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2026-07-06T16:51:13Z

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{{Community hosted event}}

The [[Great turtle migration]] is a player-organized ''[[Guild Wars 2]]'' community event in which participants travel by [[Siege Turtle]] across core Tyria. The event is deliberately slow-paced: participants avoid waypoints and asura gates, travelling on turtle back at walking speed.

The 3rd annual migration was announced for '''July 4, 2026 at 7:00 PM EDT / 23:00 UTC''' on the '''North American region'''. The announcement was specifically for NA; no EU or other-region version was listed in the forum post.<ref name="forum">[https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/173745-the-3rd-annual-great-turtle-migration-july-4th-7pm-edt-11pm-utc-na/ The 3rd Annual Great Turtle Migration - July 4th, 7pm EDT (11pm UTC) - NA], official Guild Wars 2 forums.</ref>

== Overview ==
The organizer described the event as a long community procession across Tyria, with the group travelling only on Siege Turtles and without using waypoints or asura gates.<ref name="forum" />

Due to the very slow pace, the event is expected to last for many hours. The organizer encouraged players to join for any part of the journey rather than necessarily attending the entire route. The event also includes community activities such as trivia for gold prizes and turtle-themed jokes along the way.<ref name="forum" />

Players do not need to own a Siege Turtle to participate, as the event expects available gunner seats for players who want to join the procession.<ref name="forum" />

== Route ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="450px">
Great Turtle Migration full route map (bold).jpg|Approximate full route of the Great Turtle Migration. The route is described as starting in [[Divinity's Reach]] and ending at the [[Arah]] dungeon entrance in Orr. According to the organizer, the path was chosen because it forms a long north-to-south journey through the core game while passing through high-traffic maps, allowing bystanders to notice and potentially join the migration. This map is hypothetical and reconstructed from the event description, so it should not be treated as an exact confirmed path.
Great Turtle Migration confirmed partial route map (bold).jpg|Confirmed section of the Great Turtle Migration route, mapped from publicly available community stream footage. Source/reference used for mapping: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=great+turtle+migration+gw2 Great Turtle Migration GW2 stream search].
</gallery>

== Gallery ==
Additional community screenshots from the 3rd annual Great Turtle Migration are available in the Reddit posts listed below.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
Great Turtle Migration screenshot 1.webp
Great Turtle Migration screenshot 4.webp
Great Turtle Migration screenshot 3.webp
Great Turtle Migration screenshot 2.webp
</gallery>

== Timing ==

The 2026 event was scheduled for 7:00 PM EDT, equivalent to 23:00 UTC. For players outside North America, the start time may fall late at night or early the next morning depending on local time zone.

The organizer also stated that the squad listing would be updated during the event with the group's current map and the amount of time already spent on the route.<ref name="forum" />

[[File:Great Turtle Migration time zone chart.jpg|thumb|left|700px|Time-zone reference chart for converting the 7:00 PM EDT / 23:00 UTC start time.]]
{{clear}}

== History ==
The organizer described the first migration as beginning with one player and one Siege Turtle, more as a social experiment than a conventional event. As the turtle travelled through core Tyria, other players gradually joined or followed the slow procession. More than 50 players reportedly completed the expedition during the first year.<ref name="forum" />

The first year set a reported completion time of 8 hours and 1 minute to Arah. The second year began with a small group and grew during the event, with more than 100 bystanders joining at different points, including new players encountered along the route.<ref name="forum" />

The name “Great Turtle Migration” was adopted after the first event, following community participation and discussion around the procession's identity.<ref name="forum" />

== Community note ==
As of the 3rd annual announcement, the event is organized for the North American region only. Players on EU and other regions would need to organize their own local version of the migration.

:''EU turtles, this is your call to waddle: Orr is far away, but glory moves at turtle speed.''

== External links ==
* [https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/173745-the-3rd-annual-great-turtle-migration-july-4th-7pm-edt-11pm-utc-na/ Official forum announcement]
* [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=great+turtle+migration+gw2 YouTube search for Great Turtle Migration GW2 streams]
* [https://x.com/GuildWars2/status/2072740331263795259 Tweet by @GuildWars2], x.com

=== Reddit posts ===
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1unsy7t/gw2_community_the_great_turtle_migration/ GW2 Community: The Great Turtle Migration]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1unp20n/the_great_turtle_migration_is_ongoing/ The Great Turtle Migration is ongoing]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1unxhox/all_my_screens_on_the_great_turtle_migration/ Screenshots from the Great Turtle Migration]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1unvuax/the_one_alloran_gesk_led_third_herd_great_turtle/ The one Alloran Gesk-led third herd Great Turtle Migration]

== References ==
<references />

Great turtle migration - Revision history

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