Cache Carnival: FAQs

Celebrate geocaching creativity and diversity around the world!

Join Cache Carnival and earn up to five souvenirs inspired by historic carnival locations. Beginning March 25, 2019, collect points on your Leaderboard (previously Friend League) to virtually visit celebrations around the world before Cache Carnival ends on April 14, 2019.

Cache Carnival celebrates geocache creativity—collect extra points for finding highly favorited geocaches or earning a Favorite point on a cache you own!

An additional souvenir can be earned by attending a registered Creation Celebration event.

What are the 6 souvenirs that I can earn?

Souvenir earned Leaderboard points collected (individual)
Cache Carnival: Köln 10
Cache Carnival: Nice 25
Cache Carnival: Venezia 50
Cache Carnival: New Orleans 100
Cache Carnival: Rio de Janeiro 500
Creation Celebration Attend a registered Creation Celebration event

How can I earn points?

If you log a cache, attend an event, or perform other geocaching actions, you collect points.

Action

Point value

Found a geocache with…

0-4 Favorite points

3

5-9 Favorite points

5

10-24 Favorite points

10

25-49 Favorite points

25

50+ Favorite points

50

Attend any event

15

Earned a Favorite point on a geocache you own

25

* The maximum number of points you can earn for any cache log is 50 points.

What is the Leaderboard?
The Leaderboard shows you and your friends’ geocaching activity. If you log a cache, attend an event, or perform other geocaching actions, you collect points! The number of points vary depending on the task at hand.

The Leaderboard displays the total points you collect during the promotion. You can also see how many points your friends have earned during the promotion. The Leaderboard will reset to zero on Monday, April 15 at noon UTC. Make sure to log your finds and attended logs by April 17 at noon UTC to earn the souvenirs.

How do I participate?
From March 25 to April 14, 2019, collect points by logging caches, or attending events. Earn up to 5 new souvenirs by individually collecting 500 points on the Leaderboard during the promotion period.

Attend a registered Creation Celebration event during this time to earn a sixth souvenir.

Can I join Cache Carnival at any time?
Of course! If you were late to join, you still have the chance to earn all 6 souvenirs as long as you collect enough Leaderboard points and attend a Creation Celebration through April 14.

Do points on the Leaderboard stack?
No, there is no point stacking. The max number of points that you can collect on any cache log is 50 points. For example, if you find a geocache with 10 or more Favorite points, you will collect 10 points total. If you find a geocache with 25 or more Favorite points, you will collect 25 points total.

Do I get points on the Leaderboard for attending a CITO, Mega or Giga-Event?
Yes. Attending any event type will get you 15 points on the Leaderboard during Cache Carnival.

How does my event qualify as a Creation Celebration event?
To qualify as a Creation Celebration event, your Event Cache must fulfill all regular Event Cache guidelines as outlined in the Geocache hiding guidelines. Additionally, it must meet these requirements:

  • The Event name must include the name: Creation Celebration
    • Example:  Creation Celebration: Seattle Gadget Cache Workshop
    • CITO events are not eligible to be Creation Celebrations
  • The Event must take place between March 25 and April 14, 2019.
  • The Event must last at least one hour.
  • The Event must highlight cache quality and/or cache creation. Possibilities include, but are not limited to:
    • Educational workshop (e.g., Let’s learn about the guidelines, nature protection, etc.)
    • “Build-A-Cache” workshop (e.g., Build your own custom cache container)
    • Activity workshop (e.g., climbing workshop)
    • Story sharing (e.g., What were some of your most epic adventures or favourite caches)

After your event has been published, submit it for approval by Geocaching HQ via this online form. Once submitted, you will receive further information via email.

How can I find a Creation Celebration event to attend?
As Creation Celebration events are submitted and approved, they will be added to this public List (Or see all events on the map here). Check back to the List often to find an event near you. Interested in hosting your own Creation Celebration event? Review the guidelines.

Where can I see my souvenirs?
As soon as you collect a certain number of points, the associated souvenir will automatically be awarded to your profile. The souvenirs appear on your profile on Geocaching.com and in the Geocaching® app under the souvenir tab.

Is the Leaderboard in the Geocaching® app?
The Leaderboard will temporarily be in the Geocaching® app starting with the beginning of Cache Carnival on March 25, and will be accessible until April 14, 2019. Go to your profile and click on Cache Carnival to see your progress in the Geocaching® app.

My Leaderboard points aren’t correct. Help!

  1. If you change a Note, DNF, or other log type to a Found it log, it will not be recognized on the Leaderboard.
  2. You may have found and logged a Lab Cache. At this time, the Leaderboard does not award points for finding Lab Caches.
  3. You logged on Monday, March 25 before noon UTC (convert to your local time here). We suggest that you wait to log until AFTER Monday noon UTC – which in some places like New Zealand is Tuesday at midnight – to log your geocaches. Otherwise the points will not count for the first week.
  4. You saved a Draft on a Monday, March 25 before noon UTC.

If you have already posted your logs, select “View / Edit Log / Images”, then click the pen icon and “Submit Log Entry” on the website. Your logs should now be counted towards your total.

What does UTC stand for?
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the basis for civil time today. It is the time standard (not a time zone) commonly used across the world. You can convert UTC to your local time here.

I logged a Lab Cache, why didn’t I earn any points on the Leaderboard?
The Leaderboard does not award points for finding Lab Caches.

Do I need friends on my Leaderboard to participate in Cache Carnival?
You do not need geocaching friends to collect points and earn souvenirs for Cache Carnival. However, it’s still fun to have friends on your Leaderboard so you can cheer them along through the festivities!

Visit the HelpCenter to learn how to add a friend to your Leaderboard.

Why does the Leaderboard show only some of my friends?
The Leaderboard shows ten of your geocaching friends—always including yourself. If you want to see all of your friends, scroll down the list and select See more.

The temporary Leaderboard in the Geocaching® app shows five of your friends. To see more, visit the web version of your Leaderboard.

When I'm outside I'm happy. Besides geocaching I love gardening, hiking, cooking and spending time with my wonderful two and four legged friends. Got eight legs? Sorry, but please stay far away from me!