How to create a festival in your garden

Best festival-themed party ideas

DIY street food stations

Take the stress out of entertaining with a DIY street food station. A build-your-own kebab stand is a surefire way to satisfy hungry guests – serve a selection of chicken kebabs, fish kebabs and halloumi kebabs with flatbreads, salads and dips, and leave your friends to tuck in. Other creative ideas include a pick 'n' mix wing station (try making a combination of BBQ chicken wings, BBQ fish sauce wings and vegan cauliflower buffalo wings), a build-your-own burrito bar or DIY burgers. That way, everyone is catered for.

Check out more of our easy party food recipes here, from classic nachos to potato wedges and brioche ice cream sandwiches. If you're looking for healthy dishes, make one of our nourishing salads, or check out our easy picnic food ideas for portable summery snacks.

Hot dogs

Who could say no to gourmet hot dogs? Make entertaining easy by plating up meat or veggie sausages and serve alongside shop-bought buns and toppings – our buffalo dogs, hot dogs with mustard slaw and hot dogs with sesame tzatziki are great examples.

Prep ahead by pre-making your own condiments and serving in hand-labelled bottles and jars: try our homemade BBQ sauce, homemade sriracha, BBQ marinades, easy aïoli and hot pepper jelly (it's also worth investing in reusable glass bottles and saving up your jam jars for future hosting events).

No-bake desserts and sweet traybakes

No-bake desserts make brilliant time-saving treats – whip up a decadent Oreos Baileys fridge cake in 20 minutes, impress your friends with this eton mess cheesecake or go all out with this epic coffee and cream fridge cake – all with no baking required. Traybakes are easy treats to serve too: this retro school cake is simple to make, or serve these Terry’s Chocolate Orange brownies and watch them disappear in minutes.

Jug cocktails

Take your home festival-themed party to the next level with our summer-inspired jug cocktails: our white wine sangria sings summer, while a jug of Jamaican rum punch will really pack a punch. For those who aren't into fruity cocktails there's always the option for beer cocktails, or whip up a mocktail for a summery tipple without the hangover.

DIY cocktail stand

If mixing drinks in your kitchen sounds like too much bother, set up a DIY cocktail stand and leave your friends to fix up their favourite drink. Simply arrange your spirits, syrups and mixers on a table, with a cocktail shaker (a smoothie maker cup will do), plenty of cocktail glasses and a recipe card for each cocktail. Find our best cocktail recipes here, from espresso martini to margarita and blue lagoon.

Fancy elevating your mixology skills? Check out our guide to the best cocktail accessories, from shakers and strainers to jugs and blenders. For glassware, check out our best cocktail glasses or browse our best picnic accessories for setting up an al fresco feast.

Festival decorations and furniture

Transform your garden into a festival-themed paradise with bright and colourful decorations – drape rainbow tassel garlands, paper streamers and solar festoon lights over bushes and fences and cover the ground with funky throws, blankets and outdoor cushions for friends to chill on. A box full of party accessories is perfect for getting friends in the festival spirit – fill with floral party crowns and fun colourful sunglasses for dressing up.

This macrame wall hanging provides a great backdrop for pictures, or go one step further with an impressive balloon arch. You could also decorate your table with neon dip dye candles for when the evening creeps in. If you haven't invested in garden furniture, you might want to jazz up your garden with hanging chairs, hammocks and deckchairs for everyone to lounge on.