How to Get the Free "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" Festivale Themed Update

My island needs some carnival spirit.

Get your fishing rod and your net ready ‘cos Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a free update on Thursday.

The new update is set to arrive on 28 January and contains a bunch of new seasonal items as well as some carnival themed events, reactions and clothing.

Isabelle (@animalcrossing)—your local island secretary—announced the update to fans on Twitter, and Nintendo revealed its contents in a blog post.

So, here’s everything it includes.

The Festivale event.

Players will get to feel the heat with a colourful Festivale themed event full of feathers, dancing and fun. From 15 February you will meet Dancer Pavé at the island plaza to get the rest of your island in the carnival spirit.

For the event, your goal is to catch a bunch of colourful feathers floating around all over the island and trade them to Pavé for a dance number in return.

You’ll want to keep an eye out for rainbow feathers; they’re the rare ones.

New Reactions.

The new update also comes with a bunch of fun new Reactions to test out. This includes the new ‘Feelin’ It’, ‘Let’s Go’, ‘Viva’, and ‘Confetti’ Reactions.

Of course, you can purchase the Viva Festival Reaction pack with bells from Nook’s Cranny. But you’ll want to get in quick 'cos it is only for a limited time.

New seasonal items.

You won’t want to miss out on the limited seasonal items on sale at the Nook Stop in Resident Services.

In February, until Valentine's day, you’ll be able to pick up some chocolate hearts and a heart-shaped bouquet. Following 14 February, there will be special items available to celebrate Groundhog Day and much more.

New clothing.

From 1 Feb, you can pick up Festivale themed clothing from the Able Sisters shop. Unfortunately, Nintendo haven't divulged exactly what some of these outfits will look like, so we’ll just have to stay patient until next month.

Okay, so how do I get the update?

1. Of course, you’ll want to start by owning both a Nintendo Switch and a copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If you don’t already have these, this is your first step.
   
   
2. Next, you’ll want to make sure you have a secure and working internet connection and connect your Switch to that service.
   
   
3. From there, head to the HOME Menu and launch the game.
   
   
4. The update will then automatically download and install.
   
   
5. Keep in mind that if you aren’t progressed far enough into the game, the update may not install automatically. You will need to have progressed to the upgraded version of Resident Services for it to become available.

While this should keep your eyes glued to your Switch for the next month, there is some more exciting stuff coming ‘cos Nintendo has another update planned for March that might be Super Mario themed.

For now, there is no actual info on what the next update will include but watch this space.

Header Image: Nintendo