the most notable change you can expect to see, compared to previous years! Because Festivale takes place on February 20th, it’s celebrated much earlier than usual, and actually falls in the Winter Season. Sometimes Festivale falls in the first week of March, putting it in Spring, but because it’s much earlier this year.

When Pavé visits, our New Horizons Island will still be covered in Snow. Something that didn’t occur last year, given Festivale, was celebrated in Spring, once the Snow had melted.

Interestingly, Festivale will now continue to take place in Winter, instead of Spring, for the next 3 years. So it’s going to be sometime until Festivale can be celebrated in Spring again…

Now, in case you’re wondering, despite Festivale happening during the Winter Season this year, there’s no risk of any Snowfall. This is mainly because the weather is basically good during the event and you can hardly see Rain or Snowfall. In addition, at this year’s event, you will still see Confetti floating above the island. This feeling is very cool, just like in spring.

Now, whilst the date change, and the season Festivale occurs in affects everyone, the next change will depend on the last time you played through Festivale. If you haven’t played since launch, or you’re new to New Horizons, this next segment will definitely help you. 

As you know, Feathers and Rainbow Feathers are a large part of the Festivale Event. Feathers can be traded with Pavé or used to craft Rainbow Feathers, and Rainbow Feathers can be traded with Pavé or used to customise Festivale-themed ACNH Items you’ve already got. But a new feature that was introduced for the first time last year is that Cyrus can now be used to customise Festivale Items with no Rainbow Feathers. 

This saves valuable time catching feathers in-order to craft Rainbow Feathers, and means you need fewer Feathers all round. But the importance of this change to Festivale, is that Feathers aren’t really needed outside of the Event anymore.This is because previously, you may need to hoard Feathers to use outside of the Event, in case you wanted to customise Festivale Items in the future. 

Fortunately, thanks to Cyrus, there’s now no pressure to do this anymore, saving space in your storage and time hoarding Feathers. Of course, with or without these changes, Festivale remains much the same, with Festivale Event items also available to purchase from Nooks Cranny in the lead up to the Event.

However, it’s worth remembering, if you trade enough times with Pavé, you can earn the Festivale Float, which is exclusive to the Festivale Day itself. So it’s still worth taking part.