Stardew Valley: Trout Derby Festival guide

One of the new festivals in Stardew Valley 1.6 is the Trout Derby, a relaxing weekend spent fishing in Cindersap Forest in order to catch Rainbow Trout. Not only do you get to spend some time at one with nature, you can also earn exclusive prizes.

If you’re not a fan of fishing in Stardew Valley, I’m confident that you’ll hate this festival, but it’s worth pushing through in order to get the rewards on offer, particularly a rather lovely Bucket Hat and a Mounted Trout, which looks like it might start singing at any moment, which can’t be obtained in any other way. 

When is the Trout Derby Festival?

The Trout Derby festival takes place every year on the 20th and 21st of Summer. On both days, the event starts bright and early at 6:10 a.m. and runs until 2 a.m. If you don’t want to pass out and have to pay for the privilege of being carried home, I’d suggest running back to bed at around 1:30 a.m. 

Failing that, if you want to get a headstart on fishing the next day and beat out the competition, you could always bring a Tent Kit (or use the one you get as a prize) to maintain your spot on the lake shore.

Where is the Trout Derby Festival?

To get to the Trout Derby, leave your farm via the southern exit and keep going South. The main prize tent is on the northern shore of the lake, but you can fish anywhere in that water to catch the Rainbow Trout you need. 

There are a lot of other people fishing here, most of whom aren’t regular NPCs. However, you might come across some of the locals if you’re lucky, so make sure to talk to them and give them gifts if you have any. 

How to win prizes in the Trout Derby Festival

Each Rainbow Trout you catch has a 33% chance of rewarding you with a Golden Tag. These are the items that you need to exchange at the prize stall in order to earn prizes, so each time you get lucky and secure a Golden Tag, make sure to go and hand it in.

Trout Derby Festival prizes

There’s a specific order to prizes that can be obtained through the Trout Derby Festival, with the first prize you receive always being a Tent Kit. Once you’ve got that, you’ll receive one of the 10 following items at random:

• 1 Crab Pot
• 3 Mystery Boxes
• 1 Diamond
• 1 Mounted Trout
• 20 Deluxe Baits
• 2 Triple Shot Espressos
• 1 Quality Sprinkler
• 1 Warp Totem: Farm
• 3 Omni Geodes
• 1 Bucket Hat

After you’ve received this first random prize, the following prizes will always be given in order of this list. For instance, if the first random prize you receive is a Mounted Trout, you’ll get 20 Deluxe Baits with your next Golden Tag, followed by 2 Triple Shot Espressos and so on. The Bucket Hat is always rewarded immediately after 3 Omni Geodes.