Celebrate International Museum Day with Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Stamp Rally Event!

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Today is International Museum Day! A day dedicated to the importance of museums in enriching cultures, cultural exchange, and mutual understanding and peace, (amongst other noble goals), on a global scale.

It’s also being celebrated as the 4th real-time event in Animal Crossing: New Horizons!

While most museums may be closed IRL due to COVID-19, New Horizons has proven time and time again to offer a much-needed outlet for social interaction and real-life celebrations, and today isn’t any different!

From May 18th to May 31st, you can get in the spirit of International Museum Day by visiting your island’s museum, and collecting stamps as you explore and take in all it has to offer. You’ll also get a few neat rewards for participating, too!

Ready to go? Here’s our guide to making the most of IMD on your New Horizons island!

Event Overview

Blathers explaining how the Stamp Rally works.
©2020 Nintendo

Of all of the New Horizons events, this event by far is the easiest and quickest to complete.

The entire Stamp Rally takes place in your island’s museum, where you’ll have to look for three stamp stations per gallery.

Once you’ve gotten three stamps in a gallery, talk with Blathers, who will give you a specific reward based on the completed gallery stamp card.

This event is repeatable on a daily basis, and its rewards can be obtained multiple times. You may also need to be at the latest software update: 1.2.1 b.

Sound good so far? Let’s get started!

Getting Started

Isabelle announcing the Stamp Rally event.
©2020 Nintendo

At the start of the day, Tom Nook (or Isabelle, if you’ve progressed far enough,) will mention that the Museum will be holding a Stamp Rally, where you’ll have to collect stamps as you take in the sights, and observe specimens found from around the island.

Head to your museum, where the entirety of the event unfolds.

The Stamp Stations

Blathers further explains the Stamp Rally event.
©2020 Nintendo

At the museum, Blathers will formally introduce you to the Stamp Rally when you talk to him.

You’ll need to talk with him to take part in the event, but the gist of the Stamp Rally is very straightforward:

In each of the three original galleries of the museum, (bug, fish, and fossils only, — sorry art gallery!) You’ll need to look for three Stamp Stations.

These stamp stations, (also called stamp spots,) are chosen randomly each day from any of the museum’s display areas. These may also repeat between days.

By interacting with all three stamp spots in a gallery, you’ll earn stamps and complete a stamp card, which can be shown to Blathers to collect an exclusive reward.

Each gallery has three stamp stations, for a total of 9 stamps to obtain, and 3 event items to collect.

A stamp station at the Singing Forest Stamp Area.
©2020 Nintendo, Pictured: A stamp station.

As for the stamp stations themselves, they’re very easy to identify: They’re all 1×1 pale yellow squares, with a decorative red and white sticker on all sides.

Each stamp station also has an accurately named designated location, and gives a brief fact about the stamp spots they’re located in. So you can expect to find the Big Tree stamp spot near the big tree, or the dragonfly bridge stamp spot by its namesake, while also understanding the significance of each location.

Event Rewards

Blathers teasing that the player will be rewarded for participating in the stamp rally.
©2020 Nintendo

Once you’ve gotten all three stamps from a single exhibit gallery, return to Blathers, who will praise you for your efforts, and give you a reward based on the gallery the completed stamp card is for.

The rewards are fixed, and as follows:

Bug Plaque – Collect all three stamps from the Bug Gallery.

Fossil Plaque – Collect all three stamps from the Fossil Gallery.

Fish Plaque – Collect all three stamps from the Fish Gallery.

Now that you’ve gotten your reward(s), you’ll need to return to your house to place them, as each are wall-mounted furniture items.

The three event items, hung in my in-game house.
©2020 Nintendo

Do they look familiar? You bet! Each of the event reward items are, in fact, copies of the plaques that you see in the museum’s entrance.

They don’t have much sell value, going at 300 bells apiece, but the point of the event isn’t about monetary gain.

It’s about appreciating museums for being the bastions of culture of culture that they are, just like the real-life International Museum Day.

Speaking of which…

International Museum Day IRL

Lastly, while it isn’t gaming related at all, I would be remiss to not mention the actual real-life International Museum Day.

If you’re anything like me, chances are you haven’t heard of International Museum Day, and don’t know much about it. So let’s discover what it’s about together, shall we?

According to the official website, International Museum Day was organized by the International Committee of Museums, or, ICOM for short, ever since 1977.

The event is consistently held around the world, every year on or around May 18th, lasting for a day, weekend, or even the entire week, with the goal of raising awareness about the importance of museums in cultural enrichment and peace, amongst other benefits to the people.

The theme for 2020 is “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion,” which is pretty much as the name implies!

You can learn more about International Museum Day, and the founding organization, the International Council of Museums, by clicking the links provided.

Want to follow ICOM for future updates? Check out their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages!

Discussion

How do you feel about Animal Crossing’s take on International Museum Day? Did you learn anything new about it? (I know I did!)

Let’s discuss in the comments below!

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