A virtual holiday party presents an opportunity to make lasting memories you can only create online.
Laughing when your friend’s Zoom screen freezes as he’s making the most awkward-possible face. Trying not to laugh when your co-worker’s costumed kid swoops in to achieve the most epic webcam “bomb” imaginable. Seeing how your parents’ attempt at putting up a background has cut off half their faces.
These events help you maintain strong and natural connections with friends and loved ones you can’t see due to physical or social distance. Online festivities help maintain a sense of normalcy and a feeling of living full lives even when celebrations have to take place through different formats.
Browse the ideas below to be the best virtual party host ever and even create some new holiday traditions.
Any of the ideas below can be used for any holiday you feel inclined to celebrate, whether it’s one of the big traditional ones or one of the small ones you’ve never even heard of before.
Virtual Holiday Party Games
1) The Escape Game Game Show
Compete in a team vs team, collaborative, online game show experience. The Game Show is perfect for remote and hybrid teams needing connection and a quick morale boost!
Standout features:
- Five, fast-paced rounds of unique puzzles and gameplay
- An online dashboard for teams to view puzzles, lock in answers, and earn badges
- A simple setup that does not require the team to be tech-savvy or learn elaborate rules
Tip: Give your employees their digital gift cards to be used on food and drink while they attend your virtual game show!
Get in touch with the Escape Game to start planning an unforgettable virtual holiday adventure today.
2) Virtual Holiday Hijinks
Let’s face it, a virtual holiday team-building event can quickly become a boring mess with no engagement… That’s where Outback changes the game. They will work with you to set up a highly personalized and unique virtual holiday experience that everyone will be raving about for years – crowning you the (well-deserved) hero of the evening.
“Anthony, Aiden, Noel and Jason were friendly, helpful and very quick to respond. All our questions were answered in detail and we felt supported through all of the preparation of the event. Your company offered flexibility when required, which was very appreciated! The actual activity was so much fun, it was entertaining and challenging! We have already booked our next activity with Outback.” – Ray-Mont Logistics (Virtual Holiday Hijinks)
Holiday Hijinks will have your team racing against the clock to solve cerebral, physical, and skill-based challenges. Outback’s other virtual office games include murder mystery, code break, team pursuit, and game show extravaganza.
Standout features:
- Accommodates up to 1,000 remote workers per group!
- An app to make game-play a breeze
- Available in two formats:
- Virtually hosted – they’ll take care of everything for you and host the event virtually
- Self-hosted – they’ll provide you with everything you need to run the event on your own + provide support
- Over 80 festive challenges to help your team connect & ring in the holidays
Tip: Talk to your Outback engagement consultant about catering your experience to whichever holiday you’re celebrating and pair your virtual holiday party with a curated one-of-a-kind care package through Caro
3) Holiday Party with Weve
Weve’s Virtual Holiday Party is unlike any virtual experience platform out there (looking at you, awkward meeting rooms, and happy hours!) The platform is serious about having fun, driving connections, and including everyone in intentional, engaging ways. The platform is also fully customizable for branded company games and experiences.
So gather 50 to 1,500 of your favorite work humans (and some you just want to beat in a game or two!) for your next All-Hands, Offsite, Holiday Party, or Happy Hour!
Standout Features:
- Live Professionally trained Hosts that encourage engagement and interaction
- A Suite of Proprietary Game Modules that includes Gif Battles, Pictionary, Fact Match, Karaoke, and more!
- Keynote Broadcast & Reception Area
- Live Stream & Webcast capabilities
- Multipoint, Social, Tournament & Huddle Modes
- No software download required
Learn more about the We’ve platform and how clients like Google, Paypal, Feeding America, Spotify, and more are having unforgettable virtual holiday parties!
4) Holiday Printable Playables
The Holiday Printable Playables are the perfect way to get employees and coworkers involved in your next virtual holiday party. These games are designed for small and large groups, so they work perfectly for any online company holiday event. This bundle of holiday cheer will be a hit and bring people together in a new and fun way.
Standout features:
- Can be played virtually or in-person
- Suitable for groups of all sizes
- Easily downloaded and printed
Tip: At the end of each game, present awards to the winners so they can take their victory lap in style.
5) A European Virtual Holiday Extravaganza!
Live from Paris, with Love; a Holiday Scavenger hunt in Italy; and an unbelievably Wacky Holiday in Spain – Zoom your team off to Europe on a 60-90 minute Woyago virtual holiday party experience.
Pick a country and then let your laughter and imagination run wild!
Standout features:
- Offers an engaging holiday-themed storytelling activity
- Perfect for any sized group — 10 to 300+
- Their hosts are trained in connection, laughter, and learning
Tip: Encourage coworkers to dress up, or down – Holiday PJ Party anyone? Virtual brownie points go to any team that comes in costume!
6) Virtual Holiday Game Night
The Virtual Holiday Game Night includes one hour of professionally planned and expertly executed virtual games that will get employees laughing, making memories, and most importantly, bonding and boosting company culture.
Enjoy all the crowd favorites, including trivia, charades, drawing games, and more.
Standout features:
- Custom video conferencing interface
- Expert event planners handle all the details and logistics
- Customize game questions with company-focused options
Tip: Take advantage of custom teammate trivia to learn as much about your co-workers as possible
Select your next Virtual Holiday Game Night and find the right option for your team.
7) Cheese and Beer Pairing Experience
Unboxed Experiences by City Brew Tours offers a virtual Holiday Party Beer & Cheese Pairing Experience that achieves just as much delicious magic as an in-person tasting. Each party guest receives a box full of perfectly paired beers, cheeses, and holiday cookies along with great swag, like bottle openers and festive party crackers.
When party time arrives, everyone meets up on Zoom with an unforgettable host who will lead the tasting. Eating cheese and sipping beer together virtually is the perfect way to bring cheer to any holiday celebration!
Standout features:
- Holiday-themed activity
- Beer and cheese edutainment provided by unforgettable hosts
- Get inside the head of a professional beer appraiser
- Holiday Party boxes ship directly to guests’ doorsteps
- Gain beer and cheese tasting skills guests can use for years to come
Tip: Ask all your guests to come prepared with their most pressing beer questions so everyone can learn as much as possible from your beer expert/host
Talk to an Unboxed Experiences expert to start planning the festive virtual holiday event of your dreams.
Center your party’s festivities around an exciting virtual class such as a virtual painting lesson, an online cooking experience, or a virtual beer making night from Unboxed Experiences by City Brew Tours.
8) Laughter On Call
Did someone say “Holiday Season” already?!
Yes, they did!
And Laughter On Call is in the House!
While you may not be able to clink a glass of champagne with Sally in Accounting IRL this year or make out with Mr. Hot New Salesperson under the mistletoe, that’s no reason to be depressed!
With Laughter On Call, you can still dance wildly in your ZOOM square to everyone’s delight (and perhaps chat your phone number to that special someone. Not only that, but you can also toast Ivan in London, laugh with Bridget in Wisconsin, and bring your CEO and colleagues worldwide who keep your business thriving at all levels together in a virtual room where you can all giggle with one another as you build an imaginary spa with a room full of puppies!
Laughter On Call has spent this past year making teams laugh out loud, connecting folks from India to Ireland, to the Netherlands and Mexico City, and beyond! They bring professional comedians to your virtual holiday party with interactive comedy that even hooks introverts. Half stand-up, half improv game, these sessions create a shared experience where everyone is engaged. It’s never been more important to get your people laughing and recognize them for keeping your company thriving!
Here’s how Saurabh Dingolia from Uber described her experience:
“Laughter On Call was a really fun event for the team. It pushed us outside of our comfort zone and encouraged everyone to engage more with each other while sharing many many laughs together. Thank you Laughter On Call for bringing joy to us in these times!”
Standout features:
- Unique prompts yielding surprising answers
- Games where every person has their moment to shine
- Group storytelling where everyone contributes
- Comedians invite each person to engage and feel part of the team
- Connections are built between people for better engagement on ZOOM and in person
- Accommodates 5-500 guests (break-out rooms are used to ensure interaction)
Founder and CEO Dani Klein Modisett started Laughter On Call after her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She saw first-hand how the power of laughter can change lives. Here’s a quick video that explains more:
Talk to the improv experts at Laughter On Call to help bring the smiles out at your next virtual holiday party!
9) Virtual Mixologist Through Sourced
Holiday office parties aren’t going to be the same this year. With social distancing and work-from-home arrangements becoming all too common, the traditional holiday office party is being shelved for something safer. Sourced Craft Cocktails has a way to take the boozy holiday office party online for a fun, safe, and engaging way to connect your entire team.
Sign your organization up for a Virtual Holiday Party, and Sourced deliver custom cocktail kits to your employees’ homes to create an online event that is interactive and will make your team feel appreciated.
Standout features:
- Pick out cocktail options to add to your event’s menu
- Sourced will create a custom webpage for your employees to select their cocktail choice and provide their home address for delivery
- Sourced will deliver the selected cocktail kits to your employees’ homes the day of the event
- A Sourced bartender will host the first 15 minutes of the web conference, explaining how to mix the drinks and offering tips on the best way to make/enjoy premium cocktails
- Sourced will turn over the remaining time to the event hosts for a holiday party for just your team
Tip: Mocktail options are also available here for those wanting a non-alcoholic drink.
Enjoy serving alcohol at this year’s virtual holiday party without assuming any of the legal liabilities as all drinking should occur from the comfort of home. Sourced delivers to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Washington DC, New York City, Dallas and Austin.
10) Werewolf
Party attendees split into two groups—werewolves and townspeople—and face off until all the werewolves are dead or the two groups reach equal numbers.
Standout features
- An app that makes playing Werewolf easy
- It involves plenty of thinking, strategy, and even a little deception
Tip: Send each participant their own virtual holiday spending card a week before game day so that they can come prepared with the holiday goodies of their choice!
Get your friends together and download the Werewolf app to start playing at your next holiday party.
11) Virtual Wellness-Focused Holiday Party
Want to do something unique and healthy with your team virtually this holiday season? Why not have a dance party, a team toast, a gratitude journaling session, and a wellness expert keynote session to round out your year?
In 2020, Remote Team Wellness pioneered its fabulous virtual wellness holiday parties and has since conceptualized and managed virtual holiday parties with L’Oreal, Cisco, Waste Management, and more. They’re back again this year to kick it up a notch! Teams can now get virtual gifts such as UberEats credit, in real-time during events, or pre-mailed wellness boxes too! Remote Team Wellness has options for all budgets and team sizes and is the only virtual holiday party centered around making your team feel better, but with lots of fun mixed in.
“We knew this wasn’t actually the year for a big alcohol-themed holiday party so we wanted to try something different. With Remote Team Wellness we focused on intention-setting for next year, but then we also danced for 3 hours and definitely partied. It was AWESOME” –Prakash Karamchandani, Founder of Balance Grille Restaurants
Standout features:
- Full concierge service event management.
- Gratitude journals can be sent to all team members for the corresponding hosted event.
- Expert-led, live curated wellness sessions
- A professional DJ spinning your team’s favorite holiday playlist
- Fun team-building gameplay hosted by a professional host.
- Snack or gift boxes can be sent to each employee with a corresponding custom nutrition guide
- Dance it out with a professional TikTok dance specialist leading your whole team on a hilarious group dance session
Tip: They have dozens of fully customizable wellness integrated holiday party ideas so to get a quick quote and put something together in time for the holidays.
12) QuizBreaker
QuizBreaker is a platform you can use to create and distribute quizzes that highlight fun facts about your virtual holiday party guests. Have everyone fill in the quizzes during your party to create a fun and enriching virtual game that helps you get to know guests better and maybe even learn a few things no simple conversation would have revealed.
Standout features:
- Automate your quiz so you don’t have to worry about manually launching them during your party
- Guests can earn achievement badges through the interface as they play
- Play with virtual teams of all sizes, from 3 to 1,000+ players
Tip: Crowdsource question ideas from your friends and co-workers to build a truly comprehensive quiz experience
Try QuizBreaker for free to see firsthand what it can add to your holiday event and level up your virtual holiday party with a curated one-of-a-kind employee care package through Caroo!
Bonus: Water Cooler Trivia
Dazzle your work friends or remote employees with trivia that entertains and also makes the bonds between you stronger. Simply use Water Cooler Trivia, an online trivia interface, to create and distribute quizzes and then peruse the results to learn fun facts about co-workers.
This game will feel like attending a trivia night where you and your teammates are the star subjects. Who wouldn’t love that?
Standout features:
- Shared group results spark conversations about who knows what about whom
- Customize trivia difficulties and question quantity for a catered experience
- Slack integration allows guests to play using an interface they know
Tip: Send the answers to the trivia questions out after the event as a fun-facts digest.
Play Water Cooler Trivia during your next virtual holiday party to take friendships to the next level.
Virtual Holiday Party Ideas
13) Priority Experiences
Priority Experiences offer the largest assortment of customizable tasting kits and virtual experiences, with domestic and international shipping options. Some examples include holiday-themed mixology experiences, adult hot chocolate experiences, thanksgiving themed wine tastings, champagne New Years’ toasts, and more.
Why we love it: Priority Experiences is all about matching you with the perfect experience. You can choose from a range of pre-built virtual tastings/online experiences or you can work with their team to create something customized for your event.
Which holidays does it work for? They have pre-made kits/experiences for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year, and Valentine’s Day, but can accommodate any holiday or occasion
14) Fuel Your Virtual Party with Delicious Food and Drinks
Go beyond virtual by empowering your employees to order food and drinks for the duration of your holiday event, wherever they are located in the world.
Provide your team with their own virtual holiday spending cards, which they can use to order all kinds of drinks and food! You can experience their collection of digital gift cards here and get creative ideas on how to throw a memorable virtual party!
Why we love it: Creates excitement by customizing your holiday event messaging with dedicated gift cards to send out to your guests.
Which holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
15) Send A Gift Box
Give your virtual office party some in-person flair by sending a gift box full of edible, tangible, delightful-themed treats, perks, and goodies.
For example, you could send sunglasses and sunscreen for Independence Day, a custom beanie and camper mug for the winter holiday season, or a box of wholesome snacks for Thanksgiving.
Find even more gift box ideas in this post, or dream up your own perfect holiday party-themed box by heading to these sites:
Why we love it: Virtual events + tangible treats create a well rounded-experience
Which holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
16) Host A Virtual White Elephant Gift Exchange
For this virtual party idea, each guest has to bring a random, ridiculous, weird, hilarious, or otherwise traditionally “unwanted” gift (maybe a vintage chia pet). All you have to do is have guests open the gifts, and voila — you’ve got instant hilarity with minimal planning and fanfare.
You can also host a virtual white elephant through Go Remote:
Why we love it: It’s great fun to see what everyone brings and also how everyone reacts to what everyone brings.
What holidays does it work for? Christmas, Hanukkah, and other traditional gift-giving holidays
17) Bond During A Virtual Adventure
Work with the scavenger hunt experts at Outback Wild Goose Chase to host a themed scavenger hunt that turns a virtual party into an epic adventure everyone can play right in their own home. Wild Goose Chase can also customize your game so that it aligns with your company culture and design challenges that would be unique to your company.
Why we love it: It’s exciting and adventurous – talk to Wild Goose Chase!
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
18) Send An E-Gift
Not sure where to send your gift? Try sending an E-Gift instead through CorporateGift.com. They make the virtual holiday gifting process easy and pain in the head or upper neck. সহজ বাংলা: মাথাব্যথা।" data-rx-term="headache" data-rx-definition="Headache means pain in the head or upper neck. সহজ বাংলা: মাথাব্যথা।">headache free. Just submit a list of emails in their dashboard and let them take care of the rest.
Why we love it: Letting your virtual holiday party attendees choose their gift of choice is a stress-free way to deliver the right present — no elves required!
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
Some of our favorite examples to check out:
Virtual Happy Hour Cocktail Kit
The party favor with flavor — choose from Margarita, Champagne, Hot Toddy, or Italian Spritz. Comes with a mixing spoon and coaster, and makes 2 drinks! See all cocktail kit options.
Step up the fancy with this Moet champagne and flute gift set — complete with cookies.
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut 375ml
Skip the drink tickets and send an excellent bottle of champagne to the celebrants. Even better, pair it with boozy popcorn or any snack as a bundle!
Martinelli Sparkling Cider
Have an inclusive celebration with a non-alcoholic option. Martinelli’s sparkling champagne cider delivers bubbly without the tipsy.
Gourmet Boozy Popcorn Tube
Your choice of champagne, bourbon, or amaretto popcorn flavor, this customizable popcorn tube comes in a classy glass to raise together.
19) Send Decorations or Props
Send decorations, photo-booth props, or party favors centered around the theme of your virtual party.
Why we love it: It helps solidify feelings of togetherness when friends and family can’t gather in the same room.
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
20) Virtual Secret Santa Gift Exchange
Each guest brings a gift for another. The gift-givers identity remains a secret until after all the presents are open and each person tries to guess the identity of their secret Santa. Make sure everyone wears their Santa hat.
Why we love it: It gives all your guests a chance to give creative gifts without feeling pressured to get a gift for every single person.
What holidays does it work for? A secret Santa gift exchange works for Christmas, Hanukkah, and other traditional gift-giving holidays
21) Enjoy A Class or Lesson Together
Center your party’s festivities around an exciting virtual class such as a virtual painting lesson, an online cooking experience, or a virtual beer-making class from City Brew Tours.
Why we love it: It gives guests a chance to pick up new skills while also enjoying each other’s company
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
22) A Custom-Themed Remote Event For Any Holiday
Let Goosechase use its years of event expertise to help you design a virtual extravaganza appropriate for any holiday and/or remote occasion. Their memorable adventures send you on a wild chase to solve puzzles, check into locations, and more (all can be highly customized based on your team and their interests).
Why we love it: The Goosechase team will make sure that your virtual holiday event is an awesome location-independent experience that will have employees raving for years to come, and it takes under 10 minutes to build your first game!
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
23) Virtual Ornament or Holiday Card Painting Workshop
The weather outside is frightful, but this paint party is so delightful! Eat, drink, and be merry with Paint the Town during this fun step-by-step workshop that guides you through the creation of 4 beautiful wood ornaments or holiday watercolor cards. Guests will create, laugh, and mingle together in this festive activity.
Standout features:
- Complete paint kits are shipped to each participant, with free domestic shipping
- Fun instructor leads the group through painting inspirations of your choice
- Events, painting options, and add-ons are fully customizable
Tip: Upgrade your packages with food/drinks, custom messages, holiday accessories, or icebreakers to make this virtual paint experience extra special for guests!
Bonus: Send, Snacks, Beverages, or Recipes
Send a box of snacks, a happy hour box, a gift card to a local delivery service, or even just a recipe that everyone can make.
Why we love it: Even people who aren’t in the same room will feel closer together when they’re consuming the same treats and goodies.
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
Virtual Holiday Party Themes
24) Virtual Christmas Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Any of these easy themes will make absolutely any games or activities you choose to play just a little bit more Christmasy and festive.
- Reindeer Games. Have guests don their best reindeer antlers, reindeer hats, reindeer sweaters, and any other wearable reindeer-themed apparel, makeup, and accessories they can find.
- Christmas Cookie Show and Tell. Everyone makes and decorates their best Christmas cookies to show off in the video feed.
- Christmas Tree. Costumes, sweaters, sweatshirts, pajamas — guests can wear anything they want to your Christmas party as long as it’s covered in Christmas trees.
25) Festivus Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Any simple round of virtual trivia or remote game can be turned into a Festivus extravaganza with some easy themes.
- Airing of grievances. Start your event with some good-natured airing of grievances. (Consider a different kind of icebreaker.)
- Seinfeld dresses up. Pretend to be characters from the episode of Seinfeld that introduced Festivus to the world.
- Festivus pole show and tell. Have all guests come prepared to show off their best DIY Festivus pole.
26) Hanukkah Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: These themes make any average virtual game night feel like a true holiday celebration and get everyone in the holiday spirit
- Hanukkah sweater party. Have guests come in their favorite sweaters, outfits, or jammies in shades of blue, silver, and white.
- Festival of lights. Decorate your video chat space with a collection of the shiniest lights you can find. Ask guests to do the same.
- Donut decorating. Decorate and show off any kind of donut you want.
27) New Year’s Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Celebrating New Year’s virtually will feel as warm and toast-worthy as any in-person celebration if you incorporate these themes.
- Parisian New Year. Get your best Paris backdrop, find some authentic French champagne, and put together a French classic playlist you can listen to as you toast the New Year.
- Big Apple Classic. Find a classic New York City backdrop and watch the ball drop together.
28) Independence Day Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: When you have these themes, you don’t need in-person fireworks and campfires to feel like you’re getting all the fun that Independence Day has to offer.
- Cookout. Have everyone plan to join the party on their mobile devices so they can participate from their yard, patio, or a local park.
- Virtual Beach Party. Ask everyone to put up a beachy backdrop (Zoom backdrop or paper lanterns work great) and wear their cheesiest beachwear, including Hawaiian shirts and flower necklaces.
29) Thanksgiving Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: These themes make it possible to play any game and activity you want and still cultivate those turkey-day vibes.
- Virtual Recipe Swap. Have everyone come prepared to swap and talk about a favorite family Thanksgiving recipe.
- Gratitude. A classic Thanksgiving activity, sharing gratitudes great and small will fill a room with warmth — no decorations required.
30) Halloween Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Take advantage of these themes to cultivate spooky or kid-friendly Halloween vibes.
- Murder Mystery Party. Celebrate Halloween by donning your detective hat and immersing yourself in mystery and intrigue.
- Pumpkin Party. Guests can bring pumpkins to carve, decorate with pumpkins, wear pumpkin colors and prints — and otherwise do anything they want to pay homage to the noble pumpkin.
We recommend checking out Virtual Clue Murder Mystery if you are a crime junkie at heart!
How To Host A Virtual Holiday Party
1) Make your guest list. This is especially important for your video or conference call technology decision. Head counts matter as much for virtual events as they do for in-person events. Your guest count determines what kinds of games you can play.
2) Select your games and your themes.
3) Choose your video chat/conference call service. (Even if your party activities don’t require face-to-face interaction, it’s good to see everyone’s face.) Some popular options are:
4) Test your video chat/conference call service.
5) Send virtual invitations (via email or social media) and collect RSVPs. Include the event length and a brief outline and description of your activities and themes. When filling out these holiday invitations remember to include the event length, the link to your video chat, and a brief outline and description of your activities and themes.
6) Get your costume/outfit ready and encourage everyone to do the same.
7) If you’re running your games, test them all to make sure you know how to play.
8) Send reminders on the day of the event. Virtual events can be easy to forget about since they don’t involve travel time. Make your guests’ lives easier by sending event reminders several hours before your holiday party.
