9 Unique and Fun Online Holiday Event Ideas

As the holidays draw near, tis’ the season for holiday parties, celebrations, and events. And if this year you’re thinking about getting creative, you may be considering hosting an online holiday event. By taking your celebrating to the digital stage, you open up a lot of unique opportunities to engage with your people, and you remove the geographical limitations that might normally be keeping some people from being able to attend.

Today, let’s take a look at nine of the best and most fun online holiday event ideas you can do.

Virtual Team Trivia – Holiday Edition

There’s a reason shows like Jeopardy and games like Trivial Pursuit are so popular—people love to prove they’re a smarty-pants! One of the best ways to engage with your audience, family, friends, or staff this holiday season is through a holiday-themed virtual trivia game. Ask questions about holiday events, famous holiday movie classics, popular holiday dishes, and more!

For logistics, you can keep score on a website or even a whiteboard. Have everyone register online beforehand so you can create teams (or keep it individual). And then, on the day of the competition, have everyone log into a shared virtual meeting platform and see who’s the best when it comes to holiday trivia.

Holiday Themed Virtual Bingo

Is there a more classic and iconic game than Bingo? Whether you’re 8 years old or 80 years old, the chances are high you love playing this game. Why not take this classic and give it a virtual holiday spin this year? You can pre-print and ship holiday-themed Bingo cards out to all of your guests. At the time of the virtual event, get everyone logged into a video conferencing system and start having fun! If you’re looking for a fun online holiday event idea that doesn’t take a ton of setup, this is a great option.

Hosted Holiday Happy Hour Online

Whether it’s eggnog, red wine, or a gingerbread martini, there are a lot of great holiday drinks people love to enjoy. And what better way to connect with the people that matter most to you this holiday season than with a hosted holiday happy hour online!

Encourage your guests to prepare their favorite drinks and log in at the scheduled party time. If you want to kick things up a notch, you could send out an ingredients list beforehand and walk everyone through making the same special drink when you go live. And depending on the group, costumes, holiday gear, or an ugly sweater could be a great add.

Cooking Holiday Dinners – Virtual Cooking Classes

With the ability for people to video chat and log into video conferences from their phones, iPads, or tablets, your online holiday event ideas aren’t only relegated to the office. Have people set up in the kitchen and you can host a virtual cooking class.

Make sure to send out a clear ingredients and supplies list beforehand so everyone can get fully prepared. Additionally, make sure you plan some things to talk about or entertainment for the times while you’re waiting on your delicious creations to bake or cook. Satiate people’s tastebuds and fill them with holiday entertainment with this incredible online holiday event idea.

Virtual Holiday Concert

There’s nothing that says fun and exclusive, like inviting people or selling tickets to a virtual holiday concert. Have the band or musical act set up somewhere with cameras, mics, and streaming equipment and have your people log into the event. Or, if you want to leave things open, you can always stream the event publicly and market the event to as many people as possible.

Online Caroling Event

If you’re looking for a great virtual event idea this fa-la-la-la-fall or winter, why not give an online caroling event a try? Have everyone log into the event at the scheduled time and enjoy each other’s company as you sing some favorite holiday classics. A unique twist you can do is split the group up so they can alternate between singing and kicking back and enjoying the tunes.

You can also have a video call with your choir members then video call several contact and sing to them together. This lets you share the tradition and stay safe, and reach across great distances. Another benefit is that you get to stay warm inside.

Live Voting on a Gingerbread Decorating Contest

Building a gingerbread house is a classic holiday event. What you can do this year to take it virtual is start by sending out the same kit to everyone registered for the event (or let them know which one to buy). Then, schedule a day when you’ll have judging and crown the winner. Entrants can take turns showcasing their creations before the judges and the other contestants in a fun and friendly online environment.

A fun twist you can add is offering prizes and offering awards for more than just the best gingerbread house. Maybe you can include awards like the ‘Most Unique,’ the ‘Tallest Gingerbread House,’ or the ‘Most Creative Design.’

Online Painting Classes

One of the simplest online holiday events to pull off is an online painting class. And since it’s for the holidays, you can select something holiday-themed as the subject matter of the painting. We’ve seen a meteoric rise in the popularity of wine and paint events as of late. Why not set up your own with a fun holiday twist this year?

Virtual New Year’s Event

Sometimes people like to celebrate the New Year away from the crowds and the wild parties. But just because people want to take it easy doesn’t mean they don’t want to enjoy the turning of the calendar with people they care about. Consider setting up a virtual New Year’s event this year. You can schedule it to lead into midnight, or it can be an earlier celebration where you celebrate the New Year in a different time zone than your own.

Putting it All Together

As you can see, you’ve got a ton of great online holiday event ideas that can help you engage with your people in a unique and fun way. No longer do you have to worry about the logistics of bringing everyone to the same location, especially during a season that’s already so busy for so many people.

If you’d like some help organizing your virtual events, the Event Espresso platform is an incredibly robust, user-friendly, and easy-to-set-up tool that can help. Event Espresso can help you advertise your event, take registrations, sell tickets, and even communicate with your event attendees in real-time. If you want to make your online holiday event a success, consider letting Event Espresso help you get there.