The highly anticipated 1.6 update for Stardew Valley was finally released on March 19 and includes some major changes. Along with new areas to explore, new festivals to participate in and new NPC dialogues, there were also countless bug fixes.
Stardew Valley is one of the most popular cozy games to date, and part of the reason being that it’s technically never ending. The update adds some new quests to complete, prolonging your farming adventure with even more things to explore. In this guide we will go over everything you need to know about the new festivals and events added to the game.
It’s easy to become bored of harvesting, fishing and mining every single day but the seasonal festivals provide a nice break from the average day-to-day duties. The 1.6 update includes one three-day festival, two fishing-related mini festivals and a special “environmental event.” The update also added maps to festivals, and the dialogue with villagers changes every second year (with the exception of the Night Market and Desert Festival).
The Desert Festival is held in spring and includes new activities and quests.
Desert Festival
The Desert Festival is a three-day event at Calico Desert, that can only be accessed after the bus has been repaired. Starting on Spring 15, the event officially starts at 10 a.m. for every day of the festival. There are several attractions and quests that offer the ability to earn this festival’s special currency, Calico Eggs.
Calico Eggs are physical items that can be used to purchase items from the various shops only during the Desert Festival. The amount of eggs you earn will carry over from day to day, but as soon as the festival ends the eggs will disappear from your inventory, so you have to use them while you have them. Completing certain quests or actions around the festival will help you gain eggs, and the trash bin next to the Calico Egg Merchant’s shop can be checked and contains one Calico Egg per day.
There are a lot of attractions and new things to do during this festival, like betting on a race, going shopping, getting a new look, grabbing a bite to eat, obtaining a free cactus, checking out the Skull Cavern, completing Willy’s fishing quests and participating in some trivia.
For the races, players may place bets on the races that happen every hour on the hour. If a player’s chosen contestant wins, they will receive 20 Calico Eggs per win. But if you give the suspicious man next to the Oasis one Calico Egg, you can choose which racer you would like to lose. While this doesn’t guarantee the racer will actually lose, the odds will however be in your favor. The 5 possible contestants are Speed Rooster, King Sting, Shoebiscuit, Escar-go and Cactus Crawler, and only 3 contestants will race each day.
There are three different areas to shop around during this festival. First you have the Calico Egg Merchant who mostly sells accessories and furniture items. Some items are sold every day while others are only available on certain days. The Permanent Stock includes Mystery Boxes, Mummy Mask, Blue Bow, Dark Velvet Bow, Mega Bomb, Spicy Eels, Crab Cakes, Eggplant Parmesans, Pumpkin Soups, Lucky Lunches and Woodcutter’s Weekly. On Spring 15, the rotating items available are Strawberry seeds, Sun Dune Painting, Sandy Rug, Desert End Table and a Calico Statue. On Spring 16, the rotating items available are Mixed Seeds, Desert Table, Desert Chair and a Decorative Barrel. On Spring 17, the rotating items available are Strawberry Seeds, Magic Rock Candy, Calico Statue, Desert Fireplace, Desert Flags and a Desert Rug.
Your second shopping option is the Traveling Cart, which isn’t new, but now there will be an umbrella over the pig’s head. And then finally, the 1.6 update introduces a new concept to this festival: Villager Shops. Two random villagers are selected each day of the festival to set up their own little booth of items to sell. Most of the villagers will be selling recipes, seeds, furniture, ores, etc… but some items are more personalized to the seller, like Pierre’s Sign or Sam’s Skateboard.
If you’re bored of your look or lack a sense of fashion, have no fear, Emily’s got you covered. Emily’s Outfit Service provides players will a whole new look created by Emily and Sandy. A cutscene will occur where Emily offers you a whole new look that “embodies” the player. There are 61 total makeover outfits: 34 gender-neutral, 13 male-only and 14 female-only. Each outfit consists of a shirt, pants and possibly a hat. If you try to change your outfit again in one day, Emily will kick you out and say you look good in your new outfit.
You can also pop over to the food stand and grab a free meal. The chef will give you a list of ingredients to choose from and he will make you a meal based off the items you chose. But these ingredients have special effects, the options are Heart Beans, Cave Loaf, Rare Fruit, Extremely Sharp Cheddar, and Shrimp. You are also prompted to choose a sauce that also comes with special effects, the options are Rich Marinara, Mushroom Crème, Cherry Syrup, Pungent Garlic, and uncomfortable Hot Sauce. The player will eat the meal immediately and receive special buffs. Any dish will restore the player to maximum health and energy.
Once per festival, the player may obtain a cactus décor item from the Cactus Salesman. There are several options with different faces, colors and designs.
During the Desert Festival, there are even more things to explore in the Skull Cavern.
If you’re looking for more action, don’t worry, there are quests to complete in the Skull Cavern. Marlon offers one-day quests that will award players Calico Eggs. On the first day of the festival, he will give you the Monster Hunt Quest where players must slay 10 monsters. On the second day he will give you the Deep Dive Quest where players must reach level 30 of the Skull Cavern. And on the last day he will give you the Treasure Hunt Quests where players have to collect items from the Skull Cavern. There are also Calico Egg mining nodes and when mined yield 1-3 Calico eggs.
Players also gain 1 “Egg Rating” for every 5 floors reached and every Calico Statue activated. Calico Statues may randomly appear once per floor (even Treasure Rooms). Activating the statue grants a random effect that lasts throughout the player’s current descent into the Cavern. If you lose all your health during these quests, you will awaken at Harvey’s “shop.” The player will awaken with 10 Health, and they will not lose any additional Energy or Gold but instead will lose 20% of the Calico Eggs in their inventory.
Looking for even more quests? Willy offers one-day fishing-related quests that will award the player Calico Eggs upon completion. Much like the Skull Cavern quests, Willy will offer one quests per each day of the festival. On the first day Willy will ask you to catch 3 sandfish, on the second day he will ask you to catch a Scorpion Carp and on the final day he will ask you to retrieve his rare golden bobber.
After you’ve tested your fighting and fishing skills, try testing your brain with some trivia. When you approach the Scholar, he will ask you a series of four questions. If you answer all four questions correctly, he will grant you 50 Calico Eggs. Players only have once chance per day to try their luck and questions are randomized every time.
The possible questions (with answers) are:
- “Who runs the Blacksmith in Pelican Town” (Clint)
- “Who runs the Museum in Pelican Town” (Gunther)
- “Who runs the Saloon in Pelican Town” (Gus)
- “Who runs the Fish Shop in Pelican Town” (Willy)
- “Who runs the Animal Shop in Pelican Town” (Marnie)
- “Who runs the General Store in Pelican Town” (Pierre)
- “What is the date of the season’s end” (28th)
- “Where are we” (Calico Desert)
- “What season does Garlic grow in” (Spring)
- “What season does Red Cabbage grow in” (Summer)
- “What season does Artichoke grow in” (Fall)
- “When does the Apricot tree bear fruit” (Spring)
- “When does the Peach tree bear fruit” (Summer
- “When does the Pomegranate tree bear fruit” (Fall)
- “When is Pierre’s Shop normally closed” (Wednesdays)
- “In what season can you catch Carp” (Any Season)
- “In what season can you catch Pufferfish (Summer)
- “In what season can you catch Salmon” (Fall)
- “In what season can you catch Squid” (Winter)
- “How much does a Chicken cost” (800g)
- “How much does a Cow cost” (1,500g)
- “How much does a Pig cost” (16,000g)
- “How much does a Rabbit cost” (8,000g)
- “How much does a Duck cost” (1,200g)
- “Where might you catch the Stonefish” (Mine level 20)
- “Where might you catch the Ice Pip” (Mine level 60)
- Where might you catch the Lava Eel” (Mine level 100)
- “What is George’s last name” (Mullner)
- “How many garbage cans are there in Pelican Town” (8)
- The question that asks “How many steps have you taken” will always be answered by the middle option.
Finally the last interaction from the festival is with the Shrouded Figure. If you pay this mysterious figure 250g they will teleport you back to your farm.
The Trout Derby is a mini festival where you collect Rainbow Trout.
Trout Derby
Trout Derby is a fishing mini festival that occurs on Summer 20 and Summer 21 in Cindersap Forest. During the festival, players can fish in the river to catch Rainbow Trout, which can be caught all day long and regardless of weather. Each Rainbow Trout catch has a chance to give the player a Golden Tag, which can be exchanged for prizes. Every time you catch a Rainbow Trout, the likeness that you’ll find a Golden Tag goes up by 33%. Only 1 Golden Tag can be caught per catch even if the player caught multiple Rainbow Trout at once. The player exchanges Golden Tags one by one for the available prizes. The first prize will always be a Tent Kit, but afterwards the player can choose.
SquidFest is a mini festival where you collect squid.
SquidFest
SquidFest is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a mini festival where you just catch squid all day long. The festival takes place on Winter 12 and Winter 13 and the squid you catch can be exchanged for prizes. There are 4 tiers of prizes: copper, iron, gold and iridium, and the squids needed for each tier are shown to the left of the shop. The amount of squid the player caught is shown in a counter on the top-left corner and it resets between days.
Green Rain is a new environmental event that happens once every summer.
Environmental Event
From earthquakes to crop fairies to meteorites, Stardew Valley is no stranger to random environmental-related events. With the 1.6 update, players can now experience the strange Green Rain event at random every summer. When this phenomenon occurs, wild trees and weeds will appear all over the valley, tree saplings have a chance to grow and mature and fully grown trees may be covered in moss. Large Fiddlehead Fern stalk will also grow and can be harvested to collect multiple Fiddlehead Ferns. Most villagers will hunker down in the Saloon instead of following their regular routines.
Players are able to buy books from the bookseller and gain experience.
Bookseller
The bookseller is a shop that sells books and appears twice every season on random dates marked by a balloon icon on the calendar. The shop sells a random assortment of books each time and players can also trade in their books here. Whenever the Bookseller is visiting, there will be a message saying “The Bookseller is in town today.” The books that are available for purchase will teach you a new skill and earn you some experience, or they can grant you a special ability. Trading books granting powers will only appear if the player has already obtained the power from that book. Also, for books with multiple items that can be obtained, only one of the items will be available to earn when trading.
New festivals and special events are only a sliver of the changes brought to Stardew Valley from the update. There are also new areas to explore, even more quests, new NPC dialogues and so much more.
Source: Stardew Valley
