Steam's 2027 Calendar: Every Sale, Next Fest and Sheep Fest to July

There are two kinds of PC gamers: those who buy games when they come out, and those who keep a wishlist and wait. If you're the second kind, this is your favourite news of the year. Valve has published its official calendar of Steam sales and themed fests through July 2027, and it's full of dates worth circling.

The big ones: the Winter Sale runs December 17, 2026 to January 4, 2027; Next Fest returns on February 22 and June 14; the Spring Sale runs March 18 to 25; and the Summer Sale runs June 24 to July 8, 2027. In between sit more than a dozen genre fests, including, yes, a Sheep Fest.

The four big sales

• Steam Winter Sale 2026: December 17, 2026 to January 4, 2027.
• Steam Spring Sale 2027: March 18 to 25.
• Steam Summer Sale 2027: June 24 to July 8, two weeks and usually the biggest PC sale of the year.
• Steam Autumn Sale 2027: listed as "TBD" for now.

This year's Autumn Sale has already been and gone. Valve moved it to October 1 to 8, 2026, much earlier than the late-November slot it used to occupy, which is why there is no big storewide Steam sale over Black Friday this year.

Next Fest, three times

Steam Next Fest is the week-long festival of free demos for upcoming games, and it has become one of the best ways for small studios to get noticed. The next three editions:

• February 22 to March 1, 2027
• June 14 to 21, 2027
• (The October 2026 edition ran October 19 to 26.)

If you like finding games before everyone else, these are the weeks to block out. Wishlisting a demo you enjoy also helps the developer, because Steam uses wishlists to decide what to show other players.

The themed fests, from shopkeepers to sheep

Valve says it "works to come up with different ideas for fun themes to build fests around," and the 2027 list proves it:

• Auto-Battler RPG Fest: November 16 to 23, 2026
• Desktop Companion Fest: January 14 to 18
• Shop Keeper Fest: January 25 to February 1
• Sheep Fest: February 4 to 8
• Couch Co-Op Fest: February 8 to 15
• Rhythm Fest: March 8 to 15
• Dinos vs. Robots Fest: March 29 to April 5
• Racing Fest: April 12 to 19
• Witch Fest: April 22 to 26
• Fighting Fest: April 26 to May 3
• Real-Time Strategy Fest: May 10 to 17
• Mountaineering Fest: May 31 to June 3

Fests are smaller than the seasonal sales, but they're often where you find niche games at their lowest prices, and the front page of Steam is given over to one genre for a week.

How to use this calendar

• Wishlist now. Steam emails you when a wishlisted game goes on sale, so the calendar does the work for you.
• Check the price history. Many games hit their lowest price during the Winter and Summer sales, so a fest discount might not be the best you'll see.
• Don't wait for a game you'll play today. A $10 saving isn't worth three months of not playing something you're excited about.

Why it matters

The calendar is published for developers first, so they can plan discounts, but it's equally useful for players. In a year when Steam's revenue hit record highs and older games make up almost four-fifths of spending, these sales are where much of that money moves. Valve notes the dates can still change, so check back closer to each event.