Contest Festivals

The three pony-tail sisters -- Martha, Tori, and Trinny -- are in charge of the Anthos competitive festivals. These gatherings haven't taken place since before the volcano's eruption. As you clear away the paths that block the towns, you'll help the sisters revive these contests by bringing them materials.

Once unlocked, these optional contests occur in Herbstburg, Lilikala, and Providence. They will occur every season starting at 10:00 am and ending at 6:00 pm. Talk to the pony-tail sister at her podium in the festival's host town to join the contest. Each festival will offer a level of difficulty: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Winning first place in the current level will unlock the more difficult level the next time the festival takes place. You can always select the easier level when entering the competition. You can't change your difficulty level once the festivities have begun.

You can walk around and chit-chat with the villagers and marriage candidates once the festival starts. Some festivals also have a merchant who sells items that may give you an advantage during the contest. Once ready, talk to the sister again to start the challenge.

On completion, the marriage candidate with the highest affection will congratulate you at the end of the festival, whether you won or lost. The cheerleader will switch to your spouse (and child) after you're married.

You can participate in a festival on the same day you've met the requirements for the event to occur as long as you unlock the event before 6:00 pm. For example, if you turn over the items to Martha to revitalize the Equestrian Challenge on the 23rd at 11:00 am, exiting her animal shop will trigger the festival setup.

Fish Faceoff - 6th

Talk to Trinny in Lilikala after removing the wall surrounding the town. She'll ask you to bring her 5 Board Lumber, 8 Square Lumber, and 12 Material Stone. Trinny will revive the seasonal fishing contest after you've completed this task.

On the 6th, head to Lilikala and talk to Trinny at the tent on the beach. After you select the contest class to participate in, you can walk around and talk to the other villagers.

Shopkeeper Mandy will have bait available to purchase during the chit-chat portion of the contest. Using bait during this competition is highly recommended, as it is a timed event. Getting the fish to bite your hook faster will benefit your score. Level 1 Regular Bait is good for enticing fish, grab the Level 3 Regular Bait if you can afford it. The Big Fish Bait helps to entice only large-size fish towards your line, while the Rare Fish Bait is best for sparkly fish. I have not seen a sparkly fish appear during this festival, so save your money and stick with Lvl 3 Regular and Big Fish.

The fish shadows in the water will reset when the competition begins. There's no point in scoping out the fishing spot ahead of time to see which has the largest fish.

Talk to Trinny again to start the contest. You then have to run to any fishing spot in Lilikala town (ZR button on Switch, R2 on PlayStation, RT on XBox). The contest's goal is to catch as many fish as possible during the 3-hour contest time. Each fish has a point value. The larger and rarer the fish, the more points it's worth. Once a fishing spot is depleted of fish shadows, move to another location to continue casting.

You might also catch fish in this area during the contest that generally aren't catchable. Red Sea Bream, Black Tiger Prawn, and even Striped Beakfish will pop up. Fish included with the New Crops, Fish, and Recipes DLC can also be caught during the Fish Faceoff if you have the DLC installed.

Trinny will broadcast the name of the person who currently has the highest score at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm. There is still a chance you can lose even when Trinny says you have the most points, so keep fishing! For the Beginner Class, the goal is around 100, Intermediate is 150, and Advanced is about 200 total points.

You'll lose any hooked fish as soon as the contest ends.

Anthos Expo - 10th

This high-challenge contest is the last festival to unlock. You must complete the game's main story before the task to restore this festival can begin.

Details about this competitive event can be found on the Anthos Expo page (that I'm currently working on, sorry...)

Mining Meet - 19th

After the wall around Herbstburg dissolves, talk to Tori the pony-tail sister to revive this festival. Bring her 5 Board Lumber, 8 Square Lumber, and 12 Material Stone.

While Herbstburg is the starting point, the actual contest will take place at a different mine. Beginner Class is the Lectenbury mine, Lilikalas/Providence. Near the mine entrance, Lothar will sell cooked meals you can eat to restore your stamina hearts during the contest: Baguette (330 G, +1 heart), Green Salad (450 G, +2 hearts), and Minestrone (630 G, +2 hearts). There is no advantage to buying Minestrone instead of Green Salad.

Once ready, head into the mine to begin the contest.

You're goal is to mine as many raw gemstones and ores as you can during the Mining Meet time limit: 3 minutes for Beginner Class, 4 minutes for Intermediate Class, and 5 minutes for Advanced Class. The contest will begin on floor 1 of the mine. Use the dowsing button on your controller to locate the stairs or pitfall to the next floor. You will lose stamina when falling into a pitfall. Even the Lectenbury mine has pitfalls during the Mining Meet when normally there are no cracks to fall through. If you pass out from exhaustion during the Mining Meet, you will forfeit the contest regardless of your high score. You have access to your rucksack and any food within.

During the contest, you'll find items that typically are found deeper in that mine or that typically don't exist in the contest mine. The rarer the item, the more points it is worth.

• 1 Point: Stone
• 10 Points: Iron Ore, Raw Agate, Raw Crystal, Raw Glass, Raw Jade
• 20 Points: Bronze Ore, Raw Amethyst, Raw Aquamarine, Raw Garnet, Raw Moonstone, Raw Opal, Raw Topaz
• 25 Points: Silver Ore
• 40 Points: Damascus Steel Ore, Platinum Ore, Titanium Ore, Raw Emerald

An excellent way to rack up points is to concentrate on ore nodes, which can contain up to 6 items. It's faster than dowsing for a single item in the ground. With an upgraded Hammer, you can break the ore nodes in fewer hits and quickly move on to the next target.

Your score will be tallied at the end of the contest period. A .2 bonus multiplier will be applied for every 50 mine items collected.

The points necessary to win seem to be random. I've won the Beginner Class with a score of 416, and another time, I scored 510 in Beginner class and took second place. This becomes even more apparent when trying to win the Advanced Class, where scores of 1800 may only be high enough for third place.

This festival ends at 6:00 pm. You will keep all ores and gemstones found during the mine exploration after the festival is over.

Equestrian Challenge - 23rd

After the Lectenbury wall is gone and you return to Providence, talk to Martha to revive the old mount-riding contest. She asks you bring her 5 Board Lumber, 8 Square Lumber, and 12 Material Stone.

On the 23rd from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm, head to Providence and talk to Martha to enter the Equestrian Challenge. You will offered a rental horse if you don't own a mount; otherwise, you'll select the mount from your barn inventory. Martha will offer the rental horse if you cancel out of the mount select screen.

Once the festival begins, you can walk around Providence and chat with the marriage candidates. Talk to Martha again to start the race.

The goal is to hit every checkpoint and reach the finish line faster than the other three contestants. The course length will depend on whether you choose Beginner Class, Intermediate Class, or Advanced Class. Simply run through the flagpoles to mark the checkpoint as passed. You will not be marked as "finished" until all checkpoints are cleared, even if you reach the finish line. Missing a checkpoint means you must ride back to clear the mark and then return to the finish line.

Running over a carrot will give mounts a short burst of speed.

The Beginner Class race goal is 7 checkpoints in about 23 seconds, the Intermediate Class goal is 18 checkpoints in about 53 seconds, and the Advanced Class goal is about 23 gates in 50 seconds. There is a little bit of randomness when it comes to the time goals; the Intermediate Class maybe 52 seconds in one race and 54 seconds in the next.

I have tried running the race backward to avoid being bumped by competitors and potentially missing a checkpoint. Unfortunately, there is a long distance between the starting line and the finish line that lengthens the course when run backward.

Critter Crawl - 28th

The last day of every season is the gathering of cute and cuddly pets in Providence. This event unlocks after you help Westly and Vivi restorethe magical Harvest Goddess fountain just over the bridge from Providence. Bring Martha 5 Board Lumber, 8 Square Lumber, and 12 Material Stone.

To participate, talk to Martha outside in the village center between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. A rental pet will be available if you don't own a house pet. The larger pets that live in the barn cannot participate in this contest. The higher the relationship you have with your pet, the better they will be at following your command.

The contest's goal is to entice your pet to reach the finish line faster than the competition. Slowly walk your pet, guiding it to the end of the lane. Your pet may stop walking, in which case you can press the A button to give a hearty whistle sound to focus their attention. If you go too far ahead, the pet may respond by stopping. Walk closer to the pet until the pet starts moving towards the finish line again, then go back to walking backward toward the goal.

The contest ends when your pet crosses the finish line. The Beginner Class Critter Crawl has a short path and competitors with highly-distracted pets. The Advanced Class has the most distance between the start and finish lines.

Do some pets do better than others? Not that I can tell. It all seems about the same to me.