Conor Court and Harvey McDonald have been working to organise Birmingham’s first ever Pokémon walk
A mass Pokémon Go flashmob walk is set to take place in Birmingham city centre this weekend, with hundreds expected to attend as the Nintendo gaming craze continues to grip the country.
Organised by a 20-year-old mega fan of the latest gaming trend to hit city streets, the aptly named Pokéwalk was announced on July 15 and since amassed the interest of 1,500 people on its Facebook page.
The brainchild of Chelmsley Wood lad Conor Court, 20, the walk will lead through the streets with banners and balloons as hundreds gather together to hunt for Pokémon characters from the Bullring to Victoria Square. The event aims to bring together Pokémon Go fans from all backgrounds for a fun day while raising money for two local charities, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the British Heart Foundation.
Pokémon Go has become an international gaming success (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
Birmingham lad Conor Court, fan of Pokémon Go, has set up the Birmingham Pokéwalk (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
Event founder Conor, a professional ice skater who recently completed his A-Levels at Solihull College, said:
“Originally, I started the event for a meet-up with friends. When I put the idea forward about making it a charity event, the numbers blew up with people wanting to come. I never imagined it would become this big!
“Because of its success, I will happily host another and possibly make it a regular thing. I’d like to thank all of the people and businesses who have made all this possible in such a short time. All the guys supporting this have been my support and I could not have done this without them!”
Pokémon Go players catch Pokémon characters in city streets (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
The eagerly-awaited Pokéwalk sets off at 1pm on Saturday from outside the Bullring shopping centre and makes its way down High Street and Corporation Street, ending in Victoria Square. Hundreds are expected to snake through the small city centre streets as they catch Pokémon characters, all lead by Conor Court and fronted with a Birmingham Children’s Hospital banner.
During the route, expected to last around an hour and a half, attendees will make pit-stops at the British Heart Foundation shop on Bull Street and the Children’s Hospital nearby to drop off donated toys, clothes and cash to the charities.
Many attending are planning to come in cosplay and make-up, as a tribute to the Japanese gaming and cartoon series.
Pokémon Go is a Nintendo game which was launched in the UK just under a month ago (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
Pokémon Go ‘monsters’ were first popular in the 1990s when they started on the Nintendo Game Boy (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
Although coming up with the idea for a local Pokéwalk only a week ago, co-ordinator Conor has managed to source the support of local businesses Second Cup cafe, new eatery Velvet Desserts and manga store Tokyo Toys, who have all offered charity raffle prizes for the fun-filled event. The event has also been backed by the Birmingham Zombie Walk, who hold a similar annual charity fundraising event.
Local business Second Cup cafe are supporting the charity Birmingham Pokéwalk
Jamie Chapman, who founded the city’s Zombie Walk, said:
“Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm and captured the imagination of all kinds of people, encouraging many to explore the great outdoors and interact with each other and their local communities. I love the game and know so many fans who have been inspired by its potential. The Pokéwalk is an even more recent international phenomenon that has been born from that passion and is now coming to Birmingham. I think it’s a great event that will no doubt bring people together for a very good cause.”
The Birmingham Pokéwalk is expected to attract Pokémon Go fans from across the city (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
Birmingham Pokéwalk founder Conor Court discussing the event on the Vimal and Zoe Show on Ambur Radio (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
Pokémon Go enthusiast Harvey McDonald – who has joined the organising team for the flashmob – told us he was shocked by how fast the event had grown.
“I only joined two days ago at which stage just under a thousand people were already interested in the Birmingham Pokéwalk. I’ve been working with Conor for around 48 hours and the interest has skyrocketed. We now have over 1,400 people interested in joining us at what is possibly the UK’s first ever charity Pokéwalk. We’re looking forward to raising so much money for charity and just having a great day out making friends.”
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Birmingham’s first ever Pokéwalk, inspired by Pokémon Go, takes place on Saturday 23rd July, at 1pm, and starts outside the Bullring bull. Find out more at the official event page here.
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