25 Company Holiday Party Ideas for Indianapolis Teams

The best company holiday party ideas give people one thing to do, one thing to eat, and one thing to talk about on Monday. Below are 25 that work for Indianapolis teams, grouped by theme, entertainment, food and bar format, giving back, and timing, written by someone who runs holiday parties inside a real 1898 brewery at 24 Shelby.

What Makes a Good Company Holiday Party?

A good company holiday party has three things: food people actually want, a bar plan that nobody has to think about, and one activity that gives coworkers something to do besides talk about work. Get those right and the theme is a bonus. Get them wrong and no theme saves you.

The numbers back that up. 82% of employees planned to attend their company’s celebration in 2025, up from 70% the year before (ezCater, 2025), and 77% say the food is what they look forward to most. Half say the menu decides whether they show up at all. The full workplace holiday party report is the best free data on the subject.

The flip side is real too. 46% of workers feel pressured to attend, and 52% would rather have a themed party with something interactive built in, like a game or an escape room, than a dinner where everyone stands around (The Harris Poll, 2024). The same State of Work holiday party poll found the three moments people dread most: forced icebreakers, endless work talk, and the long speech. Plan around those three and you are ahead of most companies in town.

My own rule after 15 years behind bars and a first holiday season in this building: guests don’t care about 90% of the details people stress over. They care about the energy, the flow, the drinks, and the food. Every idea below gets judged on those four.

The 25 Company Holiday Party Ideas at a Glance

Every idea on this list except number 20 works without alcohol, which matters for a mixed office and for daytime formats.

Which Corporate Holiday Party Themes Work Best?

The corporate holiday party themes that work best are the ones that do not require a costume, do not require Santa, and give the room a look without a truckload of decor. Speakeasy, black and gold, winter lodge, casino, and year-in-review all clear that bar. Ugly sweater clears it because everyone already owns the costume.

1. Speakeasy Holiday Party (the One That’s Literal Here)

A speakeasy holiday party is a 1920s cocktail party played straight: a password at the door, a jazz trio, a short cocktail list served properly, and low warm light. It is my favorite on this list because it is holiday-neutral: no religious iconography, no Santa, no snowflakes required, and it reads as adult without being built around drinking.

How to run it:

• Door. Email the password with the invitation. Someone in a vest checks it. Ten seconds, and the tone is set.
• Music. Jazz trio for the first 90 minutes, then a DJ. Encore Entertainment books Cocktail Sax and the Circle City Big Band locally.
• Drinks. Four or five era cocktails (Old Fashioned, French 75, Bee’s Knees, Sidecar) plus a “temperance” list of zero-proof shrubs and sodas, so nobody is left holding water.
• Dress. “1920s encouraged, cocktail attire welcome.” Encouraged, never required. Forced costumes are how you lose a third of the room.
• Decor. Velvet, brass, candlelight, and not much else.

At 24 Shelby it is not a theme, it is the building. The Edison Room is the 1898 bottling house of the Home Brewing Company, the only surviving pre-Prohibition brewery building in Indianapolis. Indiana went dry in 1918 and the brewery closed in 1922. Hosting a speakeasy night in a room that Prohibition actually shut down is a story your guests will retell. For period-correct colors, cocktails, and attire, our Roaring Twenties theme guide goes deep; it was written for weddings, but every styling note transfers.

Photo: Clay House Photography

2. Black and Gold Year-End Gala

Black linens, gold sequin runners, a champagne toast at 8, and a dress code that says “sparkle.” Pick it when you want a photo that looks expensive and a night that still feels like a party. It needs a room with height and good bones; a drop-ceiling ballroom fights it. Pair it with idea 10 and you have a gala. Pair it with idea 8 and you have a New Year’s Eve preview.

Photo: Clay House Photography

3. Ugly Sweater Cocktail Hour

Still the most-searched office holiday party theme, for a reason: everybody already owns the costume, and the Goodwill on the way home has fifty more. Make it a cocktail hour rather than a dinner, run a three-category contest (ugliest, most creative, best team sweater), and keep the prizes small. It works at 2 p.m. as well as it works at 8 p.m. (see idea 24).

4. Winter Lodge Party

Flannel and plaid, a hot cocoa cart with a whiskey option, a fondue or raclette station, and a fireplace on the projector if you cannot have a real one. Indianapolis averages 6.4 inches of snow in December (National Weather Service, 2026), so lean into the weather instead of pretending it is not coming. This one suits a team of 30 to 150 that wants cozy over glam.

5. Holidays Around the World

Food stations built around your team’s own traditions: tamales, latkes, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, pierogi, whatever your people actually cook in December. Ask employees to nominate a dish and a story, then print both on a card at each station. It is the most inclusive theme here because it is built from the room, not imposed on it. Skip the costumes and let the food carry it.

6. Casino Night

Blackjack, craps, roulette, and poker tables with real dealers, funny money at the door, and prizes for chip totals at the end. Casino Party Experts has run casino-grade tables in Indianapolis for more than 30 years, and nobody needs to know the rules because the dealers teach. Inside a former brewery it plays as a Prohibition-era casino, so it pairs naturally with idea 1.

7. New Year’s Preview or Year-in-Review Party

If December is too crowded, a January party is not a consolation prize. The room is easier to book, everyone is back from travel, and the framing shifts from holidays to what the team pulled off this year. Countdown at 9 p.m., not midnight. This is also the cleanest option for a company that wants to sidestep religious holidays entirely.

What Holiday Party Entertainment Ideas Keep a Room of 100 Off Their Phones?

The holiday party entertainment ideas that work in a 100-person room happen in layers: something live during arrivals, something roaming during cocktails, one short program after dinner, and a dance floor or a booth for the last hour. Nothing asks for the whole room’s attention for longer than 15 minutes. That is the entire formula.

8. Live Jazz Trio or Big Band

A trio during arrivals costs less than most planners assume and changes the room more than any decor budget. For a bigger crowd, scale up to a swing band and put the Edison Room’s raised stage to work. The local bench is deep; the Encore roster runs from trios to a 17-piece big band.

Photo: Clay House Photography

9. Motown or Soul Night with a Live Vocalist

One of my favorite parties in this building was a Motown-themed 45th birthday: black linens, gold runners, a live band, and the lighting synced to the bass hits. It snowed seven inches during the event. We had someone re-shovel the lot every 15 minutes and nobody inside noticed. That is the point of a live vocalist. When the singer is good, the room stops checking the weather.

10. The 15-Minute Awards Show

Recognition is the part of the night people remember, and most companies botch it by making it long. Put the awards on the projection screens, cap the segment at 15 minutes, mix real awards with joke superlatives, and let a coworker with timing host it instead of the CEO. Employees who feel well recognized are 45% less likely to have left their company two years later (Gallup, 2024), and only 29% got any recognition in the past week (Gallup, 2026). And 53% of employees say they would be more likely to attend if the party included an executive roast (The Harris Poll, 2024). The same format works as a send-off for a retiring colleague; see our retirement party venue guide.

Photo: Clay House Photography

11. 360 Photo Booth

The spinning-camera booth is the one activation that runs itself for four hours and produces content people actually post. Put it near the bar, not in a corner, and give it a branded overlay with the company name and the year. 360 Photo Booth Indianapolis has a corporate package; 24 Shelby offers one as an add-on too.

12. Cocktail-Making Class

Fifteen to sixty people, three drinks, one bartender who can teach. Mixo Indy brings a mobile class with a winter menu to any venue; at 24 Shelby our own bartenders run it from the Libations Lounge bar. Run a zero-proof version alongside so nobody sits out. It is the idea that gets the most “can we do this again” texts.

Photo: Clay House Photography

13. Murder Mystery or Trivia Game Show

Both give introverts a job, which is why they work. A murder mystery suits 20 to 80 at a seated dinner; a hosted trivia game show scales to 120 with teams by department. Keep the rounds to five questions and make one round about the company’s own year.

14. Roaming Magician or Caricaturist During Cocktails

Roaming acts fix the awkward first 45 minutes. A close-up magician like David Ranalli works table to table, and a caricature artist like Caricatures by Brad sends every guest home with something that is not a branded koozie. Neither needs a stage, a microphone, or a volunteer.

15. DJ Dance Floor Finale or Silent Disco

End on a dance floor, not a speech. A DJ for the last 90 minutes is enough. For a mixed-age office, a silent disco with three channels lets the Bee Gees and Bad Bunny coexist. My data point after 15 years of watching floors: Usher’s “Yeah!” has never failed to fill this one.

Photo: Clay House Photography

What Food and Bar Formats Do Employees Actually Want?

Employees want food they can choose themselves, served without a 40-minute line, and a bar that was decided before they arrived. 77% say food is what they look forward to most, and 64% would rather build their own plate than be served one (ezCater, 2025). Stations beat a buffet line, and both beat a plated dinner at a party.

16. Grazing Stations Instead of a Buffet Line

Three or four stations around the room instead of one line: a grazing table from 317 Charcuterie, a carving or taco station, a passed hot appetizer, and dessert. The line disappears and people move, which is what you want at a party. 24 Shelby welcomes outside caterers and has a prep kitchen for warming, plating, and staging; Sweet & Savory Catering runs a seasonal holiday menu sourced from Indiana farms.

17. Dessert Bar and Cookie-Decorating Contest

Order the sugar cookies undecorated from Sweet Escape Cake Company on South Meridian, set out royal icing and sprinkles, and judge by department. It is the one activity that works for a seven-year-old and a CFO at the same table, which makes it the anchor for a families night (idea 25).

18. Hot Cocoa and Espresso Cart

A local roaster’s espresso cart or a hot chocolate bar is the daytime party’s centerpiece and the evening party’s best non-alcoholic option. Tinker Coffee runs a mobile espresso bar, and Carmel Coffee Catering builds a hot chocolate bar that scales past 100 guests. Add a whiskey pour on the side and the lodge theme from idea 4 is done.

19. A Real Zero-Proof Menu

Not “we have Coke.” Two or three built drinks without alcohol, on the same menu card as the cocktails, served in the same glassware. Only 54% of U.S. adults drink now, a record low for the second straight year, and 17% swapped in a non-alcoholic beer, wine, or spirit at some point in the past year (Gallup, 2026). Among Gen Z workers, 42% would rather see alcohol limited or absent at the company party (The Harris Poll, 2024). The people asking for this are your employees, and they notice when the answer is a can of ginger ale.

20. Open Bar, Drink Tickets, or Beer and Wine: Decide On Purpose

The bar format changes the room more than the theme does, so pick it before you pick anything else.

• Open bar by tier. At 24 Shelby that means beer and wine, basic, or premium, timed to the length of the event. Highest energy, simplest for guests, and the one that needs professional bartenders most.
• Drink tickets. Two per guest, then a cash option. Fair, predictable, and the format most HR teams like. Hand them out at check-in, not at the bar.
• Beer, wine, and one signature cocktail. The middle path. Name the cocktail after a company inside joke and it becomes the photo.
• Cash bar only. Fine if the invitation says so. A surprise cash bar is the fastest way to lose a room by 7:30.

Whatever you choose, more than one in five employees feel uneasy drinking around managers (ezCater, 2025), so the zero-proof menu in idea 19 is not optional. Two house rules here: our in-house bar staff serves every event, and outside alcohol is never permitted. Those are my bartenders’ liquor licenses on the line, and I back them when they cut someone off.

Photo: Clay House Photography

Which Giving-Back and Team-Building Ideas Fit a Holiday Party?

Giving-back ideas work when they are attached to the party rather than substituted for it: a two-hour volunteer shift in the afternoon and the party that night, or a toy drive that doubles as the ticket. Team-building outings work the same way, as a pre-game for a smaller group before everyone meets for dinner.

21. Gleaners Packing Shift, Then the Party

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana takes corporate groups on the southwest side, and a single packing slot can hold a whole department. Pack in the afternoon and meet downtown at 6. The shift gives everyone a shared story before the first drink, which is the thing icebreakers try and fail to manufacture. Second Helpings and Wheeler Mission run group shifts too, in smaller numbers.

22. Toy Drive Ticket

Admission is one new, unwrapped toy. Toys for Tots Central Indiana collects through mid-December and will send Marines to an event that expects a big haul, and Coburn Place has a dedicated holiday-drive path for the families in its domestic-violence housing. Put the collection table at the door with a photo moment behind it, and announce the total during the awards segment.

23. Escape Room or Axe Throwing, Then Dinner

For a team of 10 to 60, book two hours downtown before the party. The Escape Room USA sells a holiday party package and runs rooms in parallel, and Bad Axe Throwing sits just south of downtown, a short ride from Shelby Street. Then walk or ride to dinner. We cover more options in our Indianapolis team building guide.

When Should You Hold the Company Holiday Party?

Hold it on a Friday, and consider the afternoon. 53% of employees prefer a party between noon and 5 p.m. against 41% for the evening, and 56% want it on a Friday (ezCater, 2025). Evening still wins for a gala or a dance floor; afternoon wins for attendance, families, and anyone commuting back to Carmel or Greenwood.

24. The Friday Afternoon Takeover

Close at 1 p.m., party from 2 to 5, done before the babysitter gets expensive. Food leans toward stations and the cocoa cart, and the bar can be beer, wine, and one cocktail rather than a full open bar. The Indianapolis calendar hands you a date: Circle of Lights on Monument Circle is Friday, November 27, 2026 (Downtown Indy Alliance, 2026), so an afternoon party downtown rolls straight into the tree lighting. Check the Pacers schedule before you pick a December date; home games on December 16 and 17 will tighten downtown parking those nights.

25. Families and Plus-Ones Night

43% of employees say whether they attend depends on whether they can bring a guest, and 77% of planners now allow one (ezCater, 2025). A families night at 5 p.m. with the cookie contest, the 360 booth, and the cocoa cart solves that, and it pairs with Christmas at the Zoo, which runs November 21, 2026 through January 3, 2027 (Indianapolis Zoo, 2026), or with the Symphony’s Yuletide Celebration at Hilbert Circle Theatre, December 4 to 23. Keep the bar open but quieter: beer, wine, and the zero-proof menu.

Should You Host the Holiday Party at the Office or at a Venue?

A venue wins when you want the party to feel like an event instead of a longer Tuesday; the office wins when the group is small or the party is really a lunch. 45% of companies hold the party at an event space and 33% at the workplace (ezCater, 2025). The honest comparison:

If you are choosing among rooms, our guide to holiday party venues in Indianapolis compares nine downtown options by capacity, catering, and parking, and the corporate event venue checklist covers AV and contract questions. Companies over 300 will need one of the larger halls in the downtown Indianapolis event venue guide.

What Not to Do at a Company Holiday Party

Nine mistakes I watch companies make from behind the bar every December:

1. The surprise cash bar. Say it on the invitation or don’t do it.
2. The 30-minute speech during dinner. Ten minutes, before dessert, with a microphone that works.
3. Drinks before food. Open the bar and the stations together.
4. Mandatory costumes. Encouraged is fine. Required empties the room.
5. Karaoke with no warm-up act. Book someone to go first.
6. No plan for non-drinkers. See idea 19.
7. No plan for getting home. Put a rideshare code on the screens at 9.
8. Booking the week of December 22. Half the company is already gone.
9. Two programs. Awards, trivia, or a talent show. Pick one.

Why Host Your Holiday Party in the Only Pre-Prohibition Brewery Left in Indianapolis?

Because the building does the decorating. The Edison Room’s original 1898 brick, exposed wood-beam ceilings, and Edison string lights already read as a celebration, so the budget goes to the food and the bar, which is where guests notice it. We seat up to 250 or hold 300-plus standing on a single accessible floor, with an raised stage, in-house AV and projection, a fully stocked bar in the Libations Lounge, and every piece of furniture included. 24 Shelby is also veteran-owned and woman-owned, which some procurement teams score.

According to Sarah Conrad, Managing Partner at 24 Shelby, “I managed a speakeasy before I ran this building, and the lesson carried over. The trick is never the decor. It’s the password at the door, the jazz, and bartenders who can make a proper Old Fashioned. Everything else is costume.”

Two honest limits. The Prohibition Patio holds about 25 and it is outdoors, so in December it is a coat-and-cocktail moment, not a second room. And 250 seated is the ceiling; a company of 600 needs a bigger hall, and I will tell you that on the first call. What we do well is the 40-to-250-person party people talk about on Monday, in a building Prohibition actually shut down, minutes from Fountain Square, Fletcher Place, and Monument Circle just off I-65 and Washington Street.

See how the rooms set up on the spaces page, the packages on the bar page, and our downtown Indianapolis holiday party and corporate events pages. If you want to walk it, request a tour and I will show you around myself. And if you are curious how a derelict brewery became a holiday venue, that is our story.