Free Pokemon card giveaway canceled after 40,000 fans flood South Korea event

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The Pokemon Mega Festa 2026 event in Seoul had to cancel a free Pokemon card giveaway when around 40,000 fans showed up, causing safety issues in the Seoul Forest area.

I checked out this awesome Pokémon event in Korea! It was part of their month-long Pokémon Mega Festa, which is a huge celebration for the 30th anniversary. They’re holding it in Seongsu-dong and Seoul Forest, right alongside the Seoul International Garden Show, so it’s a really cool mix of things to see and do.

I was so excited to hear about the Pokemon GO Stamp Rally at the event! Basically, if you went to three different spots and ‘collected’ stamps there in the game, you got a super cool, limited-edition Magikarp promo card that you can’t normally get outside of Korea, plus some other fun event goodies. It was a really neat way to encourage people to explore and participate!

Hello from Pokémon Korea!

We regret to inform you that the promotional “Goldeen” card distribution planned for today has been cancelled due to on-site safety concerns.

We will be offering the card through an online form soon. Please check our official Pokémon social media channels for more details. The form will ask for information like your name, address, and Trainer ID.

— 【공식】포켓몬코리아 공식 채널 (@pokemonkrmkt) May 1, 2026

Pokemon card giveaway canceled over safety concerns

The event was suddenly called off on May 1st because far more people showed up than the organizers had planned for.

By noon, The Korea Times reported approximately 40,000 people had assembled, raising safety worries and leading Seoul city officials to ask for the distribution event to be stopped.

Pokemon Korea announced the cancellation of the Magikarp promo card giveaway, citing safety concerns at the event location.

Fans who’ve already completed the stamp rally requirements will still get the promotional card through an online form. More information about how to claim it will be shared on the official Pokémon social media accounts on May 4th.

The notice explained that we’ll be collecting information like your name, address, and Trainer ID through the online form. If you completed the stamp rally today, you’re eligible to receive your reward, so you can rest assured everything is taken care of.

The recent promotional card event in Korea was incredibly chaotic, and it’s become clear that continuing with event-based promo cards isn’t feasible. Too many people are trying to profit from them, which is damaging the trading card game community. We’ll likely stop offering promo cards at events soon because of this.

— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) May 1, 2026

The sudden surge in demand seems to be due to the public holiday, the fact that the promotion was only available for a limited time, and the card’s potential resale value. According to The Korea Times, the Magikarp card was already being sold on the Kream resale platform for 286,000 won – about $194.

Social media users posted pictures of large crowds near Seoul Forest, with many saying it was hard to move around. Joe Merrick, who runs the Serebii website, also commented, suggesting the overcrowding could impact future in-person Pokémon card giveaways.

After the issues with the promotional card at the recent Mega Fest event in Korea – it caused a lot of chaos – we’re likely going to stop offering promo cards at events. It’s just not working because people are trying to profit from them, and that’s not sustainable.

Pokemon Korea hasn’t said if they’ll make any further changes to the Pokemon Mega Festa 2026 event after the recent cancellation.

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2026-05-01 16:50