Corporate event entertainment has a bit of a reputation.
Forced networking. Awkward team-building games. A DJ playing to an empty dance floor while everyone quietly checks when the last train leaves.
It doesn't have to be like that.
Whether you're organising a company summer party, Christmas celebration, employee event, family fun day, conference social or brand activation, the best entertainment gives people something enjoyable to do without forcing them to participate.
Here are 15 corporate event entertainment ideas that can help create an event people genuinely want to attend.
1. Hire a Glitter Bar
Glitter isn't just for children's parties and festivals.
A corporate event glitter bar provides an interactive experience guests can visit throughout an event, choosing their favourite colours and having cosmetic glitter professionally applied to their face, hair or beard.
It works particularly well for company summer parties, Christmas parties, Pride events, festivals, brand activations and informal evening celebrations.
At Glitter Elements, our mobile glitter bars include a professional glitter artist, styled station and a wide selection of cosmetic-grade biodegradable glitter.
Guests can choose a tiny bit of sparkle.
They rarely stop there.
2. Jewellery-Making Workshop
Creative workshops offer something completely different from traditional corporate entertainment.
A jewellery-making workshop gives guests the opportunity to choose their own beads and charms and create something to take home.
Because people can chat while they're making, it can work particularly well for employee socials, wellbeing events and relaxed networking.
It's an activity, but it doesn't feel like organised fun.
An important distinction.
3. Live Music
Live music can completely change the atmosphere of an event.
For a daytime celebration, consider an acoustic performer or roaming musicians.
For evening events, a live band can lead naturally into dancing and the rest of the party.
Choose the music based on your audience rather than automatically booking whatever appears when you search for "corporate band".
4. Street Food
Turn catering into part of the experience.
Street-food vans and pop-up stations allow guests to choose what they want and eat when they fancy it rather than sitting through a formal meal.
Pizza, tacos, burgers, noodles, loaded fries and dessert vans can all work well.
For larger events, several different vendors create a mini food-festival atmosphere.
5. Live Illustrator
Hire an illustrator to create quick portraits of attendees throughout the event.
It provides entertainment while the artwork is being created and gives guests something personal to take away afterwards.
For branded events, you may also be able to incorporate company colours or event branding into the finished artwork.
6. Photo Booth
Photo booths are still popular because they're simple, sociable and require almost no explanation.
Modern options go well beyond a box of plastic props.
Consider a stylish backdrop, roaming photographer, GIF booth, slow-motion booth, 360-degree setup or Polaroid station.
For branded events, the images themselves can often be customised.
7. Rock 'n' Roll Bingo
Swap bingo numbers for music.
Guests listen to short clips of songs and mark them off their cards, with prizes for lines and full houses.
Music bingo works particularly well for mixed-age teams because you can include songs from several decades.
It's interactive without requiring anyone to stand up and explain an interesting fact about themselves to a table of strangers.
Already an improvement on many corporate icebreakers.
8. Close-Up Magician
A close-up magician can move between tables and groups rather than requiring everyone to stop and watch a formal show.
That makes it particularly useful during drinks receptions, dinners and networking events.
The best performers use the interaction itself to get people talking.
9. Games Area
Create a collection of games guests can use whenever they want.
Depending on the venue, this might include giant Jenga, table football, arcade machines, shuffleboard, mini golf or traditional garden games.
The advantage is flexibility.
People can play for five minutes, spend an hour getting absurdly competitive or ignore them completely.
10. Silent Disco
A silent disco can be particularly useful at venues with noise restrictions or events where you want to offer different types of music.
Guests wear wireless headphones and can often switch between several channels.
There's also considerable entertainment value in taking your headphones off and listening to several hundred colleagues enthusiastically singing different songs at once.
11. Cocktail and Mocktail Making
A professional bartender can guide guests through making their own drinks.
Make sure alcohol-free versions are given equal thought rather than being treated as an afterthought.
You could even create drinks inspired by your company, event theme or brand colours.
For daytime corporate events, coffee tasting, chocolate making or similar food-based workshops can provide an alternative.
12. Creative Workshops
Not everybody wants loud entertainment.
Creative activities such as jewellery making, pottery painting, candle making, flower arranging and crafts give people something more relaxed to do.
They can work particularly well for employee wellbeing days, team socials and smaller company celebrations.
Creative workshops also naturally encourage conversation because people have something to focus on while they're talking.
13. Family Entertainment
If you're organising a corporate family fun day, remember that entertainment needs to work for more than one age group.
You could combine:
Glitter bars
Creative workshops
Garden games
Live music
Children's entertainers
Food stations
Inflatables
Craft activities
A mix of drop-in activities gives families the freedom to choose what they want to do.
And don't assume the glitter bar is exclusively for the children.
It never is.
14. Festival-Themed Company Party
Instead of a traditional company summer party, create your own festival.
Add live music, street food, colourful decorations, glitter, games and different entertainment zones.
Give the event a name, create wristbands and allow people to move around rather than following a strict programme.
A festival-themed corporate event can work particularly well outdoors, in marquees or at venues with large grounds.
15. Interactive Brand Experiences
For customer events and brand activations, entertainment can become part of the wider experience rather than sitting separately from it.
Think personalised products, live customisation, creative stations, interactive technology, photography and activities linked to your campaign.
Even something as simple as a glitter bar can be styled around an event theme or colour palette.
The aim shouldn't simply be putting your logo on everything.
Create something people actually want to interact with and the brand exposure follows naturally.
How Do You Choose Corporate Event Entertainment?
Start with the purpose of the event.
A client networking evening needs something very different from a staff Christmas party.
Ask yourself:
Who is attending?
How many guests are expected?
What age range are you catering for?
Is attendance optional?
Is the event formal or relaxed?
How much space is available?
Will entertainment be indoors or outdoors?
Do you want scheduled performances or drop-in activities?
What do you actually want guests to feel?
That last question is particularly useful.
If you want people talking and mixing, choose entertainment that makes conversation easier.
If you're celebrating a major company milestone, something more spectacular might be appropriate.
Avoid the Trap of Forced Fun
There's a difference between giving people something fun to do and demanding that everyone demonstrates how much fun they're having.
Corporate events usually contain different personalities, ages and comfort levels.
Some people will immediately volunteer for karaoke.
Others would rather crawl beneath the nearest table.
Providing several optional experiences allows guests to choose how they participate.
Interactive stations, food, music and drop-in activities can work particularly well because people remain in control of their own evening.
Entertainment for Corporate Family Fun Days
A company family fun day needs a slightly different approach because your audience might range from toddlers to senior leadership.
Rather than relying on one headline activity, create several smaller experiences.
Food, games, creative workshops, music and glitter bars can all run alongside one another.
Make sure you also consider accessibility, quieter spaces, seating, shade and wet-weather arrangements.
A successful family event isn't just about keeping children occupied. It needs to be comfortable for the adults accompanying them too.
Corporate Christmas Party Entertainment
Christmas parties are another opportunity to move beyond the standard dinner-and-DJ formula.
Consider adding interactive entertainment before and after dinner.
A glitter bar can get everyone party-ready, while casino tables, music bingo, photo experiences, magicians or creative stations give non-dancers something to do later in the evening.
The best combination depends on your company culture.
If your employees would collectively rather resign than participate in a dance competition, perhaps don't book one.
Corporate Event Entertainment in Oxfordshire
Glitter Elements provides corporate event entertainment across Oxfordshire and surrounding areas, including mobile glitter bars and creative jewellery-making workshops.
Our services are suitable for company parties, family fun days, employee celebrations, Pride events, festivals, Christmas parties, brand activations and corporate social events.
We cover events in and around Oxford, Abingdon, Didcot, Wantage, Wallingford, Witney, Bicester, Thame and Banbury, as well as surrounding areas and selected events further afield.
For larger corporate bookings, talk to us about your location, guest numbers and event requirements.
Create an Event People Want to Attend
You don't need to fill every minute of a corporate event with entertainment.
Give people good food, a comfortable environment and enough freedom to talk to one another. Then add a handful of experiences that give them something interesting to discover.
The aim isn't to force everyone to participate.
It's to make participation tempting.
And if your Finance Director unexpectedly decides they need a glitter beard, we'd consider that a fairly successful evening.
Looking for creative corporate event entertainment? Explore Glitter Elements Glitter Bar Hire and Jewellery Workshops, or get in touch to discuss your event.
