How To Host The Ultimate Eurovision Party: Food, Themes And Games

A Eurovision party is the easiest themed night of the year: the schedule is fixed, the running order does the entertaining, and all you have to do is feed people and print scorecards.

Here's the full plan, from what to cook to what to play in the hour before the broadcast starts.

Before the show: the pre-party hour

• Hitster - play a track, guess the year, place it in your timeline. It's a music game, so it sets the tone perfectly while you're waiting for the broadcast, and it needs nothing but a phone and a speaker.
• Guess the Eurovision winner from a ten-second clip.
• Draw the flag of the country each guest has been assigned, badly, and get the rest to guess.
• A quickfire round: name a UK entry from the last twenty years. Harder than anyone expects.
• Assign each guest a country as they arrive, out of a bowl. They cheer for it all night.

The buffet, by country

• Spain: tortilla and olives. Italy: arancini. Greece: halloumi and flatbreads.
• Sweden: meatballs and lingonberry. Finland: rye bread and dill.
• Germany: pretzels and mustard. France: a cheese board, obviously.
• Ukraine: varenyky, or potato dumplings from the freezer aisle.
• United Kingdom: a Victoria sponge, sausage rolls, and a bowl of Quavers.
• Label everything with the country and a little flag. It costs nothing and makes the table.

Scorecards and voting

• Print a scorecard per guest: song, staging, costume, key change, out of ten each.
• Award 12 points to one act each, jury-style, and add them up at the end.
• Ban voting for your assigned country. It keeps everyone honest.
• A separate prize for best costume, best key change and worst staging.
• Predict the UK's final position before the show and seal it in an envelope.

Rules of the night

• Everyone stands for the key change. Non-negotiable.
• A sweep on the winner, pound a go, drawn from a hat.
• Phones down during the songs, back out during the voting.
• Snacks in bowls, not plates. Nobody wants cutlery during the semi-final recap.
• Whoever's country wins hosts next year. It's how the tradition keeps going.

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How to write it so it lands

• Print scorecards the day before. Nobody has ink on the night.
• Assign countries at the door - it turns a watching party into a competition.
• Serve the food before the songs start, not during the voting.

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Frequently asked questions

What do you need for a Eurovision party?

Printed scorecards, a country assigned to each guest, a buffet of small dishes from different countries, flags or bunting, and one game to fill the hour before the broadcast starts.

What food do you serve at a Eurovision party?

One small dish per country: tortilla, arancini, halloumi, meatballs, pretzels, a cheese board and a Victoria sponge for the UK. Label each with its flag.

How do you score Eurovision at home?

Give everyone a card and score song, staging, costume and key change out of ten, then hand out 12 points jury-style at the end. Nobody may vote for their own assigned country.

What can you play before Eurovision starts?

A music game like Hitster, guess the winner from a clip, or a quickfire round naming past UK entries. Keep it to the hour before the broadcast.

Do you sell board games?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and party bits in the UK, so the games here are simply what we'd recommend to a friend. Some links go to other shops and may earn us a small commission, at no extra cost to you.