Festivals work similar to FFAs. They usually occur when a judge decides to host one, rather than a Coordinator asking a Judge to do one. Festivals must consist of at least 8 coordinators. The rules of Festivals are loose; while most typically follow some balanced rulesets, the rules are ultimately up to the Judge (minus the few below). If you need any ideas, feel free to reach out to a Chief Judge!
The number of turns a festival will last is determined by the following formula: Turn Number = 6 + X/4, where X is the number of participating coordinators. Turn Number value is always rounded down (i.e. a result of 8.75 would be rounded down to 8 turns).
The Crowd Meter/Voltage maximum can also be decided, but 5 is the minimum CM/VM. The players or the Judge can decide the contest mode and other rules.
Anyone who has been a judge for less than 2 months cannot ref Festivals. Each judge may judge as many Festivals per week as they wish.
Appeal Rounds
Coordinators play out a festival just like a contest, only with more people. They send their mon and moves privately to the Judge until it’s over. Judges will keep track of turns, scores, combos, crowd meter/voltage, etc, like normal.
Because there is no single attribute to a festival, a Judge can decide, based on the number of turns, what style of attributes to play. Both are randomly rolled. The first is to roll individual attributes and continuing even if a duplicate is rolled. Alternatively, they are rolled from a list with the intent to have every attribute in at least one round.
Ribbons
Depending on the number of contestants, the number of Ribbons that will be awarded is decided by taking the (number of contestants/4) places, rounded down. Since there isn’t a single attribute, the winner of a ribbon can choose its type. However, this attribute must have been present as a round in the festival. The higher the score your Pokemon manages to obtain, the higher you place, which also means the higher chance of you managing to win a ribbon and the more money you get. Any festival that gives above Normal Rank ribbons must be approved by a Head or Chief Judge. Entry to such festivals should require all participants be qualified for that rank.
Nervous
One key difference between festivals and regular contests is the rate of nervousness. In festivals, the chance of nervousness is 30% with no condition stars, and the rate is reduced by 5% for each condition star you have (minimum of 15% chance).
Payouts
Festivals pay similar to FFAs, with higher scores earning more funds. The bottom three scorers will gain $2,500, and each place above that will earn an increasing $500. The winner makes an extra $1,000, and the Judge will receive the same pay as this.
For example:
Gray Nine judges and earns $6,000
Morru wins and earns $6,000
Gold gets 2nd and earns $4,500
diamondpearl876 gets 3rd and earns $4,000
Ash K. gets 4th and earns $3,500
Johnbdm gets 5th and earns $3,000
Rick gets 6th and earns $2,500
Oribhel gets 7th and earns $2,500
juliorain gets 8th and earns $2,500