Festivals

Build a festival square and your town gets a place to celebrate. Most days it is a quiet plaza with benches. On a festival day the whole square changes into that festival's build, and it changes back when the day is done.

Getting a festival square

Corin at the inn asks for one once the park is done. Take his token, place the festival square like any other plot, and let it finish building. It counts as a fun spot all year, so townsfolk and visitors come by even when nothing special is happening.

Matching your square's style

Festival builds automatically match the style of the Festival Square you placed. For example, a Stormwind square uses the installed Stormwind look for that holiday. If there is no matching look, it uses the core festival build. Changing your town's preferred style does not change the style of an existing square.

If several looks match, you can choose one at the plot crafting bench. Use square style automatically clears that preference. Looks from another style cannot be applied to this square. At the end of the festival, your square returns to its usual design.

On the day

The square swaps to the festival build in the morning and swaps back at the end of the festival.
A banner announces the festival by name when it opens, so you know to head over.
Villagers who have a spot at the festival drop what they are doing and go stand there until it is over.
Spot villagers and visitors at the square will sometimes break into a little dance.
Everyone in town has something to say about the festival while it runs, so it is worth doing the rounds.
Visitors from other worlds head to the square while the festival runs.
The calendar shows a marker on every festival day. Hover it to see which festival it is. Your birthday shows a gift box.

Building on the square

The square is looked after by the town, so nobody can dig it up or build on it. You can still use everything on it and harvest anything growing there. Keep your own decorations outside the plot.

The New Life Festival

Early spring, from morning to evening. The Springheart Lettuce sits in the middle of the square.

Throw life essence at the Springheart Lettuce and it pulls the essence in as it grows. Concentrated life essence counts for a lot more.
When it is full, interact with it to pop it. It throws vegetable seeds and spring festival tickets, then the Springheart Lettuce itself is gone.
You can keep feeding it after it is full. Extra essence makes the pop throw more seeds and tickets. Feed it a huge amount and it pops on its own.
It only pops once, so gather your life essence before the festival and share the moment with everyone.
The Priestess, Farmer, and Elder each have a place to stand, and a kweebec seed seller brings a cart for the day. Bring gold coins if you want to shop.
Every villager has their own thing to say about it, so make the rounds before the day is over.

The Pig Racing Festival

Late spring, from morning to evening. Four pigs race down the track while the town cheers them on.

The four pigs wait at the starting line for the whole festival. When a race ends they pause at the finish, then head back to the start for the next one.
Talk to the race merchant to bet gold coins on a pig. You can pick 10, 25, 50, or 100 gold coins, then choose which pig you like.
Anyone can place a bet before the race starts. When you are ready, ask the merchant to start it.
Only one race runs at a time. When it ends, a banner at the top of the screen names the winning pig.
If your pig wins, talk to the merchant again to collect spring festival tickets. Bigger bets pay out more tickets. If you lose, the merchant will say so, then you can bet on another race.
The merchant also keeps a small shop that takes spring festival tickets. Expect ranch goods for now.
The Elder, Innkeeper, Blacksmith, and Rancher each have a place to stand by the track. Visitors watch from stands outside the lanes.
Every villager has their own thing to say about it, so make the rounds before the day is over.

Hallow's Eve

Late autumn, from mid afternoon until midnight. A hedge maze fills the square with glowing orbs and a jack o lantern in the middle. Bats fly above the square for the night.

Talk to the Hallow's Eve merchant to start the maze for ten gold coins. You are sent to the entrance, freeze for a short countdown, then the orbs appear.
Collect as many glowing orbs as you can before time runs out. The jack o lantern grows as you gather them.
Only one person can run the maze at a time. Wait if someone else is already inside.
When time is up, or when you have every orb, interact with the jack o lantern to pop autumn festival tickets and spooky candy. Then someone else can try.
The merchant takes autumn festival tickets for candy, decorations, and a jack o lantern hat pattern. Ask to see the scoreboard to compare maze runs. Most orbs wins, and a full clear ranks by how much time was left.
The Priestess, Elder, Innkeeper, and Bard each have a place to stand, and visitors watch from outside the hedges.
Every villager has their own thing to say about it, so make the rounds before the night is over.

Market Festival

Mid autumn, from morning until evening. Town members fill one shared stall at the square. Elder Lyren walks four stands, then names a winner.

Interact with the town stall to set out up to nine goods. Everyone in town shares that stall, so mix what you bring.
Variety and rarer goods score better. Empty slots score nothing.
Talk to Elder Lyren when the stall is ready. Ask how the contest works if you want the scoring kinds. She walks the stands, then you can ask who won.
First, second, and third place earn extra autumn festival tickets. First place also earns a Corin Plushie and a Heartberry once for the town that year. Tickets can be collected once per person per year. Collecting also gives back the goods from the town stall.
Ask Lyren to see the town scoreboard. It ranks towns by stall score, not people.
A few townsfolk open ticket stalls for the day. Talk to them to spend autumn festival tickets on goods that fit their work.
Visitors watch from around the square. Every villager has their own thing to say, so make the rounds before the day is over.

The Snowball Throwing Festival

Early winter, from morning until evening. A snowball fight fills the square, with piles of snow to grab from.

Talk to the snowball merchant to join a team for free. When everyone is ready, ask them to start the fight. Townsfolk fill empty spots.
Snowballs you already have are taken when the fight starts so everyone starts even. Grab more from the piles on the square.
You move to a team pad. Each person has three snowflakes. A hit from the other team takes one. When you have none left you sit out.
The fight lasts four minutes, or ends when one team is fully out. The team with more snowflakes left wins. A tie pays both teams.
Winners get winter festival tickets when the fight ends. You do not need to talk to the merchant to collect them.
The merchant takes winter festival tickets for holiday decorations, snowball piles, and a santa hat pattern. Ask to see the scoreboard for the most hits in one fight.
Every villager has their own thing to say, so make the rounds before the day is over.

Wintertide

Late winter, from morning until evening. Town members each give one gift to a neighbor, then receive one in return.

Talk to the Wintertide merchant to hear who you should give a gift to. They will not tell you who is giving to you.
Find a gift, then give it in person. You do not need to start anything with the merchant first.
If you were assigned a villager, talk to them while holding the item and choose Give this Wintertide gift. That gift counts twice as much toward friendship. Everyday gifts still work, but they do not count for Wintertide.
If you were assigned a town member, they need to be in the world. Interact with them while holding the item. They pick how they feel, and you get winter festival tickets.
How much they like it changes how many tickets you get. After you give your gift, a villager walks up with a gift for you.
The merchant takes winter festival tickets for candy, lights, wreaths, a santa hat pattern, and other holiday goods.
Villagers who are giving or receiving a gift gather at the square until the festival is over. Visitors watch from around the square.
Every villager has their own thing to say, so make the rounds before the day is over.

Making your own festival

The plot creator has a Festival build type. Stand in an open area, pick it, then choose New festival or an existing holiday to give it a new look. A starting square is placed nearby at the fixed festival size; you do not need to mark an area. Build inside it, mark where villagers should stand, then name the festival and pick its season, day, and hours.