It was Jacques Houdek who once said, ‘Dare to dream, make a meal’ – ok yes, that wasn’t quite the lyric, but with this year’s slogan ‘Dare to Dream’ why not make a few adaptations! With this year’s contest quickly approaching, it’s time to start planning your Eurovision parties. With the help of Eurovision Union, you can plan out the ultimate Eurovision party for you and your friends!
Over the last month, we’ve gathered some of the tastiest and most intriguing dishes from across the participating nations and we have put our aprons on to test out these recipes! We selected a diverse range of food, as well as both savoury and sweet dishes, so if you are hosting a Eurovision party this year, you can take inspiration from our cooking adventures across Europe and recreate these dishes for you and your friends!
Setting the Scene
Before we get stuck into the recipes, let’s discuss setting the scene for your Eurovision party. There are lots of things to think about when hosting a Eurovision party – Who will be attending? Where will it be hosted? Drinks and Decorations? Will there be Eurovision related party games? All valid questions!
If you have a group of friends who enjoy to watch Eurovision each year, mark the date to get together for the Grand Final, or if you’re hardcore, both semi-finals and the Grand Final. We are not far off this year’s contest, so make sure to give everyone enough time to clear their schedules!
Decorations and Themes
As for decorations, we think the more colourful the better. It might also help plan the party if you pick a theme, whether you want the focus to be on the flags, perhaps even theme it around your own country.
Here are some of our favourite theme ideas:
- Flag theme: Have your guests dress up in the colours of a participating nation’s flag and use flag related decorations including garlands
- Classic Eurovision: Have your guests dress up as an iconic Eurovision participant, you’ll be sure to have ABBA, Conchita or Verka attending your party! Create a Eurovision hall of fame with pictures of the winning Eurovision artists
- Country theme: Pick a country, potentially your own if your nation participates in Eurovision and have the entire party themed around supporting this year’s participating artist and previous artists from the nation. Flags should make an appearance as should costumes.
We love the idea of featuring flags, and an easy DIY craft that’s inexpensive is to make your own garland. Simply print the flags of the participating nations (keeping the same size and shape) and cut them out from the paper. Punch a hole in the corner and thread some string through the holes. The flags often do tend to move along the string – you can either blu-tack the flags to the wall you intend on hanging the garland, or instead tie knots around each flag to prevent the flags from slipping.
Drinks
Your Eurovision party might also be an ideal time to try some new foods and drinks. If you are of age, this might be the time to step out of your comfort zone and try some different styles of alcohol popular in the participating countries. If you have a group of friends coming, why not make a punch? It could be alcoholic or not, but placed in a nice drink dispenser with some of those decorative flags, yours guests will surely love it.
Games and Activities
It wouldn’t be a Eurovision party without a sweepstake! If yours guests are willing, put in a pre-arranged amount of money (soldi, if you will) and have each guest pick a country at random from a bowl or hat. For a larger party, have your guests pick out one nation, or for smaller gatherings, each guest could pick out a few nations. The person with the winning country will win the money put in by the guests!
If your party consists of hardcore Eurovision fans, instead of a sweepstake, why not do a prediction competition? Have your guests select who they think will finish in the Top 3, or Top 5, or just simply who will win the contest. This could be a money related activity, or the winner could simply win bragging rights!
Before the viewing starts, make sure to set the scene with some ultimate Eurovision tunes! We have created a playlist with some of the best Eurovision songs, which you can listen to below:
After the viewing, continue the Eurovision fun with some karaoke or if you were lucky enough to grab the Eurovision board game, challenge your friends to a game or two!
These are just some ideas for a Eurovision Party, so make sure to tell us how you prepare for your Eurovision parties with friends and family! Tell us your ideas, and share your photos and stories with us in the comments below!