How to get the Mariah Carey emote in Fortnite

Mariah Carey is live in Fortnite, and she’s brought a Christmas gift for all players.

The fan-favorite Christmas song turned 30 years old this year, and Mariah is celebrating it by appearing in Fortnite. The singer’s classic holiday hit can be heard in battle royale by seeking her out on the map, where she’s waiting to perform the song and give you a special emote just for showing up and showing some love.

Here’s how to get the Mariah Carey emote in Fortnite.

How to get Mariah Carey emote in Fortnite

To use the Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas” emote in Fortnite, simply visit her during a match during Winterfest 2024. She will allow you to use it there, and then dance and perform her song, allowing you to dance along with her.

The best way to do this is by dropping at her location at the start of a match and then playing out the rest of the match as normal. Unfortunately, there is a catch.

As of right now, the emote is NOT free as an unlock for your inventory and is instead a part of her Icon Series and needs to be purchased. For now, the emote only seems accessible when standing next to her as she performs at the beginning of the match.

“The Mariah Carey Bundle includes the Santa Suit Mariah Outfit, inspired by the ‘Merry Christmas’ album cover art, and the glamorous gold Mariah Carey Outfit, inspired by ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’ album cover art – both of which have LEGO Styles – as well as the All I Want for Christmas Is You Emote and more,” Epic Games told Dot Esports. “Mariah’s record breaking hit, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ will also be available in the Shop as a Jam Track!”

When the Mariah emote was data mined, those who found it incorrectly assumed that it would be a permanent gift. Unfortunately, it’s only available for free during her performance at the beginning of matches. You can still get it, but it will have to be purchased from the store for V-Bucks whenever the Mariah Carey bundle goes live.

Here’s where to seek her out on the Fortnite island to do your dance and celebrate the holidays with her.

Mariah Carey location in Fortnite

Mariah can be found here, in the middle of the mountain range southeast of Brutal Boxcars. You can see it marked on the map with a big circle, and she’s found in the center inside of the big ice block at the start of every match.

When dropping in to a match, you can see the location as its glowing quite brightly. You’ll know you are in the right area when it says “actions are blocked in event area” on the bottom right of your screen. This fortunately means no one can kill you and ruin the moment, so enjoy it while you can.

Mariah will thaw from the ice block and begin performing her iconic song, rewarding you the emote. You can dance with her while she does it (it will be the only emote in your entire emote wheel), but when the song ends and she disappears, she launches you into the rest of your match.

And that’s the last you will see of the emote until you purchase it from the Fortnite Shop when it goes live. The Fortnite Shop refreshes daily at 6pm CT, so make sure to check it and grab the emote with V-Bucks if you want to keep it permanently after the holidays and Winterfest have come to an end.