You've spent all spring and summer watering blueberries and praying for rain. Now it's Fall 15. The Stardew Valley Fair is finally here, and honestly, it’s the most stressful day of the year for a digital farmer. It isn’t just about the mini-games or the spinning wheel that always seems to land on orange when you bet on green. It's about that wooden 3x3 grid in the middle of Pelican Town.
The Grange Display.
Most players walk into the fair with a backpack full of gold-star pumpkins and think they’ve got it in the bag. They don’t. Winning first place—and snagging those 1,000 Star Tokens—requires a bit more strategy than just "biggest vegetable wins." If you've ever been beaten by Pierre (who probably took credit for your own crops anyway), you know the sting of a second-place finish. It hurts.
👉 See also: Fractured Peaks Side Quests: Why You Are Probably Missing the Best Rewards
How the Stardew Valley Fair Scoring Actually Works
Lewis is a picky judge. To get that top prize, you need 90 points. You start with 14 points just for showing up, which is nice, but the rest is a math game. Every item you put in the display is judged on two main things: its base sell price and its quality. But there's a catch. If you fill your entire grid with nothing but Ancient Fruit Wine, you’re going to lose. Lewis wants variety.
Basically, there are eight categories: Animal Products, Artisan Goods, Cooking, Fish, Foraging, Fruits, Minerals, and Vegetables. You get 5 bonus points for every unique category you represent, up to a maximum of 30 points. This means you should aim to fill six of the nine slots with items from different categories. The remaining three slots? Fill those with your absolute highest-value, highest-quality items.
Don't ignore the "trash" categories. A gold-star Chanterelle from the woods (Foraging) or a Diamond (Minerals) can often pull more weight than a standard-quality melon because of that category bonus.
The Secret Strategy for High-Point Items
Price matters. A lot. If an item sells for more than 400 gold and has an Iridium star, it’s almost guaranteed to net you the maximum 8 points for that individual slot.
Take a look at your chests. Do you have a Large Goat Milk? If it’s Iridium quality, that’s 8 points right there. What about a Fairy Rose? A gold-star version of that flower is a powerhouse in the "Foraging/Flower" slot. Many people forget that flowers count as forage in the context of the fair.
Why Pierre is Your Biggest Rival
It’s personal. Pierre always enters a display, and it’s usually quite good. To beat him, you need to think about the "point ceiling." You can technically earn up to 125 points if you’re a literal farming god, but you only need 90 to get the 1,000 tokens. Second place gets you 500 tokens, and third gets you 250.
If you're short on high-value items, focus on Artisan Goods. Mayonnaise, Honey, and Jelly are easy to produce by mid-fall of year one. Even a basic jar of Jelly usually scores well because the game views the "Artisan" tag as a sign of effort.
The Token Grind: Beyond the Display
Once the judging is over, don't just leave. You need 2,000 Star Tokens to buy the Stardrop from the shop. It's one of the few ways to permanently increase your energy bar. If you won the Grange Display, you're halfway there.
How do you get the rest?
The spinning wheel is the fastest, albeit riskiest, method. Mathematically, the green sliver wins 75% of the time. It’s a known quirk in the game’s code. Bet half of your tokens on green. If you win, bet half again. If you lose, you still have a safety net.
If gambling makes you nervous, go to the Fishing Shop mini-game. It costs 50 gold to play, and if you’re good at the fishing mechanic, you can walk away with 200–300 tokens per round. It’s tedious. It’s boring. But it’s safe. Avoid the Slingshot Gallery unless you’re playing on a PC with a mouse; the controls on console or mobile turn it into a nightmare of missed targets and wasted time.
🔗 Read more: Why the Minecraft GTA V Map is Still a Masterpiece of Digital Architecture
Common Mistakes That Cost You First Place
I’ve seen people put a Legendary Fish in their display thinking it’s an automatic win. It isn't. While a Glacierfish is worth a lot of points, it only fills one category (Fish). If the rest of your display is just more fish, you lose out on 25 potential category points. Balance is everything.
Another thing: check the quality. A normal-quality Diamond is worth 6 points. An Iridium-quality Pumpkin is worth 8. Don't let the "rarity" of an item blind you to the fact that high-quality common items often score better.
Also, for the love of Yoba, don't put Mayor Lewis’s "lucky purple shorts" in the display. Well, actually, do it once if you want a laugh. He’ll disqualify you immediately, but he’ll give you 750 tokens as "hush money" to take them down. It won't count as a win, and you won't get the trophy, but it's easily the funniest moment in the game.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Fair
To ensure a win next time the 15th of Fall rolls around, start prepping at least a week in advance.
- Check your Chests: Look for one high-quality item from these six categories: Fruit, Vegetable, Artisan, Animal, Fish, and Mineral.
- Prioritize Gold and Iridium: Quality acts as a multiplier. A gold-star Cauliflower is better than a regular-quality Starfruit.
- The 400 Gold Rule: Try to ensure every item in your display has a base sell price of at least 200 gold to hit the mid-tier point brackets, though 400 is the goal for max points.
- Clean the Grid: Make sure you don't accidentally leave an empty space. An empty slot is zero points and a wasted opportunity for a category bonus.
- Buy the Stardrop: After the results are announced at 10:00 AM, take your tokens straight to the shop near the entrance. If you have extra, the Rarecrow is the next best investment for your farm's collection.
The Stardew Valley Fair is more than a festival; it's a gear check for your farm's productivity. If you can consistently hit that 90-point mark, you know your production pipelines are solid. Now go out there and make Pierre look like an amateur.