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Stardew Valley’s1.6 update added a number of events to the fold, including a three-day festival simply called The Desert Festival. Unlike some of the underwhelming events of Stardew past (here’s looking at you Festival of Ice), there are many activities to participate in and an array of items you’ll want to purchase from the event.
However, another thing that sets this festival apart from some of the others is that you have to unlock it. How to make it to the festival, what you may do when you’re there, and what the heck Calico Eggs are will all be covered in this guide.
Updated June 30, 2025 by Marissa Fiore: With more time passing since the release of the 1.6 update to Stardew Valley, there has been more experience gained and data collected. This article has been updated to reflect the Desert Festival activities more accurately.
When Is The Desert Festival?
The Desert Festival is a Spring event. It starts onSpring 15 and runs until Spring 17.
You can go to The Desert as soon as you’d like, however,none of the activities begin until 10 am. So, unlike when you go to the Skull Cavern, there’s not much point getting there before then.
A key difference about this Festival is that, unlike The Night Market, itdoesn’t end at a certain time. You can stay until you pass out at 2:00 a.m.
However, depending on any items you have purchased or have been able to gather, you might want to rush home at the last minute.
How Do You Unlock The Desert Festival?
To unlock this festival, you have to unlock the main way of getting to The Desert.That means fixing up the old busthat sits broken between your Farm and the entrance to the town.
There are two ways to do this. You cancomplete The Vault Bundle in the town’s Community Center. This means giving the Junimos living in the Community Center a total of42,500g.
Alternatively, you could go the Joja Route. This meansbuying a Joja membershipfrom Morris, which costs5,000g. Then youpurchase the Bus Repair,which is40,000g.
If you’re looking to save money,it’s cheaper to fix The Vault in the Community Center.
What Is The Desert Festival?
Mod Used In This Image: Vintage Interface V2 by ManaKirel
Thisthree-day Festivalconsists ofmultiple booths, NPCs exclusiveto the Festival itself, anda few traderswho have differing stock each day. However, some of them will keep a handful of the same items each day.
The booths include:
One important note,you won’t be spending gold at most of these places. Instead,you will have to collect and spend Calico Eggs.
What Are Calico Eggs?
Calico Eggsare a type ofcollectible and currencyused for the Desert Festival. There are many ways to collect these, both in The Desert and in the Skull Cavern.
In The Desert, you can collect Calico Eggs by:
In the Skull Cavern, you can collect Calico Eggs by:
The only things you don’t pay for with Calico Eggs are to be teleported back to your farm by The Shrouded Figure and to buy from The Desert Trader.
Theteleportation service costs 250g, but you can alwaystake the bus back home for free. You would pay to be teleported back instead to make it to your bed before passing out at 2 am.
Villager Run Shops
Each day of the Festival,two random villagers will show up and operate the boothsthat have been set up nearSandy’s shop, The Oasis.
On top of the villagers being random each day, they will have astock of items that are unique to them. This can be some of their favorite things or items that make sense to their character. Like Evelyn selling a Cookie Wallpaper and Marnie selling an Egg Wallpaper.
Theydon’t arrive right at 10:00 am, but not long after, so you may want to start at some of the other booths before coming back to visit the shops.
Emily’s Outfit Services
Emily and Sandy, the dynamic duo, team up to run an Outfit Service. When you step into their literal cardboard box, Emily will begin to read your aura beforecrafting a new outfit for you, including a new shirt and new pants.
Your current outfit will be given back to you in your inventory, so if you are wearing something you don’t want to lose, you won’t.
You do not have to pay for her services, but you can only use them once per day.
The Chef
The Chef is an interesting character who runs a booth during the Festival. He will ask if he can make a dish for you and ask you topick two ingredients.
No matter what you choose, he will then mix everything together and give youa food item that your farmer eats immediately.
The wonderful thing about this is thatno matter what options you choose, you get a boost to some of your stats. It may be Defense, Attack, Luck, or Speed.
Like with other food dishes,these changes aren’t indefinite. But they can help you in the Skull Cavern, or you’re able to use the Luck while fishing.
Willy’s Fishing Quests
Willy, always down to fish, uses the Desert Festival as a way to promote the art of fishing withdifferent quests each day.
This can be catching a number ofSandfish, catching aScorpian Carp, and even retrieving an item stolen from him by one of the fish in the small lake.
If you complete the quest,he will give you a bounty of Calico Eggs.There’s only one quest per day, but you’re able to attempt to complete it every day during the festival.
Marlon’s Skull Cavern Challenge
Marlon and Gil make the trek to the Desert to craft somechallenges that revolve around the Skull Cavern.
It’s similar to the Special Order board; you will havetwo challenges you may choose from each day. This may revolve around killing a certain type of monster or getting down a certain number of floors.
However,you can only pick one of them. Depending on which one you take, your Calico Egg reward will differ.
When you complete your reward, you are gifted the Calico Eggs immediately. Youdon’t have to return to Marlon.
You can then head into theSkull Cavernanddescend as you normally do. The floors, monsters, and rewards are all the same as when you usually visit the Skull Cavern.
The big difference is theCalico Cat Statues. These are not just decorations. If youclick on them, they will gift you something in return. This may be apositive rewardor buff, anegative consequenceor debuff, orno effect.
Positive rewardscan be a bounty of Calico Eggs, even 100 of them at a time. And buffs can be something like giving you additional Speed.
Negative rewards and debuffscan increase the number of monsters and how much damage they can do to you.
Even when the Statue says no effect,you will still receive an additional point to your Egg Rating.
Your Egg Rating is displayed in thetop right of your screen.It increases by one every five levels you descend, but you can also have it increased every time you activate a Calico Cat Statue.
Once you leave the Skull Cavern,talk to Gil. He will assess your Egg Rating. Depending on what it is, he willgift you Calico Eggs, but may give you other rewards. Even the powerful Magic Rock Candy can be given to you if Gil is truly impressed.
Harvey’s Medical Station
There isn’t anything you can buy from Harvey. But he sets up his Medical Station so thatif you lose all of your health in Skull Cavern, instead of being sent to the hospital,Harvey will help you in The Desert.
The Shrouded Figure
Like during The Night Market in Winter, there is a figure who sits beside aFarm Totem.
If you are desperate toget home quicklyafter spending too much time in the Skull Cavern, you canpay them 250g, and you’ll be back on your farmin the blink of an eye.
The Scholar
Standing off in the top left of The Desert is an older-looking person who has made a challenge of his own: a quiz. He asks youfour questions. If you answer them all correctly, he willgift you 50 Calico Eggs.
If you don’t guess all the answers correctly, you can try again the next day. But, when you doanswer everything and receive your reward, you have to wait untilthe next yearto take the challenge again.
The Calico Merchant
Once you’ve earned some Calico Eggs, you can swing by the Calico Merchant. Some of theiritems are available every dayof the festival. Abatwing-based headband, a stock often Mystery Boxes, aCalico Cat Statueand more.
There will also be new items each day, including furniture and decorations that are all desert-themed.
They also havean unlimited stock of Woodcutter’s Weekly. This book can be read to give you250 experience pointsin yourForaging Skill. They docost 100 Calico Eggs each,though, so you may have to save up if you want to buy a few.
The Traveling Merchant
The Traveling Merchantmakes the voyage to The Desert andoffers a wide array of items,just like when she visits on Friday and Sunday.
However, unlike with most of the traders and businesses during the Desert Festival, you will insteadbuy any items you like with Caligo Eggs.
The Desert Trader
The Desert Traderis the very same as when you visit Skull Caverns on any normal day. He doesn’t ask for Calico Eggs for any of his items. Instead, it’s the same payments you normally give him when you visit.
Jadesforstaircases,bat wingsfor abutterfly hutchand so on.
If you want to take on the different challenges Marlon creates for the Skull Cavern, you may want tosave your Jade, Ruby, or any other resources that will help you descendquickly and survive.
The Races
Place your bets! Okay, you don’t actually bet any gold or Calico Eggs, butthere are Calico Eggs to be won.
If you approach the man running the races when there isn’t one currently going on,he will ask you to pick one of the racers. Then, the race will begin shortly after. You can walk around The Desert to watch it, or you can wait until it’s completed and talk to the man again.
If you were right in your choice,he will gift you 20 Calico Eggs.
There are five possible racers, but there will only be three at a time. Thelast raceis held at11 pm in-game.
The Suspicious Guy
Want to tip the scales in your favor? You can talk to the Suspicious Guyin the bottom left of The Desert,sitting next toThe Oasis shop.
You can talk to him when there isn’t a race happening, and he’ll make a proposition. Forone Calico Egg,he’ll helprig the race in your favor. You choose a racer you want to lose.
This doesn’t guarantee you a win, of course, but it makes it a coin toss, so to speak.
The Free Cactus Salesman
Below the Villager Shops, there is a staircase that leads down to a Salesman, of sorts. He offers a free cactus to you, no strings attached. He onlygives one out a year.
There is a wide array of options, making itworth returning to the salesmanyear after year. Each cactus counts as a decor item and they can be placedboth inside and outdoors. To claim a cactus,you have to have a free spot in your inventoryto collect it. If you don’t, you can return at any point during the festival once you do.
