While the majority of time players spend with Stardew Valley will be mining, tilling, and harvesting, some of the most memorable moments in Concerned Ape’s classic farm sim come from the games 9 seasonal festivals. And while we’re all too aware that there’s even more with the PC 1.6 update, we’ll just be ranking the festivals from 1.5, as unfortunately we’re all console Stardew players. Can you tell this article is just a coping mechanism to bide our time until it makes it to Switch?
But regardless of our intent here, we’ve devised a carefully crafted grading system that takes a festivals atmosphere, activities, and replaybility into consideration . So let’s get ready to celebrate and rank the Stardew Valley festivals and special events!
9. Festival of Ice
While there’s nothing particularly boring about the Festival of Ice, it also is a sort of one and done event. Here players can enter a fishing competition to win some tackle and the sailer hat, or a solid 2000g on subsequent winning years. But outside of showing off your angler skills, there’s little else to do other than buy some early Winter Star decorations and chat with the villagers. The competition itself is also a little clunky with practically nothing changed about the typical fishing format. Now if we were able to build our own snow goon as part of the festival, we might rank this higher, but as of now it’s just kind of a community taking the day to stand around a hole in the ice.
Atmosphere: D
Activities: B
Replayability: C
8. The Flower Dance
The Flower Dance is a bit of an oddity, as it’s more an early game reminder to players that they really should be trying to make friendships and romances than it is a full fledged festival. In fact the average Stardew farmer probably won’t be at enough hearts with any of the marriage candidates to even partake in the event year 1, but that adds to the excitement of the festival in year 2, when the farmer will have had a year to build out their dance partner options. Seeing the varying reactions from dance partners in later years adds an element of replayability and romantic or marital drama. But outside of seeing a new dialogue box or buying some seasonal flowers from Pierre, there’s still a lack of much depth to this festival once those butterflies in your stomach settle down.
Atmosphere: B
Activities: C
Replayability: C
7. The Luau
The Luau is one of the most base level festivals in the game where farmers will add an ingredient to the communal soup, and either please or disappoint the Governor. BUT, what pushes this mostly bland festival up a few slots is the unique items you can add into that stew. Sure you can make the Governor nod approvingly or devour his bowl by adding in a decent crop or a high level truffle, but where things get really interesting is if you add Mayor Lewis’s shorts into the mix and embarrass him in front of the whole town, as well as the highest ranking state official. It also helps the dialogue here is a little better from the townsfolk, whether it’s getting a hint that Harvey has a crush on Maru, some history about Sam’s delinquency, or Emily just vibing on the dance floor. It may be basic, but it oozes plenty of personality and charm.
Atmosphere: B
Activities: D
Replayability: B
6. Feast of the Winter Star
Stardew Valley‘s version of Christmas is like most holiday traditions. There’s a lot of food, some fun decorations, a long winded story of its origins, and of course a gift exchange. The music is cheery and the decor is cute, and finding your secret Santa the perfect gift can add to some of the challenge. But the best part is the absolute dice role for what you could receive from your own personal St. Nick. Maybe you’ll get a nice wine from Leah, or a high end tea set from Evelyn. Or maybe Vincent will just pull some clay out of his pocket and shove it into your position, insisting he was thinking about you when he found it over the summer. Either way the anticipation is always a lot of fun, even if you just stop by this event to grab your gift and then head home.
Atmosphere: B
Activities: C
Replayability: B
5. The Egg Festival
While the egg festival’s general vibes are a little bland, it’s bolstered heavily by how fun the egg hunt mini game is. With multiple routes players can take, and a race against the clock, the combination of strategy and speed make the festival super replayable. Winning the classic straw hat is a great first year cosmetic upgrade. And while it’s not that much once your farm is producing, 1000g for winning in subsequent years is nothing to sneeze at, especially when thrashing Abigail and the towns kids is as fun as it is. Now if we could only actually buy or eat all of Gus’s delectable sounding egg dishes.
Atmosphere: C
Activities: B
Replayability: B
4. Spirit’s Eve
It’s hard to beat Halloween vibes, and Spirit’s Eve delivers in eerie spades. Whether its the skeletons Marlon’s set up, the variety of spooky creatures and statues in the maze, or just seeing how everyone in town handles the mystical and terrifying, it blends the haunting and fun perfectly. Plus there are all the small details, like Linus and the Wizard hiding out on the cliffside above the maze, or the flashing tv monster that add a little so much in the details. But while navigating the event’s maze the first time is thrilling, having to walk back out after securing that Golden Pumpkin, or walking through the maze once your know how to navigate it do take away some of the excitement. Still, it always feels like it’s worth staying up late to attend just for the creepy vibes alone.
Atmosphere: A
Activities: B
Replayability: C
3. The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies
The Moonlight Jellies is one of the most magical moments in all of Stardew Valley, marking the perfect end of each summer and issuing in the changing of the seasons. It’s beautiful illumination of blues and purples as the Fall winds start to pick up brings this sense of realism and progression to Pelican town and the players farm, and this event makes the rest of the town more reflective as well. Something about Leah saying goodbye to a bygone summer, Linus hiding in the bushes but still unable to miss this natural phenomenon, or even coming back and seeing your in game children gathering in later years, all create this rich natural appreciation and nostalgia. Sure the festival itself has no unique games, but that cutscene itself is worth seeing each time.
Atmosphere: A
Activities: D
Replayability: A
2. The Stardew Valley Fair
The Stardew Valley Fair is really the peak of many of the core mechanics of Stardew. Players can enter their goods into the booth display competition, play festival games like the wheel spin and slingshot, and even win a Stardrop from the prizes booth. There is so much to do, but the atmosphere also shines with incoming visitors to town patronizing the festival, and the town’s residents all showing off what they’ve been working on all year. The only points we docked here were that while the games are always fun, and thrashing an overconfident Pierre in the display competition always feels good, some of this can all lose its luster once you’ve won the prizes. Still, the fair is such a staple festival because it most embodies Stardew Valley as a whole.
Atmosphere: A
Activities: A
Replayability B
1. The Night Market
Is it any surprise the mysterious, beautiful, and exotic Night Market tops this list? Whether you’re catching the mermaid show and grabbing that pearl, going deep sea diving for impressive and high selling fish, patronizing the ever changing shops, or just enjoying your free cup of coffee, The Night Market is enchanting. And while we didn’t factor this into our ranking or scoring, we have to mention that its musical theme hauntingly sad yet comforting, and only adds to how much this festival oozes a sense of wonder. Not only is it worth revisiting every year, but most players will find themselves enjoying the Night Market all three nights its open on an annual basis.
Atmosphere: A
Activities: A
Replayability: A
So what do you think is the best Stardew Valley festival? Be sure to let us know in the comments!