Quirky Events: 20 Themes That Will Have Everyone Mesmerised

Giving guests something they haven’t seen before that still works as a theme is difficult. People like what they know but they can also get bored with it quickly. For the right event, a quirky theme is the perfect way to generate buzz and to get guests and designers in a truly creative and adventurous space. We’ve create a list of 20 delightfully quirky themes to try out for your next party, conference, or product launch. At Table Art, we have a long experience with making the unusual come to life and you can view some of our past quirky events here. If you’d like even more inspiration then check out our blog post on 150 event theming ideas.

Ugly Sweater Party

Ugly sweater parties have been gaining in popularity recently, allowing guests to adorn the ugliest jumper or shirt they can find and creating great conversation starters. You can take this theme into your event style with knowingly garish table design and delightfully twee decorations. Colour blocking, cats, and thick-knit fabrics are a must.

It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere

Five O’clock means the end of the working day and it’s always five o’clock somewhere. This is a theme that allows you to draw on decorations and styles from all over the world and from a variety of different industries. It’s an ideal theme for an international event where many different cultures will be celebrated.

Hygge

‘Hygge’ is a Danish word that roughly translates to ‘cosy’ and is used to describe the type of feeling you get when sitting by the fireplace while wearing a thick jumper. It’s a good autumn or winter theme and it allows you to combine autumnal colours with thick-knit fabrics, fairy lights, and earthy wood furniture.

You can learn more about the cultural phenomena of hygge here.

Australia Day

Post New Years events can be difficult to get excited about early in the year, so Australia Day, held on January 26th, is a fantastic theme for a relaxed and fun event in winter months. Think of an extravagant pool party but with kangaroos, barbecues, and plenty of southern crosses flying.

Prehistoric times offer ample inspiration for ways to theme your event. You can recreate interiors to look like caves, create decorations out of bones, and make liberal use of animal prints. If you don’t care about historical accuracy, then you can also bring in dinosaurs and other trappings from the Flintstone’s universe.

Toyland

‘Babes in Toyland’ was a story about a land filled with living nursery rhymes and toys. The idea is to incorporate large vintage toys into your design including tin soldiers, teddy bears, and model trains. It’s a good design for family events but it can also appeal to the nostalgia in an adult audience.

Mayday

If you are looking for a traditional British theme that doesn’t rely too much on the Union Jacks or London landmarks, then a Mayday theme is a good alternative. It’s a theme based on the village green, countryside celebrations, and Morris dancers. You’ll want to use a white and green colour scheme and have ribbons, bells, and a maypole central to the design.

Block Colour

Picking a simple colour as your theme can be very powerful when taken to the extreme. Choose a colour that is appropriate to your venue or event and then try to tastefully style your furniture, decorations, and tableware to match your theme colour.

90s Hip Hop

The 90s is a good decade to base an event’s design on and using 90s hip hop as your central inspiration will give you lots of room to be creative. Think lots of candy colours, strange squiggly lines, colour blocking, and plenty of gold chains.

Beatniks are a subculture strongly associated with 1950s New York City and they’re well known for their thick-rim glasses, turtleneck sweaters, and challenging poetry. As a theme, you can try to replicate an edgy New York club with a smoky jazz feeling cutting through it all.

A Cockney knees-up is a makeshift party full of dancing and singing which would typically be found in a tiled pub in the East End of London. If you are hosting an event in a traditional-looking pub, then a Cockney Knees-Up theme is relatively simple to implement. You want to place an emphasis on kitsch British design and a live band playing traditional instruments is a must. You can learn more about the history of knees-up party’s here.

Using fluorescent lights and glow-in-the-dark paint you can create a sophisticated event with all the energy of a rave. Specific furniture may not be as important here as the use of lighting, fluorescent decorations, and lasers.