Keep going mate, you won't regret it mate lol

The prep for the festival is Act 1. With the first day of the festival, Act 1 ends. So its not that much ahead of you.

I've looked at my Steam page and in my Review 8 years ago, I actually wrote that the first Act is kinda "uninteresting". My playtime is clocked in at 45 Minutes, for the original game. The plus version I played on Switch but the main story is the same.

I watched a video of someone playing it a few years back and that was good enough for me

Just gently open the door.

You need to do multiple playthroughs. You'll understand more later.

For me, one playthrough lasted somewhere between 1-2 hours, but it's been years since I last played