Stardew Valley Luau best items, soup explained & date

The Stardew Valley Luau is an annual festival that takes place during the Summer every year in Pelican Town and comes with an assortment of rewards for players who contribute the correct ingredients to the communal Potluck soup.

We're going to go over everything you need for the Luau in the game, including the items you should pick up from the shop, and the best ways to get some delicious show-stealing soup

As with the other festivals in Stardew Valley, Pierre will attend with a stall where limited items will be available. Of particular note among the decorations is the Starfruit, which can be placed inside a Seed maker to produce Starfruit seeds.

This can be a good way for the player to acquire Starfruit seeds early if they haven’t unlocked the Calico Desert yet. Various jungle-themed wall decorations can be placed in the player’s home.

Mayor Lewis will inform the players through the mail that the communal potluck is the highlight of the Luau, and they should bring something to contribute to it. If the player does not attend the festival, there are no adverse effects and friendship points will remain the same.

The item you choose must be uncooked. Depending on the rarity and quality of the item, the Governor will either show a love, like, neutral, dislike, or hate response.

Below are the items that will grant each response. The reward for achieving the best outcome is 120 friendship points with each villager, which is very useful if hunting for friendship achievements in the game.

Best Response

Silver Quality:

•       Most Fruit Wines such as Apple, Banana and Ancient Fruit
•       Uncommon Fish such as Blob Fish, Ice Pip and the Lava Eel
•       Legendary Fish such as the Legend and Crimsonfish
•       Less common animal goods such as Ostrich Egg, Large Goat Milk and Goat Cheese
•       Pale Ale

Gold/Iridium Quality:

•       Crops such as Yam, Cauliflower, Melon, Artichoke, Pineapple, Red Cabbage and Starfruit
•       All Mushrooms except Red Mushroom
•       Animal Goods
•       Artisan Goods such as wines
•       Fairy Rose
•       Truffle
•       Uncommon and Legendary Fish

Good Response

If achieved, the player receives 60 friendship points with the town as a reward.

Normal/Silver Quality:

•       Wines
•       Most Fish
•       Crops such as Amaranth, Artichoke, Beet, Kale, Melon, Red Cabbage and Rice
•       Beer
•       Most Fruits such as Apple, Banana, Mango, Pineapple and Peach
•       Cactus Fruit
•       Energy Tonic
•       Fairy Rose
•       Animal Products
•       Maple Syrup
•       Purple Mushroom
•       Truffle Oil
•       Starfruit

Gold/Iridium Quality:

•       Crops such as Potato, Beet, Bok Choy, Grape, Kale and Radish
•       Flowers like Summer Spangle and Sunflowers
•       Wines from forage fruits
•       More common Fish

Bad Response

If achieved the player will lose 50 points with the townsfolk.

Any Quality:

•       Fish such as Anchovy, Carp, Herring and Sunfish
•       Forage such as Blackberry, Crocus, Daffodil, Salmonberry, Spring Onion and Sweet Pea
•       Trash items such as Green Algae, Joja Cola, Seaweed and White Algae
•       Field Snack
•       Qi Fruit
•       Qi Fruit Wine
•       Unmilled Rice

Worst Response

The player will lose 100 friendship points with each villager and the Governor is sick and passes out.

Any Quality:

•       Holly
•       Pufferfish
•       Red Mushroom
•       Sap
•       Scorpion Carp
•       Sea Cucumber
•       Void Mayonnaise

It is possible to prank the potluck by placing Mayor Lewis’ underpants in it. During your playthrough, you will receive a quest from Mayor Lewis to find his ‘lucky’ pair of purple shorts. Spoiler – they are in Marnie’s bedroom as it appears the two have been having a secret relationship.

To retrieve the pants, you’ll have to acquire two hearts with Marnie to enter her bedroom and collect the purple shorts. From there you can either return them to their rightful owner and receive some gold for your trouble, or hang on to them and add them to the Summer potluck.

If the latter option is chosen you can now watch the chaos unfold as the Governor receives them on his spoonful of soup and is immediately outraged, along with Lewis and an embarrassed Marnie.

If this outcome is chosen, the pants will return to the player’s inventory after the festival, which means you can do it all again next year.

Friendship will not be affected with the other villagers if this option is chosen.

If you need to raise friendship with Marnie quickly to complete this, her best gifts are either Diamonds, Farmer’s Lunch, Pink Cake or Pumpkin Pie.

When is the Stardew Valley Luau?

The Luau in Stardew Valley takes place every year during Summer, 11. In the run-up to the Luau, you'll receive a letter reminding you that it is coming up. During this time, make sure you've got your crops planted early and got some quality fertilisers to help make sure they're the best they can be.

If you're hungry for more Stardew Valley guides be sure to check out our Stardew Valley Penny guide for all things Penny, or even our Sebastian guide to see if you coax him out of his shell.