Foundation: How to Start a Harvest Festival

Enable Harvest Festival in the chosen game

Harvest Festival is the DLC released alongside the free base-game update. Its Festival Grounds and rural additions belong to that DLC; the Compendium is separately identified as a base-game addition. [1]

For an existing game, patch 1.12.0.14 adds the newly installed DLC activation offer to the main-menu Continue button. [2]

Steps

1. After installing Harvest Festival, use Continue and the activation offer to enable it in the existing game. [2]

Expand the Tavern with Festival Grounds

The Tavern expansion is the starting point named in the release announcement. Add Festival Grounds to provide the space for the celebration, rather than treating an ordinary crop field as the festival venue. [1]

Steps

1. Expand the Tavern with Festival Grounds to begin planning the celebration. [1]

Gather provisions, decorate and hire entertainers

Preparation involves food and drink from the village, decorations at the grounds, and hired minstrels and jugglers. The announcement identifies these activities without giving an exact universal item quota or a single required decoration layout. [1]

Steps

1. Gather food and drinks for the festival. [1]
2. Decorate the Festival Grounds and hire minstrels and jugglers as part of the preparations. [1]

Use the expanded countryside to supply celebrations

The DLC adds cabbage, turnips and apple, plum and hazelnut orchards. [1]

The Drying Kiln, Cider House and workplace recipe switching expand processing choices. Use the recipe system to choose how the countryside’s resources are used for the village. [1]

Grow festival recognition over successive celebrations

As festival recognition increases, additional decorations and pieces unlock and more prestigious guests become available, culminating in a royal visit. This describes progression over growing celebrations; it does not promise the King at the first event. [1]