Stardew Valley has a total of 9 festivals, two each in Spring, Summer, and Fall, and three in Winter. In the Summer and Spring, the festivals are; the Egg Festival (Spring 13), the Flower Dance (Spring 24), the Luau (Summer 11), and the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies (Summer 28). The Fall and Winter festivals are the Stardew Valley Fair (Fall 16), the Spirit’s Eve Festival (Fall 27), the Festival of Ice (Winter 8), the Night Market (Winter 15-17), and the Feast of the Winter Star (Winter 25). The festivals can affect the way villagers see you or provide a way to earn money or other prizes.
Spring Festivals, are they useful? (NO.) The Egg Festival is basically Easter, the only uses for the festival are to a) get strawberries for easy money, and c) earn money as the prize each year you beat Abigail after the first time you beat Abigail. I recommend going to the festival for the first year to buy strawberries and skip the egg hunt. The Flower Dance, on the other hand, I recommend attempting to achieve four or more hearts with a “bachelor” or “bachelorette” character. There is a “rarecrow” at the Flower Dance Festival, as well as a couple of crafting recipes that are also needed to achieve perfection. I say if you have less than four hearts with any of the single characters wait to attend the dance until Year 2.
The Summer Festivals are also not quite that useful for perfection gameplay. Sure, the Luau is a useful way to gain hearts with all the villagers if the Governor of the Valley likes the stew. However, the governor is hard to please, the Luau is only useful in Year 2 or later. Dance of the Moonlight Jellies, it’s a phenomenon that happens every year on the 28th of Summer. Demetrius, the village scientist, reminds you of the event. The Moonlight Jellies event is beautiful, however, it has no use to the game. While there is relaxing music and a wonderful late-night show, the two hours spent at the event can be better used for other activities.
The Fall and Winter festivals are astoundingly way better to attend. The Stardew Valley Fair, on Fall 16th, provides the easiest Stardrop to get and a “rarecrow”. Stardrops increase the player’s energy permanently and bring the player back to full energy. There are seven of these in the game. To obtain these items you need a total of 2,800 “star tokens” which can be achieved by participating in the Grange Display, the slingshot minigame, the fishing minigame, the smashing stone, the token seller, and the spinning wheel. I recommend viewing the Stardew Valley Wiki for more information on the fair. The next festival is Spirit’s Eve, where the player can get a universally loved gift, the Golden Pumpkin.
The next festival is the Festival of Ice, in which a player participates in a minigame-like event, similar to the Egg Festival and the games at the Stardew Valley Fair. The event is fishing and to win one must beat Willy’s record of 4 fish. Upon winning this event the reward for the first time is a barbed hook, dressed spinner, magnet lure, and a sailor’s cap. Any wins after the first, the prize is 2000 gold. The traveling merchant also arrives at the Festival of Ice, where one can buy a second “rarecrow.” The Night Market is the strangest of all festivals, as it is the only festival where the shops do not close. Happening from the 15th to the 17th of Winter, the night market begins at 5 pm and ends at 2 am. There are places for the player to buy decorations, such as seasonal decorations and paintings, ride a submarine to do deep water fishing, and buy seeds from other seasons that Pierre or Joja do not carry until “Pierre’s Lost Stock List” is found. Also obtainable during the night market are “rarecrows” that are obtained at milestones of donating to the Museum. The final event is the Feast of the Winter Star, which is useful when attempting to befriend villagers. The villager you receive each year for the event changes and depending on the gift you give to them, their friendship goes up. You also receive a gift from a villager each year, some useful and some less so.
