Interactive dinner parties are a refreshing twist to the usual get-togethers. They are a fabulous way to breathe life into regular gatherings and make the whole experience more engaging and enjoyable. If you’re craving a change of pace from the standard ‘how have you been’ chat (as wonderful as that can be), consider hosting a dinner with an interactive activity involved. Activities like these also make fantastic icebreakers, if you have groups of people who might not have met before coming around. We have 9 ideas for interactive dinner party nights with hints on how to get started planning.
Key tips:
Keep it relaxed, some people might be less into the idea of an activity and something insisting that everyone speaks with a southern twang all night can be tiresome. Let the vibe of the group control the night.
Historical Reenactment Dinner
Choose a specific historical era and have your guests dress up as characters from that time period. Some ideas; Medieval, Ancient Greek or Roman, or the roaring twenties. Enjoy a meal that’s historically accurate for the chosen time, and you could even do activities from that era. Alternatively you could suggest each guest picks their own time period and brings a matching plate for a potluck alternative.
Movie or TV Show Marathon Dinner
Choose a popular movie series or TV show that your guests enjoy, and have a marathon viewing party. Depending on your friends and their interests, you could do Friends, Lord of the Rings or Disney movies. For extra points, serve dishes or snacks inspired by the movie or show. You can also incorporate trivia questions during breaks.
Quiz night
There’s nothing like a good pub quiz night, and they are super easy to host at home. If you or a friend would make a good MC, write your own quiz or get one online. But if you would rather participate, there are some virtual pub quizzes on Youtube, just make sure you can screen it on your TV. Serve traditional pub fare for dinner like burgers, pies or fish and chips. Make sure you have gifts lined up for the winners!
Puzzle night
If you want something with a bit less work, for a more simple option you could organise a puzzle night. Either get one large puzzle for every one to work on or get a few and make it a race between teams. Make sure you have enough room for everyone to participate!
Murder mystery night
Murder mystery games are growing in popularity as group activities. You can host one yourself at home with a little bit of effort. Don’t worry about needing to find your inner Agatha Christie, there are loads of murder mystery scripts available online for free, or you can even buy kits online. Assign everyone a character, and provide props for each person – this also helps with helping everyone remember who is who – and get the closest to Sherlock Holmes you’ll ever be. Dinner can be part of the activity or served before or after the mystery is solved.
Iron Chef Challenge: A Cooking Competition
Get ready for Gordon Ramsay in your house! Guests are split into teams in advance and asked to bring a set of ingredients to create a dish within a time limit. To divvy up kitchen time and space, separate groups by course, One team on starters, one team on mains, and one on desserts. Everyone gets to enjoy the results and vote on the winning dish.
Escape Room Dinner: A Puzzle-solving Adventure
Obviously you can’t lock your friends in your living room (hello fire hazard) but you can transform your house into an escape room by getting your guests to solve puzzles and riddles to “unlock” each course of the meal or a surprise at the end of the night. You can find puzzles online, buy kits (like this one from John Lewis) or even come up with your own.
Artistic Feast: A Paint & Dine Experience
Paint and sip in your own home! Each guest gets a canvas to paint while enjoying delicious food. This can be themed, such as everyone painting their interpretation of a specific subject or theme or you could stream a video tutorial for everyone to follow such as Bob Ross or Paint Along with Skye on YouTube. This is a great time to whip out all those canape recipes you want to try so dinner can be easily eaten while painting, and make sure that your living room floor is well protected from paint!
Charity Auction Night: A Bidding War Dinner
Line your most charismatic friend up as the auctioneer and ask your guests to bring items or services to be auctioned off during the dinner. The proceeds can go to a charity of choice, this is a nice way to spend time with your friends and give back a little at the same time.
