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Embrace some summer fun with these easy summer party ideas! From classic BBQs to old fashioned pie socials, we are dishing up all our best food and fun to make your summer unforgettable!

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When the sun is shining and the days are longer, there’s nothing quite like a summer party to bring people together! 

From a simple and classic backyard BBQ with family, to cocktails under the stars with friends, we’ve got you covered with an array of effortless and affordable summer party ideas that will ensure a memorable time for all!

For us, the heart and soul of every successful gathering is the food! For our themed summer dinner parties, we are serving up everything from ice cream sundae bars to refreshing custom cocktails! 

Yes, our assortment of tempting treats and classic summer fare will keep your guest’s taste buds dancing with delight.

But a summer party is more than just delicious food; it’s about creating an ambiance that embraces the spirit of the season!

Transform your humble space into a summer paradise with a comfortable seating area adorned with twinkling fairy lights and some lush summer plants. 

Creating a comfy environment where your guests can unwind and relax doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or require a lot of time, in fact, even these small patio decorating ideas on a budget can exude warmth, relaxation, and fun.

To keep the good times rolling, we suggest planning some exciting party activities and games. Lawn games like giant connect four, bocce ball, cornhole, or giant Jenga are sure to be a hit with guests of all ages. 

For a more laid-back vibe, create a cozy outdoor movie night under the stars complete with comfy blankets and pillows, a 15-foot movie screen and all the best movie snacks. 

However you choose to celebrate the dog days of summer, now is the time to gather your loved ones, embrace the joy of summer and create memories that will warm your heart long after the sun sets on those magical summer nights! 

Cheers to a season of celebration and endless fun!

Easy summer party ideas:

1. Backyard BBQ – Fire up the grill and cook classic summertime dinners like burgers, hot dogs or any of these favorite 21 Summer Grilling Recipes! Serve with a variety of classic backyard BBQ sides like coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans. Add ice cold drinks, like Strawberry Balsamic Lemonade, and you have the perfect summer party.

2. Ice Cream Sundae Bar – This is an exciting party idea for kids and adults alike! Simply set up a self-serve ice cream bar with a variety of different flavors of ice cream, as well as a variety of toppings like chocolate chips, sprinkles, nuts, whipped cream and fruit. 

3. Picnic in the Park – Invite friends to a picnic in the park! Pack a picnic basket with BLT Egg Salad Sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and crackers. This Jennifer Aniston Quinoa Salad also travels well and makes a fantastic picnic recipe! Be sure and bring a blanket and find a shady spot in the park to enjoy a relaxing afternoon with friends and family.

4. Outdoor Movie Night – Set up a projector and screen in your backyard and have a movie night under the stars. Serve Sour Cream and Onion Popcorn, candy and Cream Cheese Chocolate Cookies while enjoying a fun evening with your loved ones. 

5. Southern Shrimp Boil – Crawfish Boils and Shrimp Boils are super popular in many Southern states, everywhere from Texas to South Carolina. They are a simple and laid-back way to entertain a large crowd.

Since seafood can tend to be pretty expensive, you can ask your guests to go in on the cost of ordering the seafood, or ask guests to bring side dishes, desserts and beverages to share. 

6. Patriotic Celebration – From Memorial Day to Flag Day, Fourth of July and even the Olympics, the summer is the perfect time to host a patriotic celebration!

You could keep things simple with a classic backyard barbecue studded with basic red, white and blue decor. 

Then dish up some of our favorite patriotic recipes, from our Red, White and Blue Potato Salad, or Spinach Berry Salad, to Flag Toast, a 4th of July Charcuterie Board or our favorite Peanut Butter S’mores Cookies.

7. Pancake Breakfast – Speaking of Fourth of July, a lot of people we know host a Pancake Breakfast on Independence Day before going to watch the local Independence Day Parade. 

Keep things really simple by using your favorite store-bought pancake mix and a variety of toppings like fresh berries, sliced bananas, maple syrup, peanut butter or whipped cream. 

Or you could make one of our popular homemade pancake recipes, like our Lemon Curd Pancakes or Sourdough Pancakes.

In addition to dishing up pancakes at your pancake breakfast, you could serve sausage links, bacon, a fruit salad and Blueberry Lime Mimosas. 

To make your pancake breakfast a success, be sure and check out our all-favorite pancake recipes and best tips for fluffy pancakes.

8. S’mores Party – This is so much fun! You can check out a few different s’mores parties we’ve shared over the years, but basically you will set out a bunch of different flavored graham crackers, marshmallows and a variety of chocolate candies.

We highly recommend peanut butter cups, peppermint patties and a classic Hershey Bar. Then start a bonfire in a fire pit or invest in these portable tabletop fire pits and start roasting them mallows!  

9. Set Up a Blind Taste Test – This is another fun and easy way to host a get together with friends. In the past we have hosted different blind taste tests for everything from vanilla ice cream to salsa. For the gathering we asked each guest to bring one container of ice cream, salsa, etc. So there were no duplicates, we assigned guests different brands.

The day of the taste test one person dishes up the samples to each guest to taste test. Testers then had a simple scorecard that we created to record our samples on a scale of 1-5 for taste, texture, etc. At the end the person dishing up the samples tallies the score cards and reveals the winner.

10. Host a Cookbook Book Club – A cookbook club is such a unique way to get together with friends and it couldn’t be simpler. One person hosts and picks a cookbook to explore. Then on the day of the book club, everyone brings a dish to share made from the recipes found in the cookbook. If you need a few suggestions for a cookbook to use for your cookbook book club, you can find all of our cookbook reviews here.

11. Host an Old-Fashioned Summer Pie Social – You could use your favorite store bought or bakery pies or make one of our favorite homemade summer pie recipes, like this Bourbon Peach Pie or this No Bake Cappuccino Pie. Again, ask each guest to bring a pie, sweet or savory, and as the host provide drinks, paper goods, etc.

12. Garden Tea Party – If you have a vibrant backyard garden, consider hosting a garden tea party! Serve simple homemade or store-bought chicken salad sandwiches, Lemon Berry Tea Cookies and Lemon Berry Iced Tea. If you are feeling a little crafty, you and your guests could create hand stamped tea towels for a fun party souvenir.  

13. Serve a Loaded Baked Potato Bar – This is such an easy and affordable way to host dinner guests! Use your slow cooker to cook baked potatoes and then set up an ultimate topping bar.   

14. Organize a Street Dinner/Block Party – Out of all of these party ideas, this is probably the easiest. Simply set up a few folding tables and chairs in your driveway and ask neighbors to come out and enjoy dinner with you. Everyone just brings what they were already planning to eat at home but eats it outside in the driveway with everyone else. 

Obviously, you could do a more formal block party and ask each neighbor to bring specific things to share, but the street dinner is a much simpler and no stress way to connect with neighbors. 

15. Pretend Ice Cream Truck – This is an easier and less stressful way to host an ice cream social. Simply stock a cooler with ice and store-bought popsicles and ice cream treats, like ice cream sandwiches, Drumsticks and fudge pops, and invite your neighbors out to have a cold treat. 

16. Cocktails Under the Stars – String up some twinkling lights, light the fire pit and sit around visiting and sipping refreshing summer cocktails and mocktails like a Sweet Tea Mojito, a Cherry Lime Bourbon Smash or a Grapefruit Sage Spritzer.

17. Outdoor Game Night – Sure you could take your regular Friday night board game outside, but giant outdoor games are so. much. more. fun! From Giant Jenga, to Giant Yard Pong and Life Size Connect Four, these yard games are sure to be a blast with kids and kids young at heart! Other yard games we love are Cornhole, Ladder Ball Toss and horseshoes.      

18. Dish Up Ice Cream Floats – This would be a fun and super simple twist on a traditional ice cream social. Grab fun colorful straws, some vanilla and chocolate ice cream and then a variety of different sodas. Set everything up and let guests serve themselves.

If you want to get a little bit fancy, you could serve these Mocha Root Beer Floats or Fresh Mint and Watermelon Floats.

19. Create Your Own Pizza – Outdoor pizza ovens are all the rage now, and if you are willing to make the investment in one, you will be the hostess with the mostest! 🙂

These outdoor pizza ovens bake up gooey, crispy pizzas in mere minutes, making a create your own pizza party fun and effortless.

Simply whip up one or two batches of this 30-minute pizza dough and divide each batch into 4-personal sized pieces. Guests can then roll out their individual dough, top with desired sauce and toppings and bake the pizza themselves.

For inspiration, some of our favorite pizzas are Chicken Spinach Pizza, Jalapeno Popper Pizza and Corn, Prosciutto and Caramelized Onion Pizza!  

20. Set up an Italian Soda Bar – Italian Sodas are popular summertime treats and setting up an Italian Soda Bar is a fun way for party guests to play mixologists and create refreshing drink combinations using a handful of ingredients!

We sometimes like to make homemade flavored syrups, like those found in our Raspberry Lime Italian Soda recipe, Blueberry Lime Mimosas or homemade Strawberry Milk.

However, you can find many premade flavored drink syrups at the grocery store, restaurant supply store or liquor store. If you want to go the extra mile, you could even whip up a batch of infamous Soda Shop Cookies! 

To set up your Italian Soda Bar you will need cups, straws, ice, flavored syrups, carbonated water or different flavored sodas, half and half, whipped cream and garnishes like fresh limes and cocktail cherries.

How to make an Italian Soda:

1. Fill drinking glass with ice. 
2. Add about 2 tablespoons of homemade syrup or 2-3 pumps of store-bought syrup.
3. Fill glass with sparkling water or soda. 
4. Top drink with 1-2 tablespoons half and half and garnish with whipped cream and fresh fruit; if desired.

21. Serve DIY Snow Cones – Just like the DIY Italian Soda Bar, a DIY Snow Cone party is fun and stress free. If you are serious about your snow cone making, you could invest in a commercial grade snow cone machine. However, for smaller gatherings or family nights this electric Hawaiian Shaved Ice Maker is perfect!

And if you (or your kids) don’t mind doing a little cranking, this quality Hand Cranked Snow Cone Machine is super affordable. As with the Italian Ice Bar, you can make homemade Snow Cone Syrup, or you can buy flavored syrup.

22. Organize a Progressive Dinner – Not only is a progressive dinner fun, but it also splits the hosting duties amongst all the party guests!

A progressive dinner is where a different family hosts a different part of the meal. From cocktails to dessert, each course is at a different house.

This would work best among your neighbors, since you could easily walk to each house. But I also know some youth groups that do progressive dinners and different families host each part of the meal, while other families/parents/youth leaders drive the kids to the different houses.

23. Pool Party – If you have access to a pool, invite some friends over for a pool party. Make sure to have plenty of sunscreen, pool floats, and refreshing drinks. Play some music and enjoy the summer sun.

24. Host a Food Olympics – Think of games or activities you can do with food. Depending on the size of your group, you could set up stations and have different groups (maybe divided up by age) at each station. Or you could have everyone compete together.

Examples of activities:

1. Oreo Face – Put Oreo on your forehead and try to use face muscles to get the cookie to your mouth.
2. Donuts on a string.
3. Whipped cream challenge – Place cookies, gummy worms or a hand pie on a plate. Cover with whipped cream and eat without using your hands.
4. Suck it up – Place two paper plates in front of each player. Place 10 or more M&Ms or mini marshmallows on one plate. Using a straw suck up each M&M one at a time and transfer it to another plate.

Many of the party ideas we suggested can be done on their own or combined for more fun. For example, serving DIY snow cones at a pool party. Just remember, the key to a successful and easy summer party is to keep it simple, relaxed and fun!