Festival of Ice

Jinxed.png
Warning: Spoilers

This page or section contains unmarked spoilers from update 1.5 of Stardew Valley. Mobile players may want to avoid or be cautious toward reading this article.


The Festival of Ice takes place on the 8th of every Winter. You attend the festival by entering Cindersap Forest between 9am and 2pm. When the festival ends, you will be returned to The Farm at 10pm.

The festival features ice sculptures, snowmen, and igloos. There's also an Ice Fishing Contest you can take part in along with Pam, Willy, and Elliott. You must catch at least five fish to win the competition. The first time you win, your prize is two tackles (a Barbed Hook.png Barbed Hook and a Dressed Spinner.png Dressed Spinner), a Magnet.png Magnet, and a Sailor's Cap.png Sailor's Cap. Thereafter, winning awards you Gold.png2,000g, which counts toward your "total earnings."

If two or more players in a Multiplayer game win the Ice Fishing Contest, all winning players receive the reward(s).

The holes in the ice are quite small, so it can be difficult to cast into them. Standing close to the hole and casting a minimal distance is easiest. It is possible to catch fish outside of the frozen lake, but these fish do not count towards the competition.

The festival ends automatically after Mayor Lewis judges the fishing contest.

On the day of the Festival, every home and shop in Stardew Valley is "locked" and cannot be entered.

Shop

The Traveling Merchant has a booth from which she sells the following items.

Image Name Description Price
Rarecrow 4.png
Rarecrow (1) Collect them all! (4 of 8) Gold.png5,000g
Tree of the Winter Star.png
Tree of the Winter Star Can be placed as decoration. Gold.png5,000g
'Frozen Dreams'.png
'Frozen Dreams' Can be placed inside your house. Gold.png2,000g
Icy Rug.png
Icy Rug Can be placed inside your house. Gold.png4,000g
Winter Dining Table.png
Winter Dining Table Can be placed as decoration. Gold.png3,000g
Icy Banner.png
Icy Banner Can be placed inside your house. Gold.png800g
Wall Sconce 6.png
Wall Sconce Can be placed inside your house. Gold.png1,000g
Winter End Table.png
Winter End Table Can be placed as decoration. Gold.png1,000g
Cranberry Sauce.png
Cranberry Sauce (1) A festive treat. Gold.png200g
Stuffing.png
Stuffing (1) Ahh... the smell of warm bread and sage. Gold.png200g
Pumpkin Soup.png
Pumpkin Soup (1) A seasonal favorite. Gold.png250g

Dialogue

Each year, unless she is married, Penny will ask what kind of snowman she and Jas should build. You can give her three answers:

  • Classic Snowman (carrot nose, coal eyes, scarf) -- [She will smile and say that it is best to stick with the classics.]
  • A Funky Snowman (Icicle antennae, pine cone eyes) -- [She will smile and say that it sounds like a fun idea.]
  • Tell her Snowmen are boring and she should build something 'outside the box!' -- [She will say she would rather stick to something a bit more conventional.]

Willy will also ask if you are ready for some ice fishing. You can give him three answers:

  • Yes. I'll do my best! -- [He will smile and say that's the spirit!]
  • Yes, and I'm going to beat you! -- [He will simply say we'll see.]
  • To be honest, no. I'm bad at fishing. -- [He will smile and say to think of this as good practice.]

Images

Festival of Ice 1.jpg Festival of Ice 2.jpg

Mail

Festival of Ice Mail.png

Trivia

  • At the end of the fishing competition Lewis will say "Wow, that's a lot of fish". This may be a reference to 1998 Godzilla silly quote.
  • If you talk to Abigail at her snowman, she will ask you what you think of her "snow goon." This may be a reference to a 1991 series of "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strips found in the Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons collection, in which Calvin builds several mutant snowmen.
  • If you're married to Abigail and talk to her at her snowman, she will say "Hey, honey... look it's you!"
  • It is possible to find one of the Secret Notes during the ice fishing contest, but it will not be added to your inventory when the contest is over.
  • Contest fish do not register as "caught" unless the animation showing the fish flying back to you is completed. It is possible to catch your fifth fish just as time runs out (with the bar announcing a "perfect" catch) and still lose the contest because the fifth fish did not complete its flying animation.

Bugs

  • After initiating the fishing contest through Lewis, a player who moves directly to the rightmost accessible fishing spot and instantly casts a line too far for the fishing hole, will then be stuck in a state that looks like a combination of pulling on the rod and standing idly forward. Once begun, the bug holds the player in a state where no buttons can be pressed, and no fish will bite a "line" that was cast, rendering the event mini-game unplayable. After two minutes, the contest ends and play continues normally as if the player caught no fish.
    • It's also possible to trigger this bug after a few casts rather than immediately, but it's not clear what exact circumstances trigger it (other than requiring the cast to be too far to hit the hole).
  • A player who holds down a directional control while the fishing contest starts will not be provided with a fishing rod but will continue to be able to talk to the villagers, who all have the same dialogue as they do before the contest begins.

History

  • 1.4: Fixed bug where NPCs would follow non-festival schedules after the festival. Festival winnings count towards total earnings.
  • 1.5: Traveling Merchant's shop introduced.
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