Pokémon GO partners with the Knight Foundation to kick-off its first community event

Niantic Labs still has big plans for Pokémon GO, partnering with the Knight Foundation to put together a number of community events that will encourage players to explore their cities.

The first of what will hopefully inspire many more of these events takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 7. The event spans a 2.5 mile area and is part of the Open Streets 704 festivities taking place this weekend. Streets along the festival route will be shut down, encouraging people to get out and interact with their community.

The event space just happens to hold two gyms and 16 PokeStops, encouraging Pokémon trainers to come out as well and see all that their city has to offer. All of these virtual landmarks will be marked in real-life, too. This first event is what Niantic calls an experiment, but if this inaugural event in Charlotte is a success, look forward to more happenings like it in the future, maybe even in your city.

What do you think of Niantic's new community initiative? Tell us about it in the comments.