It's one thing to hear all the stuff about massive crowds playing Pokemon Go in local areas, but it's an entirely different thing when you're in the thick of it all. Last night there was a Pokemon Go event in my city and if the Facebook event page and my estimates are accurate that would be a couple THOUSAND people playing the game.

I know the downtown area in Riverside (I live here) and I've seen these sorts of crowds for the annual Festival of Lights, but that's for a city sponsored event. It's a bit surreal to see a similar number of people for a video game that just came out last week. I don't know the details about the organizational effort that went into this, but there were people playing music (small bands) and selling Pokemon Go merchandise out of what I can only assume is their own accord.

Has your city been taken over?

EDIT: Trying to arrange photos with text in a post is a nightmare.

The general event area was near that Flareon, but the active lures are a good indication of where people could be found.

The crowds felt pretty consistent throughout the start of the event on Friday (I was there from 7pm to 11pm).

People appeared to be placing their rare Pokemon in the nearby Gyms. With all the lures out it felt like encountering rare Pokemon was easy.

That's so weird to see. In here, general perception is that it's just kids and occasional weirdos who play games in public.

I can have no picture show so beautiful out here :) because my country only seem Zubat :D