Power cables and Poké balls (17 photos)

People walked in loops, some were tethered by cables, others were on rollerblades, and grandparents were getting schooled about it by their grandkids.

The Sault’s first Pokémon GO festival happened beside the Art Gallery of Algoma Saturday in conjunction with GO Fest in Chicago where over 12,000 are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the game with special challenges and prizes.

The game seems to be popular with a wide variety of demographics and one of its big draws is that, unlike most other games, it requires players to walk around the real world to find enemies who then show up on their smartphone screens.

They call it ‘augmented reality’.

Almost as soon as the game was released last year it became a worldwide hit, even in Sault Ste. Marie.

In the days after the game was released in Canada last year, hundreds of players filled up Clergue Park and the area around the Art Gallery.

People were seen at all hours walking aimlessly around the park like zombies, faces lit up by glowing screens.

That area is said to have a high concentration Pokéstops and Poke Gyms and, because the area is already designed for leisure, it makes it a good place to hang out with friends who are also playing.

This year’s festival was held in the same location and although the initial hype is gone it still has a solid fanbase.

Joe Sbar is able to play Pokémon GO while riding a bike using his Pokémon Go Plus wrist strap. Jeff Klassen/SooToday

This year’s festival had 57 registered users but, perhaps around 200 actually went to the park to play.

“It brings generations together… When the game first started I had this 89 year old woman come up to me and ask me how to play the game so she could play it with her grandson,” said Sara Densmore, an enthusiastic player of the game.

Players of Pokémon GO collect experience points to achieve skill levels that, right now, go as high 40.

Local Joe Sbar, who said he plays the game almost every day, achieved that level in January of this year.

“I use it primarily as a way to exercise. So, I’ll spend two or three hours a day walking or biking that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Sbar.

Sbar can play the game on his bike using a 'Pokémon GO Plus' bluetooth device that is essentially a button that straps to his wrist.

As he rides around and passes catchable-Pokémon  the device beeps and he just needs to press the button to try and capture it.

He’s even got his girlfriend Jen Constantino into it — she’s currently a level 35.

Organizer Derek Pearce said the city really dropped the Poké ball by not putting on this event themselves.

“The city of Sault Ste. Marie isn’t doing anything for young people…. I know they do Rotaryfest and certain street parties… but you can’t just leave out a certain group of people,” said Pearce, who said putting this on was just a way to get people out in the city.