Spring has returned to the northern hemisphere — at least in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Once you’ve downloaded today’s update, you’ll immediately notice a few changes have happened on your island.

Most obviously, the snow is gone (and along with it, your chance to catch dung beetles). However, any snowboys you’ve built over the last few days will stick around, melting at the usual pace.

And, as Isabelle will inform you in her daily announcement, bamboo plants will now drop the young spring bamboo crafting resource once again.

You’ll also receive a gift in your in-game mailbox. The Mushroom mural wallpaper is a teaser for the Mario crossover items coming to the game on March 1st.

In addition to hailing the return of spring, this update has added some new minor holidays.

While there are no major events between now and Bunny Day (which coincides with real-world Easter celebrations falling in late March/early April), you can celebrate three new occasions with items bought from Nook Shopping and the Able Sisters’ tailor shop.

• Hinamatsuri Festival: February 25th – March 3rd
• Pi Day: March 1st – 14th
• Shamrock Day: March 10th – 17th
• Animal Crossing New Horizons spring holiday items: full price list

Hinamatsuri Festival: February 25th – March 3rd

The real-world Hinamatsuri Festival takes place in Japan on March 3rd. Known in English as “Girl’s Day” or “Doll’s Day”, it’s traditionally celebrated by gifting and displaying decorative dolls.

If, like me, you grew up without much awareness of Japanese holidays, your main exposure to hina ningyo dolls may well have been from the Fatal Frame series of horror games, which likes to use them in creepy puzzles. ACNH is now giving you the chance to enjoy them in a less threatening fashion.

There are two Hinamatsuri Festival items available to buy from the Nook Shopping app’s ‘Seasonal’ section. In addition to obtaining your very own Hinaningyo Doll display, you can purchase a Blossom Lantern to decorate for the festival too.

Unusually, you won’t be able to buy both on the same day. Instead, they’ll be purchasable from the app on alternate days — much like how the seasonal display at Nook’s Cranny works. One item will be available per day between now and March 3rd. So you’ll need to check back on multiple days if you want to ensure you get hold of both.

Pi Day: March 1st – 14th

OK, calling this one a “real-world holiday” is probably stretching things a bit. Pi Day is marked as a geeky joke on March 14th, since the date 3.14 represent the first three digits of pi.

This doesn’t work as well if you write it the British way (14/3), but for once we’re not going to debate the merits of different date formats. That’s because, in the absence of any deeply held traditions, it’s become the done thing to celebrate Pi Day by eating delicious pie. And we love any excuse to treat ourselves to some tasty food.

This is the simplest addition in the new update. Beginning March 1st (which also happens to be the day the new Mario items unlock in the game) and running until Pi Day itself on March 14th, you’ll be able to buy a Pi Day Pie. It will be listed under the ‘Seasonal’ tab in the Nook Shopping menu.

What we’ve seen so far indicates that this will just be a decorative item. Still, it’ll make a nice addition to your kitchen, especially if you’re redecorating for spring. Leave it cooling near a windowsill for maximum cosiness.

Is anyone else hungry now?

Shamrock Day: March 10th – 17th

Rounding out the new seasonal collections is the Shamrock Day set. Shamrock Day is, of course, an affectionate pastiche of real-world St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Animal Crossing is too family-friendly to include an in-game equivalent of what many people consider to be the real St Patrick’s Day main event (drinking green-dyed beer until you vomit). But you can re-create the feeling of an overly-stereotypical Irish pub, with a whole set of new clothes and furniture items.

New Nook Shopping seasonal items are the Shamrock Rug, the Shamrock Doorplate (it reads “fáilte”, which means “welcome” in Irish), and a Shamrock Soda.

And the Able Sisters will be selling Shamrock clothing for the event. Confirmed inclusions in this set are a top hat, novelty sunglasses, a three-piece suit costume, and buckled shoes.

Previous games in the Animal Crossing series have included a unique crafting material on Shamrock Day. In New Leaf, you could find clover spawning on your island in the days around Shamrock Day, much like weeds do throughout the year. There’s no word yet on whether clover will return in New Horizons, but it’s something to keep an eye out for.

Animal Crossing New Horizons spring holiday items: full price list

If you’re keen to ensure you don’t miss any of these limited-time items while they’re in the game, refer to the table below for a full list of prices, availability dates, and where to buy:

The post Animal Crossing spring update | Hinaningyo Dolls & more seasonal items appeared first on VG247.

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