PULTEVENT
Christmas in July party games: 7 ideas for a proper winter Christmas
A guesthouse in Katoomba, a Saturday in July, half past seven. Fog has swallowed the view of the valley the brochure promised. There's a fire going in a grate that was built when the guesthouse was, a roast turkey on the sideboard with all the trimmings nobody would dream of eating in December, and twenty friends in knitted jumpers who drove up from Sydney because, for once, it's cold enough for Christmas to feel like the cards.
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Christmas in July is the southern hemisphere having a bit of fun with the calendar. In December we eat prawns on the beach and cold ham in the shade. In July, when it's actually winter, a lot of Australians and New Zealanders put on the other Christmas: the roast, the pudding, the mulled wine, the tree. It's become a proper tradition in the Blue Mountains, where guesthouses and restaurants run winter Christmas menus, and plenty of workplaces and friend groups do their own version at home.
Games make it a party rather than just a big dinner. I run them with PULTEVENT: a laptop browser as the console, the TV or a hired projector as the screen, and guests playing from their phones after scanning a QR code. There's no app to download, but the phones need a connection, which is worth checking in an old guesthouse with thick walls.
7 games for a winter Christmas
1 The snowy welcome screen
As people come in from the cold, the screen shows a winter photo or a slideshow from last year's dinner, a caption with the date and "Christmas in July", and confetti or fanfare when you're ready to start.
How to run it. Use a photo of your group from a real December, all sunburn and thongs, for contrast.
It tells everyone this isn't a regular Saturday dinner before the first drink is poured.
2 Decorate the Tree
A bare tree stands on the big screen. Each guest joins from their phone and hangs decorations on it, all at once, and the tree fills up in front of the room.
How to run it. Play it early, right after the entrée, while everyone's still sober enough to aim.
The one bit of Christmas decorating nobody has to untangle lights for.
3 The upside-down Christmas quiz
Questions that play on the two Christmases: which country gave us the Christmas tree tradition, what the first Christmas card showed, why Australians eat a hot roast in summer at all, what a pavlova is doing on a Christmas table.
How to run it. Write it in the quiz builder and keep the answers short. Check the history questions before you commit to them.
It fills the gap between the main and the pudding without anyone having to leave the table.
4 The carol sing-off
Two teams each take a carol, lyrics up on the screen, and the room votes on the winner from their phones. Bonus points for anyone who sings the second verse without looking.
How to run it. Give each team a lead singer and let the rest hum along. Nobody should be forced to solo.
A room full of people who'd never sing in public will belt out a carol if they're in a team.
5 Fake karaoke, carol edition
One volunteer sings along to a backing track. The program quietly records their voice, then plays it back through the speakers with no music under it.
How to run it. Pick the one who asked for the microphone first. Never the shy aunt.
The loudest laugh of the night, every time.
6 The Kris Kringle wheel
Instead of a free-for-all at the tree, the guest wheel spins on the screen and picks who opens the next present. Everyone watches every unwrapping.
How to run it. Set a spending limit when you organise the Kris Kringle, and take the gifts off the table before you spin.
Every gift gets its moment, and the cheeky ones get the audience they were bought for.
7 Christmas forfeits
The task randomizer throws up a festive challenge: do your best Santa laugh, name six reindeer in twenty seconds, toast the host in rhyme. The room decides if it counts.
How to run it. Write tasks everyone can manage sitting down, and a couple for the table as a whole.
Keeps the table going after dessert, when a sleepy room might call it a night.
A tree the whole room decorates
Guests hang baubles on a 3D tree on the big screen, each from their own phone.
Carols, with a twist
A carol sing-off with the room voting, or fake karaoke for the brave.
Kris Kringle by wheel
The guest wheel decides who opens the next present, so nobody hogs the pile.
Snow on the screen, at least
A welcome screen with your names and a flurry of effects on top.
Why July, and why it catches on
Anyone raised on the northern Christmas of films and cards knows the snow, the fire and the roast, and none of them fit a thirty-degree December. July gives you the right weather for it. The idea took hold in the Blue Mountains, where cold nights and old guesthouses made it an easy sell, and it has spread to restaurants, clubs and homes around the country and across the Tasman.
It's usually a dinner party first. The games are there to break the evening into acts: arrival, entrée, a game, the main, a quiz, pudding, the loud stuff, the presents.
At home, in a guesthouse, or at a restaurant
At home it's easy: laptop into the lounge room TV, everyone within sight of the screen. In a guesthouse or a restaurant's private room, call ahead. Ask whether there's a TV or projector, where the input is, and whether the Wi-Fi covers the room. Old buildings in the mountains can be slow on mobile signal, and the phone games won't run without a connection.
If you're stuck without signal, the welcome screen, the forfeits and the Kris Kringle wheel all run from the laptop alone, with the room shouting instead of tapping.
The New Zealand version
Kiwis do a mid-winter Christmas too, often as a dinner with friends or a work function. Matariki, the Māori New Year, now has its own public holiday in June or July, and some groups celebrate both around the same time. They're different occasions, so if you're marking Matariki, give it its own space rather than folding it into the tinsel.
"Is the pavlova ours or theirs?"
"Depends which side of the table you're sitting on."
As a mid-year work do
In Australia the financial year ends on 30 June, and a lot of teams are ready for a night out once the EOFY rush is over. A Christmas in July function does two jobs: it thanks people for surviving June, and it's easier to book a venue than in December. Run the tree, the quiz and a team podium, and keep the fake karaoke for teams that know each other well.
Getting ready
Start the free 3-day demo a week out, no card needed, and build the quiz and forfeits then. Do a test on your own TV so you know how the tree and the wheel look on a big screen. After that the full version is a one-time licence with no subscription; the price is on pultevent.ru/en. The same setup covers the December party too, if you're the one who organises both.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run Christmas in July games on a TV
- 1
A week ahead, write the quiz and a list of forfeits, and organise the Kris Kringle.
- 2
Pick a winter photo and a caption for the welcome screen.
- 3
Check the TV, cable and Wi-Fi at the venue or at home.
- 4
As guests arrive, put the welcome screen up and the QR code on it.
- 5
Run Decorate the Tree after the entrée, the quiz before pudding, the carols after.
- 6
Finish with the forfeits and the Kris Kringle wheel by the fire.
FAQ
How many people can decorate the tree at once?
Do we need a projector?
What if the guesthouse has no Wi-Fi?
Is there a ready-made Christmas quiz in English?
Can we use it for the December party as well?
Do guests need to install anything?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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