Pokemon Go and Big Heritage to bring a historic event this July

Big Heritage and Niantic Labs teamed up to bring us an educational event based in the ancient town of Chester. The event will start on 22 and end on 23 July 2017. As always, trainers from all over the world are invited to the AR event.

Niantic Labs, the developer and publisher of Pokemon GO, The Pokemon Company International and Big Heritage teamed up to bring the ancient city of Chester into the augmented reality of Pokemon Go. All this is being done in the name of community engagement and education.

Big Heritage is a UK heritage organisation established back in 2011. It is an award winning heritage social enterprise engaging museums, schools and communities with the past. Some of Big Heritage’s award-winning school work includes Big Schools Digs. "CSI-style investigations and Roman, Viking and Anglo-Saxon discovery days."

The event Big Heritage and the makers of Pokemon Go have planned for Trainers from all over the world will be staged on 22 and 23 July across the ancient city of Chester. The weekend's activities will also include those based at Chester Castle. Because of this event, the castle will be open to the public for the first time in 20 years.

Niantic Pokemon GO Chester

The press release detailed the weekend:

"Visitors to the city will be able to take part in a number of fun trail activities, with in-game and real-world surprises for Pokemon GO players. The weekend of events coincides with the annual Chester Heritage Festival, which celebrates the heritage of one of the world’s most historic cities."

Historical sites in the city will be turned into PokeStops. "Big Heritage will also be working with schools across the Cheshire and Merseyside regions as part of an initiative to encourage young people to explore and learn about their local area by playing Pokemon GO together."

John Hanke, Niantic CEO and founder, said: "I am incredibly excited about this partnership linking local history and Pokemon GO. We love the idea of using mobile games as a motivation for families to play outside together and perhaps to learn something interesting while they are at it!"

Niantic Pokemon GO Chester

Dean Paton, Big Heritage founder, had this to say: "We are so excited about working with Niantic Labs, who are true innovators in their field, and as passionate as we are about getting people exploring and learning about the world around them. It’s a genuine coup for Chester to be the ‘test bed’ for some amazing new ideas, and we hope we can use the game based on the iconic and beloved Pokemon brand as a tool for helping more people get excited about the past"

If you are thinking of visiting Chester this July, you can visit the for more details.