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Tomorrow was the annual harvest fair -- the biggest event of the year.

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  • Unrelated dumb question...why is the festival both in the future and the past? :-/
    – Kristina Lopez
    Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 19:30
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    Welcome to EL&U. Please consider editing your question to make the context of the sentence clear. It only makes sense if the narrative is taking place in the past?
    – Rupert Morrish
    Commented Mar 7, 2018 at 19:41
  • I can think of one situation in which this sentence would work.
    – Tuffy
    Commented Mar 8, 2018 at 0:17
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    There is a way in which the past tense would work, though it is rare and a special case. You are going over your commitments for the week with your assistant. But you are not paying attention. You are worried about a sick child at home. So you ask: “What was tomorrow, again?”. And the assistant replies: “Tomorrow was the harvest festival. Weren’t you listening?” In this special usage what is past is not tomorrow’s harvest festival but the assistant’s mention of it. Strange, but possible.
    – Tuffy
    Commented Mar 8, 2018 at 0:39
  • (1) He said "I'll do that job tomorrow," but tomorrow came and went. (2) Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow crept in this petty pace from day to day.
    – Andreas Blass
    Commented Mar 8, 2018 at 2:47

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This article from Education first [shortened and reformatted] explains the underlying grammar:

Changing time and place references ...

Time and place must often change when going from direct to reported speech.

today ... that day

Phrase in direct speech: "I saw him today", she said.

Equivalent in reported speech: She said that she had seen him that day.

........

yesterday ... the day before

Phrase in direct speech: "I saw him yesterday", she said.

Equivalent in reported speech: She said that she had seen him the day before.

.......

tomorrow the next/following day

Phrase in direct speech: "I'll see you tomorrow", he said

Equivalent in reported speech: She said that she would see him the next/following day.

However, thoughts (recorded 'verbatim' or paraphrased, from either the character being referenced or the narrator, so grading into notions) do not demand inverted commas, so

Tomorrow would be the annual harvest fair – the biggest event of the year.

is acceptable.

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