State Fair Themed Event: Unique food and Entertainment Ideas

There are so many great events that happen during the summer, but for some people the greatest event is the State Fair! Here in Des Moines we are proud have the Iowa State Fair, one of the largest in the country.

Not only do people come from around the nation for our fair, but many corporate companies have State Fair themed events. Keep reading for food and entertainment ideas to make your next event a success.

As a general rule state fair food is insanely awesome and either fried or on a stick, but how do you make Fried State Fair food on a stick unique and interesting for a corporate event?

1) Deep-Fried Twinkie:

Ahhh a classic! This delicious deep-fried treat is a must have for any party. Yep, we know you love them but for a higher-end event consider deep fried cheese cake pops.

Photo Source: Willow Bird Baking

2) Cheese:

Cheese, period. You can fry it, melt it or smother it on almost anything. It is a staple state fair food. For an upscale feel, hire a food truck that specializes in the ooey gooey deliciousness!

 

Photo Source: Memphis Daily News

3) Corndog:

Another great go-to-snack, the corndog! Step it up a notch with Lobster corndogs… this will really get your guests talking with their mouth full!

 

Photo Source: Style Me Pretty

4) Corn on the Cob:

Always a classic dish for the fair! The good thing is this can be dressed up very easily. Serve as an appetizer on a stick or use it during the main course.

Photo Source: Style Me Pretty

5) Cotton Candy:

This may not be the easiest to enjoy without getting slightly messy, but when you have cotton candy in a tub guests can eat it right then or take it home. We find attendees want a treat for the moment and a treat for later. Plus, you can choose the flavors that are unique and different or dyed into the company colors.

Photo Source: Chocolate Story Book

Entertainment

Okay, we’ve visited the foods. Now how about your entertainment? Of course you can choose to have the standard midway games, but there are ways you can take it to the next level as well!Here are 5 ways we’ve found that our clients love to step it up:

1) Custom photo booth – we have had great success and fun creating photo booths that are interactive. This has included duplicating the American Gothic painting and allowing guests to become the couple in picture, which has been a hoot! – and the longer the night goes on the more fun it becomes! – Have a photographer there to help guide the subjects and print photos on site. This makes for a memorable keepsake.

2) Caricature artist – Make this unique by having a roaming artist that walks around to guests instead of vice versa. Also create a custom logo’d canvas for them to draw on. Having them walk around will help with those guests that are reluctant or shy to have their caricature done. This is another item for them to take home and you bet it gets featured on the social media!

3) What fair theme is complete without carnies? The balloon man, the inflatable items and the games. Have a few of these characters set up around your event to really set the mood.

4) Create games of chance – it’s really easy to do a balloon popping game, a weight or age guesser or a ring toss game.

5) Dunk tank – this might not work for all events but if you can get your CEO to sit in the dunk tank, this is a real winner and your guests will stand in line just to get the chance to dunk the CEO.

We like to end the evening with a wonderful headliner. As with all fairs, yours should include a concert. Consider the crowd and pick your headliner carefully to ensure you entertain the crowd and send them off with a wonderfully warm feeling of the all-American pastime of the State Fair.

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Event Trends Based On Movies In 2017

Movies are definitely a trend setter for event themes. If you think we’re wrong, let us just say these two words “Great Gatsby”. Yep – so as you can see knowing the upcoming movie releases and staying on top of the most popular movies can definitely help you get ahead of the curve with your clients and their theme parties.

2016 was definitely a big year for highly anticipated movies and remakes. For example, this year’s Tarzan might not be the most popular of movies released, but you still can’t go wrong with a jungle theme. Waiters dressed as jungle guides sporting pith helmets will be sure to add that memorable touch to the jungle theme. 2017 also has some promising excitement for those who love movie series. So we looked to the biggest movie releases to determine hot event themes that you’ll likely begin planning now and sharing a fun element that you can add in.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

AYE! What’s better than a pirate-themed party? We love decorating for this type of party and even have the pirate statues to prove it! To add a unique element to this theme have netting hanging through the entry walkway for guests to walk under as they enter. Place “treasures”, fake sea creatures, and imitation seaweed in the net to look like a catch from the bottom of the sea. Don’t forget to hire a “Jack Sparrow” to greet guests!

Star Wars: Episode VIII

Everybody who was around in the 80s had a heyday when Star Wars: Episode VII came out – so you can only imagine that this movie will also gain some attention. Food is always a fun way to get creative with themed events. Find creative ways to make the oh so popular red and green light sabers – one way we’ve seen is with dipped pretzels. What would you use to create light sabers?

Wonder Woman

Everybody loves Event Heroes – I mean, super heroes 😉 This is one theme that will not die out no matter what the year. Super hero theme parties are great for hiring local models or actors to dress as the super heroes and welcome guests. This would be a great woman-empowering theme. For a fun touch, have wonder woman props for a fun photo shoot.

Resident Evil: The final chapter

Although you won’t find many zombie themed corporate events, zombies are the perfect setting for Halloween parties. Zombie themed everything has taken off the last couple of years from zombie food joints to zombie runs. For a scarier theme party, hire actors decked out as zombies to walk around the party aimlessly. If you’re looking for something low key, have zombified appetizers. We suggest a venue for this theme that is dark and bare with cement floors. Something fashioned to look post-apocalyptic would be perfect for this theme.

Avatar

When Avatar was first released, it blew audiences’ minds. Nobody had used that quality of CG yet. Not only was the cinematography amazing, but people loved dressing up as Avatar characters soon after. For a unique spin on this event theme use lighting to recreate the glowing grass, shrubs, and trees. You want guests to feel like they are visiting another world with this theme party.

While upcoming movies are a great way to determine event themes, some will stick around longer than others. Be sure to keep an eye out for the hype leading up to them and watch if they are trending on different social media platforms.

Need a full theme party with entertainment and decorations? Click on over to Event Heroes theme pages and pick a party with all the elements and suppliers you need to throw a party to be remembered for years to come.

What would be your favorite theme party to throw? Let us know and share what you would do to make it unique!

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You Should Know: Christina Moffatt

Vendors play a big role in what we do as event planners. Without them there would not be a complete event. Because of this we like to take time and highlight some of our favorites.

So this week we’d like to highlight Crème Cupcake. Cupcakes with a twist are what this Midwest cupcake company offers – a cupcake store that pairs drinks and cocktails with specific cupcake flavors during their happy hour.

Being a fellow Entrepreneur, we sat down with the owner of Crème Cupcake, Christina Moffatt. We asked her to share some defining moments in her career and how she became the successful business woman that she is. See what we were able to find out:

After working for 10 years in corporate U.S.A., Christina decided she was tired of seeing people with no happiness in their day. Her mission became to find what makes people happy. The answer, she discovered, was cupcakes and dessert.

A baker since she could hold a measuring spoon, Christina combined her culinary skills with her management and marketing experience to create Crème Cupcake + Dessert, which expanded from a home-operated bakery to a commercial kitchen in less than a year.In May of 2015, Christina partnered to take the dessert lounge concept nationally through franchise agreements.

1. What was the defining moment when you made the decision to go into business for yourself? When I booked 1000 cupcakes for the Bravo Gala I realized this could be a full time career.

2. Did you work another job and run your business at the same time? I worked full time for 6 months while I built my business on the side.

3. If so, at what point did you decide to quit working for someone else and work on your business? After I booked the 1000 cupcakes for Bravo Gala, I ran cash flow projections to figure what I needed to produce every month to cover all my expenses and pay myself.

4. Can you give us a small idea of how that decision changed your business? It became serious with marketing plans, networking with right client/ referrals and thinking as a business rather than a hobby

5. What are some of the most important decisions or aha’s you’ve had in opening a business? You have to use tools and peoples expertise that are available to you. You can’t do everything or you’ll do it all poorly.

6. What are some really surprising things you’ve learned about having your own business that you would have never guessed before starting your business? Something is always going to break or you’ll have an unexpected expense so you have to manage your cash flow wisely.

7. At what point did you finally decide to hire your first employee? And how has that advanced your business? When my days were topping to 18-hour days I knew I couldn’t keep going at that pace. I also had a wise mentor named Tracy Fuller tell me “Be happy where you are with your business or hire people so you can grow”

8. Are there any tips or trips you would like meeting and event planners to know when working with you to get the best outcome for their event? I love Planners! They are a great referral source for us! The more precise on delivery time, directions in the building of where to set up down to the table being labeled is awesome. Saves us time from butting in to their day to ask questions.

Want to know more about Christina and Crème Cupcake? Follow them on Twitter @cremecupcakedsm

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