Summary
The 1.6 update forStardew Valleyintroduced a number of events, including the three-day-long Desert Festival. Players can load up onto the bus and head to the Calico Desert where the once barren land fills with tents, booths, and activities to take part in.
Unlike some of the other events that freeze time so you can enjoy everything at your own pace, time doesn’t stop during the Desert Festival. So you may find yourself rushing to do everything before the fun is forced to come to a close. But which activities should you prioritize? This list will help guide you so you feel satisfied each year you attend.
Harvey’s Medical Tent and the Shrouded Figure are not included as they aren’t set up to be activities.
10The Races
Fun on paper, the races pit three of five silly contestants against each other as they race around the Calico Desert. What makes this interactive is that you can “bet” on which contestant will win. If you’re right, you will win someCalico Eggs.
You can also rig the contest in your favor by talking to the shady man on the bench over by Sandy’s Shop. But that’s where the interaction ends and, after watching the racers once, it loses some of the initial charm; everyone should bet once, but after that, you can move on.
9The Free Cactus Salesman
You read that right, this “salesman” has a booth at the bottom of the Desert where he gives out free cactuses. Cacti, if you will. There are a lot of different options, and it’s fun to be surprised by which cactus he pairs you up with.
The catch? He only gives out one cactus a year, so even if you want to collect them all, you will have to wait year after year. And, that does mean that after you talk to him once, there’s no need to visit him again, allowing you to move on to other booths and activities.
8The Traveling Cart
The beloved Traveling Cartmakes its way to the Desert during the Festival, and just like when she appears in the Cindersap Forest, she arrives with a stock of items you may purchase. There’s not much change to her stock from when she’s in the Valley, but it does change every day, which means you get five different weekly chances to buy things from her.
You should spend a little time visiting her each day you show up at the Festival. Thankfully, while browsing her wares, time does stop as it does anytime you have a shop menu open, so purchasing from her won’t take away from any of the other activities.
7Calico Egg Merchant
If you like shopping with the Traveling Cart, then you’ll also like swinging by the Calico Egg Merchant once you have some Calico Eggs to spend. They don’t offer as wide and as random of a selection as the Traveling Merchant does, but they do sell items you’re able to only purchase during the Festival.
Their stock also changes every day, making them a booth you want to visit each day of the Desert Festival. However, it’s not every item that changes, as they keep some permanent items up for sale. You’ll want to check their furniture every day.
6The Scholar
A fun and interesting addition to the Desert Festival is the Scholar who sits off to the side of the festivities. He offers to quiz you and, if you answer all of their questions correctly, he will reward you with 50 Calico Eggs.
If you miss an answer, you’re done for the day, but rest assured, you can take the quiz again the next day. Once you do answer all the questions correctly, you’re done for the year, not able to take the quiz again until the next time the Festival appears.
5Willy’s Fishing Quests
If you are a fan of fishing, you’ll want to check out Willy’s Fishing Quests, which reward you for completing one of his current missions. If you don’t like fishing, you may still want to take a shot at it because you’ll get Calico Eggs as the reward.
This may be a hot take, having Willy placed fourth; during a Festival where time doesn’t stop, you are devoting a lot of time to these quests, including trying to catch something as challenging as the Scorpion Carp. That means there’s less time you have to spend on other activities and, if you don’t have a good handle on the fishing mini-game, you could walk away empty-handed.
4Emily’s Outfit Services
Who doesn’t like a little surprise? Especially when it’s free and has you walking away with items in your pockets. Or, in this case, on your body; Emily has you step inside a box-shaped space and gives you new clothing items based on your vibe.
You can visit her every day, meaning you can walk away with three free outfits every year, so there’s no reason to miss out. After all, you never know what you’ll get.
3The Chef
The Chef is a quirky part of the Desert Festival that you should never miss out on. He will give you a number of flavor options to choose from and, once you’ve made your selections, he gets to work throwing together a Frankenstein monster of a dish.
But the fun hook of his booth is that any dish he makes you gives you a bonus to a couple of the following, so you shouldn’t miss out a single day:
2The Villager Shops
One of the themes of the Desert Festival is shopping ‘til you drop, and another way you can do that is by visiting two differentVillager Shops. The fun aspect of this is that whoever mans the booths is randomized each day.
Not just that, each villager sells unique items that match their interests and personality. It’s a way to obtain items you otherwise wouldn’t be able to, or stock up on things that are typically rarer to come across.
1Marlon’s Skull Cavern Challenge
The Skull Cavern offers excitement each time you visit it on any regular day. During the Desert Festival, Marlon finds a way to spice the Cavern up even more by not only having different challenges for you but also havingCalico Statuesset up that will give you both buffs and debuffs randomly.
Once you’ve finished yourdeep dive into the Skull Cavern, report to Gil who will give you even more Calico Eggs based on your Egg Rating, which appears in the top right corner of your screen.
