Hemisphere

Hemispheres are a gameplay element in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. When creating an island, the player has the choice of choosing either a northern hemisphere island or a southern hemisphere island. By default, the northern hemisphere option corresponds to North America, Europe, and Asia, while the southern hemisphere option corresponds to Australia and South America. However, the player may choose to live on different hemispheres that do not correspond to their region of choice.

The players choice of hemisphere affects various aspects of gameplay, most notably the seasons. For example, when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere. This in turn changes other elements such as the appearance rates of bugs, fish, and sea creatures. Events and holidays may also vary and have unique dialogue specific for that hemisphere, but they are not tied with the season and can appear in both hemispheres. Turkey Day, for instance, may have fall roots, but is also available in spring for the southern hemisphere. Mystery Island tours, Harv’s Island, and the May Day tour are also affected by the choice of hemisphere as those islands will correspond to the respective season that the main island is currently in.

Several unique features for both hemispheres are present as well. Camellia Bushes start blooming on January 1 for the northern hemisphere, but they do not bloom on July 1 assuming each bush in both hemispheres have the same time frame for when each bush blooms. Instead, Holly Bushes end blooming on June 15, and Camellia Bushes bloom the next day, making Camellia Bushes last longer in the southern hemisphere than it would in the northern hemisphere. Weather patterns are also affected. Where the weather patterns favor rain for the northern hemisphere from June 16 to July 5, the southern hemisphere’s equivalent dates of December 16 to January 5 favor more in clear weather than it does in rainy weather. This is due to the dates correlating with Toy Day and the Countdown. Additionally, southern hemisphere players from December 24 to December 30 have more days with clear skies with possibility of meteor showers while northern hemisphere players on those same days have more snowy weather.

There is also the unique availability of ornaments. While most of the seasonal materials are tied to the seasons respectively, ornaments ignore the hemisphere rules and are available in both hemispheres from December 15 to January 6. Both hemispheres gain cedar trees with bright lights, and if shaken will drop Red, Blue, and Gold Ornaments.

Differences between hemispheres[edit]

Difference
Seasons
Spring	February 25 – May 31	August 25 – November 30
Summer	June 1 – August 31	December 1 – February 28/29
Fall	September 1 – November 25	March 1 – May 25
Winter	November 26 – February 24	May 26 – August 24
Weather
Rain	February 25 – November 15	August 25 – May 25
Rainbows	February 25 – March 31 April 11 – November 15	August 25 – September 30 December 16 – May 25
Snow	November 26 – February 24	May 26 – August 24
Auroras	December 11 – February 24	June 11 – August 24
Events
Bug-Off dates	The fourth Saturday of June, July, August and September 2023: June 24 July 22 August 26 September 23[nb 1]	The third Saturday of January, February, November and December 2023: January 21 February 18 November 18[nb 2] December 16
Fishing Tourney dates	2023: Winter: January 14 Spring: April 8 Summer: July 8 Fall: October 14	2023: Winter: July 8 Spring: October 14 Summer: January 14 Fall: April 8
May Day	Azalea bushes are in place during the maze.	Holly bushes are in place during the maze.
Fireworks Show	Redd wears a Straw Boater during the Fireworks Show raffles.	Redd wears a Dandy Hat during the Fireworks Show raffles.
Turkey Day	Turkey Day is a celebration of the fall harvest, with decorations in Resident Services colored in the Fall Harvest variant	Turkey Day is a celebration of spring, with decorations in Resident Services colored in the Spring Blooming variant
Toy Day	Weather is all snowing (EventDay02), and the music is calm with jingle bells.	Weather is clear all day (EventDay00), and the music is vibrant with percussion.
Toy Day aftermath (December 25th)	Weather is snowing until the afternoon hours (EventDay03).	Weather is clear all day (EventDay00).
Shopping seasons
Spring shopping	March 1 – May 31	September 1 – November 30
Summer shopping	June 1 – August 31	December 1 – February 28/29
Fall shopping	September 1 – November 30	March 1 – May 31
Winter shopping	December 1 – February 28/29	June 1 – August 31
Seasonal DIY recipes
Young Spring Bamboo DIYs	February 25 – May 31	August 25 – November 30
Cherry Blossom DIYs	April 1 – April 10	October 1 – October 10
Summer Shells DIYs	June 1 – August 31	December 1 – February 28/29
Acorns/Pine Cones DIYs	September 1 – December 10	March 1 – June 10
Mushrooms DIYs	November	May
Maple Leaves DIYs	November 16 – November 25	May 16 – May 25
Cozy Turkey Day DIYs	The items are crafted and previewed under the Fall Harvest variant	The items are crafted and previewed under the Spring Blooming variant
Snowflakes DIYs	December 11 – February 24[nb 3]	June 11 – August 24[nb 3]
Nook Shopping seasonal events
Summer Solstice	June 15 – June 21	December 15 – December 22
Winter Solstice	December 15 – December 22	June 15 – June 21
Flowers
January	Pansy Windflower Mum	Rose Cosmos Lily
February	Pansy Hyacinth Windflower	Cosmos Lily Mum
March	Tulip Pansy Hyacinth Windflower	Cosmos Lily Mum
April	Tulip Pansy Hyacinth Windflower	Rose Cosmos Mum
May	Rose Tulip Windflower	Rose Pansy Cosmos Mum
June	Rose Tulip Lily	Rose Pansy Windflower Mum
July	Rose Cosmos Lily	Pansy Windflower Mum
August	Cosmos Lily Mum	Pansy Hyacinth Windflower
September	Cosmos Lily Mum	Tulip Pansy Hyacinth Windflower
October	Rose Cosmos Mum	Tulip Pansy Hyacinth Windflower
November	Rose Pansy Cosmos Mum	Rose Tulip Windflower
December	Rose Pansy Windflower Mum	Rose Tulip Lily
Bush season
Camellia (Pink/Red)	January 1 – March 31	June 16 – September 30
Azalea (Pink/White)	April 11 – May 31	October 11 – November 30
Hydrangea (Blue/Pink)	June 1 – July 20	December 1 – January 20
Plumeria (Pink/White)	June 1 – September 20	December 1 – March 20
Hibiscus (Red/Yellow)	July 21 – September 20	January 21 – March 20
Tea-Olive (Orange/Yellow)	September 21 – October 31	March 21 – April 30
Holly	November 1 – December 31	May 1 – June 15
Mom items
Mom’s Embroidery	February	August
Mom’s Candle Set	March	September
Mom’s Tissue Box	April	October
Mom’s Knapsack	May	November
Mom’s Handmade Apron	June	December[nb 4]
Mom’s Plushie	July	February
Mom’s Pen Stand	August	July
Mom’s Cushion	September	March
Mom’s Tea Cozy	October	April
Mom’s Cool/Lively/Playful/Reliable Kitchen Mat	November	May
Mom’s Hand-Knit Sweater	December[nb 4]	June
Isabelle, Tom Nook, and Timmy and Tommy seasonal clothes
Summer clothing	March 20 – October 19	October 20 – March 19
Winter clothing	October 20 – March 19	March 20 – October 19

Gallery[edit]

• Timmy telling the player that the Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package has islands in both hemispheres during the game’s introduction.

Northern hemisphere[edit]

• Bunny Day in the northern hemisphere

• May Day in the northern hemisphere

• Fireworks Show in the northern hemisphere

• Redd during the Fireworks Show in the northern hemisphere

• Halloween in the northern hemisphere

• Turkey Day in the northern hemisphere

• Toy Day in the northern hemisphere

• Countdown in the northern hemisphere

• Festivale in the northern hemisphere

Southern hemisphere[edit]

• Bunny Day in the southern hemisphere

• May Day in the southern hemisphere

• Fireworks Show in the southern hemisphere

• Redd during the Fireworks Show in the southern hemisphere

• Halloween in the southern hemisphere

• Turkey Day in the southern hemisphere

• Toy Day in the southern hemisphere

• Countdown in the southern hemisphere

• Festivale in the southern hemisphere

Names in other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Exclusive to the fall season
2. ↑ Exclusive to the spring season
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Perfect Snowboys still give large snowflakes if created before winter is over.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mom uses a festive card when delivering this gift: the Festive-Tree Card for the northern hemisphere and the Holiday Card for the southern hemisphere.