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Stardew Valley Night Market and Mermaid Boat puzzle solution explained

Everything you need to know about the three night festival in Stardew Valley.

Spread over three days, the Night Market is the longest festival in Stardew Valley.

Throughout this event you'll be able to buy a variety of items, do some Night Market fishing and even solve the Mermaid Boat puzzle for a very special prize.

The Night Market is more relaxed when compared to the previous, and competitive, Festival of Ice. You'll even find yourself visiting every night, as the stock of the various shops rotates.

On this page:

Night Market dates and time in Stardew Valley explained

The Night Market is a little bit different compared to the other festivals, here are the important details from the Stardew Valley festival calendar:

  • Date - 15th, 16th and 17th Winter
  • Time - 5pm to 2am / Submarine Ride closes at 11pm / Mermaid Boat closes at 12:30am
  • Location - The Beach
  • Return to Farm at - 2am
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Night Market in Stardew Valley explained

Unlike all the other festivals in Stardew Valley, the Night Market is spread across three separate nights.

From 5pm onwards on these days, head down to the beach. There you'll find a variety of special attractions and shops to visit.

You can collect a free cup of coffee, watch a mermaid sing, buy a painting or visit the bottom of the sea in a submarine to catch some Night Market fish.

There are four different shops for you to spend your hard earned money at in the Night Market; the Travelling Cart, Famous Painter Lupini, Decoration Boat and and the Magic Shop Boat.

Spend your time as you wish, catching fish or spending money, just remember - unlike the other festivals, time continues to move in Night Market. This means you need to keep your eye on the clock when attending the Night Market to ensure you don't faint for exhaustion.

If you need to rush back to your farm, then chat with the hooded figure standing in front of Willy's Fish Shop.

When you talk to them, they'll offer to use their Farm Warp Totem to send you home for the low price of 250g. If you can pay and need to get home in a hurry, then definitely pay for this warping service.

For a small fee you can quickly return to your farm.

Mermaid Boat puzzle solution in Stardew Valley explained

The Mermaid Boat is located in the far eastward end of the Night Market.

Follow the planks to reach the Mermaid Boat.

If you visit it, you'll find yourself watching a mermaid's slightly psychedelic musical performance.

Once this performance is completed, you'll discover that you can interact with the five clam shells lining the base of her stage. Each one will produce a musical tone and, to receive your prize, you need to perform the right song.

The solution for this puzzle can be found in Secret Note #15 but you don't need to own or have read the Secret Note to complete this puzzle.

Going from left to right the solution to this musical puzzle is - 1 / 4 / 5 /3 / 2

Press the clams in this order to receive a pearl.

If you solve the puzzle correctly, then you'll receive a pearl from the mermaid.

Pearls can be used to make the Bridal Veil on the Sewing Machine or can be sold for 2,500g. You can only obtain one pearl from the Mermaid Boat per save file, but you can also obtain them from fish ponds, artefact troves and by deep sea fishing on the Night Market submarine.

You can only receive one pearl from the Mermaid Boat.

One of the main goals in Stardew Valley is to complete the Community Center bundles or, if you’re corporate minded, you can buy a JojaMart Membership. Fishing is a great way to earn money in Stardew Valley, especially if you decide to use crab pots and ponds. Throughout the year you’ll also be able to take in a variety of festivals, including the Egg Festival, Stardew Valley Fair and the Night Market.


Night Market shops in Stardew Valley explained

There are four different shops where you can spend your hard earned money at the Night Market.

One of them is the Travelling Cart, which visits Cindersnap Forest twice a week, and will be sticking to its regular selection of stock.

The other three, however, are unique to the Night Market.

The Famous Painter Lupini will be selling one painting every night, with each one costing 1,200g. The choice of painting depends on both the year and which day you visit the market on, with the paintings rotating from year to the year.

Below you'll find the various painting you can buy, and when, from Lupini:

PaintingDay SoldYear Sold
1000 Years From Now16th2, 5, 8, 11 etc.
Clouds15th2, 5, 8, 11 etc.
Land Of Clay17th3, 6, 9, 12 etc.
Portrait Of A Mermaid16th1, 4, 7, 10 etc.
Red Eagle15th1, 4, 7, 10 etc.
Solar Kingdom17th1, 4, 7, 10 etc.
The Serpent 15th 3, 6, 9, 12 etc.
Three Trees17th2, 5, 8, 11 etc.
Tropical Fish #17316th3, 6, 9, 12 etc.

You'll find the Magic Shop Boat to the right of Lupini and this shop also has a rotating stock. Thankfully, however, it rotates by day and not year.

The Travelling Boat, Lupini and the Magic Shop Boat.

Here is the complete stock for the Magic Shop Boat and on what days you can buy each item:

ItemPriceDays Sold
Amaranth Seeds70g17th
Artichoke Seeds30g17th
Bean Starter60g15th
Blueberry Seeds80g16th
Bok Choy Seed50g17th
Cauliflower Seeds80g15th
Cone Hat5,000g (15th)
2,500g (16th)
10,000g (17th)
15th, 16th, 17th
Corn Seeds150g16th, 17th
Cranberry Seeds240g17th
Eggplant Seeds20g17th
Fairy Seeds200g17th
Garlic Seeds40g15th
Grape Starter 60g17th
Grave Stone200g15th
Hops Starter 60g16th
Irdium Fireplace15,000g15th, 16th, 17th
Jazz Seeds30g15th
Kale Seeds70g15th
Log Section200g17th
Melon Seeds80g16th
Parsnip Seeds20g15th
Pepper Seeds40g16th
Poppy Seeds100g16th
Potato Seeds50g15th
Pumpkin Seeds100g17th
Radish Seeds40g16th
Rarecrow (Rat)5,000g15th, 16th, 17th
Rarecrow (Tribal Mask)5,000g15th, 16th, 17th
Red Cabbage100g16th
Spangle Seeds50g16th
Stone Frog500g15th
Stone Owl500g17th
Stone Parrot500g16th
Suit of Armor200g16th
Sunflower Seeds200g16th, 17th
Tomato Seeds50g16th
Tulip Bulb20g15th
Wheat Seeds10g16th, 17th
Yam Seeds60g17th
The Decoration Boat is on the right.

Unlike the previous two shops, the Decoration Boat will always be selling the same merchandise, which are:

Item Price
Big Green Cane200g
Green Canes200g
Mixed Canes200g
Red Canes200g
Big Red Cane200g
Seasonal Decor500g
Season Plant (Small shrub)500g
Seasonal Plant (Large shrub)500g
Seasonal Plant (Pink)500g
Seasonal Plant (Catcus)500g
Seasonal Plant (Blue)500g
Seasonal Plant (Yellow)500g

With the Night Market complete, there is only one festival left for the year in Stardew Valley - the Feast of the Winter Star!

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