Our goal is to crush Pierre. Here’s how to win the Stardew Valley Fair Grange Display in Year One.
How to Win the Grange Display Contest in Year One of Stardew Valley
The Stardew Valley Festival is the most important festival for farmers. Not because winning will net you some fantastic prize, but because it’s a chance to show the culmination of all your hard work. And so you can shove your success in Pierre’s face. Sure, you might buy the best goods in the valley, Pierre, but we grow them.
To win the Stardew Valley Festival Grange Display, you’ll need nine items of at least gold or better, in eight categories. The eight categories are:
- Animal Products
- Artisan Goods
- Cooking
- Fishing
- Flowers / Forage / Tree Saps
- Fruits
- Minerals
- Vegetables
You can have overlap. Each item presented in the listed categories above will receive a bonus of +5 points, and our goal is to get 90 points. So, let’s go into the easiest options for each category.
For Animal Products, the easiest option is a Large Egg, especially if you opted for a Meadowlands farm. A Large Egg with gold or iridium quality will get you 5 and 7 points, respectively. And because of the animal products category, it will receive an additional 5 points up to 10 to 12 points. If you don’t have chickens, I highly recommend purchasing a barn and getting a cow. A cow can produce a Large Milk. A Large Milk of gold or iridium quality is worth 6 and 8 points. After the bonus, it will receive 11 or 13 points. Pet your animals daily to increase the size and quality of the product they produce. Prioritizing one of these low-maintenance, affordable animals is the best way to come out on top of this category.
Artisan Goods is another easy category, especially if you have the Meadowlands farm. That’s because you’ll automatically have two chickens on your field, and you’ve likely already created a Mayonnaise Maker. Mayonnaise will net you 6 points, 11 after the bonus. But if you didn’t go with the Meadowlands farm, I recommend Pickles. Pickles are made using a Preserve Jar, which is unlocked at level 4. From there, prioritize Pumpkin for Preserving as it will net you the most points at 6, or 11 after the bonus score.
Next on the list is cooking. I completely botched this portion, but as you can see from my score, it scarcely mattered. What I would and should have done is keep an eye on Gus’s rotating recipe stock in the Stardrop Saloon and purchase the recipe for Autumn’s Bounty. Alternatively, reached +7 hearts with Demetrius. That’s because Autumn’s Bounty can be made only using Yams and Pumpkin. It’s also one of the most valuable dishes, coming in at 5 points before bonuses.
Fish are next. Any fish you can get that is Iridium rarity is ideal, even if the fish itself isn’t very rare. So, if you have a Bream, put that fish up. The only exceptions are Anchovy, Carp, Sardine, Sunfish, and Herring, which are a point below the other fish. To get an iridium fish, you essentially need to score “perfect” while reeling it in. This occurs when your fish bar stays on the fish icon as you’re reeling it in. But sometimes even a perfect reel can net your gold instead of an iridium. Just keep trying.
For flowers, forage, and tree saps, it can be very hard to get an item with an iridium ranking. So, try to get a gold fairy rose, poppy, chanterelle, morel, or purple mushroom. This will be much easier if you let Demetrius convert the cave on your farm into a mushroom cave. Otherwise, a gold leek, hazelnut, or sunflower, is fine.
Now we’re getting to the good stuff. The best fruit you can present will also be iridium, though gold is fine. Aim for apples if you managed to grow one in time and it’s irididum. Otherwise, go for gold Crystal Fruit, Melons, Peaches, or Strawberry.
For vegetables, always go for iridium. But if you can’t manage that, the best golds are amaranth, cauliflower, pumpkin, and yam. There are quite a few fall vegetables on this list, and at gold quality, they’re all worth the same. But the best iridium option is amaranth.
Finally, minerals! You’ll want to present the best gemstone you’ve found. Some people manage to find diamonds while fishing, and it’s worth the most in the competition. But another, more approachable option is ruby, which can be mined at level 80+ in the caves. Or you can try your luck with Helvite, which is worth the same as a diamond, by farming Magma Geodes in level 80+ and hoping the result is Helvite.
Once you have the best possible items selected, fill your grange display. As you can see from my own, I went with the best items that I had. If it was Iridium, it went on. And despite the significant overlap, I had a nearly perfect score. I submitted:
- Iridium Large Egg
- Iridium Fish
- Iridisum Smoked Fish
- Ruby
- Picked Broccoli
- Cranberry Jelly
- Pine Tar
- Gold Blueberry
- Gold Tulip
If you feel you can’t hit the 90-point threshold that will get you first place, you can also choose to disqualify yourself by presenting Mayor Lewis’ boxers. Doing so will get you disqualified, but you’ll get the second-highest number of points.
First place will receive 1,000 star tokens to use at the ticket booth. Disqualified people will receive 750. The second place will receive 500 star tokens. And wouldn’t you know it, 1,000 star tokens are just enough to buy a prize ticket to Mayor Lewis’ prize box.
