Each year, Stardew Valley is filled with festivals for the player to attend, with between two and four festivals occurring each season. These events, which range from the Egg Festival in early Spring to the Feast of the Winter Star that helps close out the year, occur annually and feature special mini-games, activities, shops, and more. Participating in Stardew Valley’s festivals is a great way to earn exclusive items, such as Rarecrows, decorations for the player’s farmhouse, clothing, and more.
However, not every Festival in Stardew Valley is created equal. They’re all fun, and a great way to break up the daily grind in the farming simulator, but some offer much more in the way of activities and prizes than others. This tier list ranks every Festival in Stardew Valley, from those that have been around since Day One of the game to those added by developer ConcernedApe in later updates. Despite their ranking on this list, every festival in Stardew Valley is a fun and unique experience and definitely worth attending at least once, if not every single year.
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S-Tier Festivals
- Stardew Valley Fair
- Night Market
- Desert Festival
- Luau
The Stardew Valley Fair is the best of the best when it comes to festivals. There are a variety of mini-games to play, and players can earn Star Tokens to exchange for various rewards. Best of all, farmers who participate in the Grange Competition can have the satisfaction of beating Pierre for the best produce display. There’s even a funny extra scene for farmers who choose to display Mayor Lewis’s purple shorts.
The Night Market and Desert Festival are each three-day extravaganzas, featuring multiple shops and activities. The Night Market lets players stock up on seeds that are otherwise difficult to find in the winter as well as go deep-sea fishing and even meet a mermaid, while the Desert Festival lets players earn outfits from Emily, shop at booths run by Pelican Town residents, and take on fishing and mining challenges. They rank highly because they are not limited to a single day, as well as the wide variety of options for players to participate in the festival.
Finally, the Luau in Stardew Valley is a quick way to earn lots of friendship with every resident of the Valley by adding a delicious ingredient to the potluck soup. It’s invaluable in the early game, as earning a high rating from the Governor can increase players’ relationship with almost every character in the game by a significant amount. This is especially valuable to players who are looking to romance one of Stardew Valley‘s bachelors or bachelorettes and want to get close to their chosen suitor quickly.
A-Tier Festivals
- Flower Dance
- Feast of the Winter Star
- Egg Festival
Festivals in the A Tier don’t offer quite as much to do as their S Tier counterparts, but rank highly because they emphasize bonding with Valley residents. During the Flower Dance, players can ask their love interest to dance, resulting in a cute romantic moment that’s always adorable, no matter if it’s their first date or they’ve been married for multiple years. Dancing with a partner will increase their friendship by an entire heart, so it’s a great way to get closer to one of Stardew Valley’s twelve potential love interests.
The Feast of the Winter Star is an excellent way to end the year, with a “Secret Santa” gift exchange between the residents of Pelican Town. What makes this festival stand out so much is the exciting element of randomness. Players don’t find out until the event itself who drew their name, and what gift they receive can vary from a single piece of clay to multiple iridium bars or even the ultra-rare Tea Set.
Finally, the Egg Festival has one of the best shops in the game, as it’s initially the only way of obtaining the profitable Strawberry Seeds during Spring, the season when they can be planted. However, it does feature a drawback in the form of the Egg Hunt – it’s a fun event, but fiendishly difficult to win, especially in Year 1 when players are less familiar with the layout of Pelican Town. Farmers may find themselves losing to Abigail multiple years in a row before getting the hang of things.
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B-Tier Festivals
- Festival of Ice
- Trout Derby
- SquidFest
- Spirit’s Eve
Multiple festivals in the B Tier revolve around Stardew Valley‘s fishing mechanic, which can be a bit tricky to master. During the Festival of Ice, players must compete against Pam, Willy, and other Pelican Town residents in a competition to catch the most fish within a certain time.
The Trout Derby and SquidFest, on the other hand, simply reward players for catching large amounts of Rainbow Trout and Squid while the festival is active. Their rewards are mostly cosmetic, but include some useful items like the Tent Kit, Mystery Boxes, and stat-boosting books. These festivals were added to Stardew Valley during one of the most recent updates and make a great addition to the yearly calendar.
Spirit’s Eve is one of the most aesthetically strong festivals, with all of Pelican Town decked out in spooky finery. However, it suffers from not having much to do; the central activity, the Haunted Maze, is fairly repetitive and must be fully navigated each year to earn a prize. ConcernedApe did respond to player criticism about the event by adding a more complex maze layout that appears in even-numbered years.
C-Tier Festivals
- Dance of the Moonlight Jellies
While it’s pretty to look at, the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies is arguably the least interesting festival in Stardew Valley. Initially, the Festival did not include any items or prizes that could be obtained; ConcernedApe did later change this by adding a shop run by Pierre which sells some related cosmetic items. However, it’s still a fairly dull festival, and greatly contributed to Summer being seen as Stardew Valley’s weakest event season prior to the addition of the Trout Derby.
- Released
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February 26, 2016
- ESRB
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E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
- Developer(s)
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ConcernedApe
- Publisher(s)
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ConcernedApe