How to get someone to dance with you at the year one Flower Dance in Stardew Valley

There are a lot of festivals and events that take place throughout the year in Stardew Valley, with each recurring on the same day every year. They’re pretty predictable, but if you’ve never played before and if you don’t check the calendar regularly, they could take you by surprise.

One of these events, the Flower Dance, takes place on the 24th of Spring every year and at this festival, you have the chance to dance with a bachelor or bachelorette. Doing so will not only improve your friendship with them by granting you hearts, but it also means you’re not left standing at the side, feeling the sting of brutal rejection. 

How to get someone to dance with you at the first Flower Dance in Stardew Valley

You need at least four hearts of friendship with a bachelor or bachelorette before they will accept your invitation to dance at the Flower Dance. This is a pretty tall order in only 24 days, but it is entirely possible if you put the effort in, completely neglect your farm, and, get a bit creepy waiting outside your chosen dance partner’s front door. On the plus side, you’ll pretty much memorize their entire Spring schedule during this time. 

The most important things to remember when attempting to get a dance out of someone are:

• Give the maximum of two gifts a week, preferably a gift that they love 
• Have daily conversations
• Keep an eye out for quests from your chosen beau, especially those on the board outside Pierre’s
• Make sure to attend the Egg Festival on the 13th of Spring and talk to everyone

While, technically, this can be achieved with any of the bachelors or bachelorettes, some of them are easier to build up friendships with during this time than others. For instance, Haley has her birthday on the 14th of Spring, so you can earn a good number of hearts by giving her a loved gift, or even a Daffodil, that she likes. 

On the other hand, if you can manage to scrounge up enough money to stock up on Beer at the Stardrop Saloon, you can easily drag Shane’s friendship level up to four hearts by giving him two Beers a week and having daily conversations. His birthday also falls on the 20th of Spring, so you can earn a friendship boost by giving him Beer (or Pizza) on that day too. 

Remember, the Flower Dance is an annual event

If you don’t manage to get a dance at the first Flower Dance, don’t worry. You’ll be able to dance with pretty much anyone by the following year and, at this point, it’s basically a rite of passage for all new players to realize they’re going to get left out the first year. Does it sting? Of course, but maybe that’s preferable to spending an entire season practically stalking an NPC.