7 Awesome Fall Backyard Party Ideas

Halloween Backyard Party

One of the most exciting parts of fall is Halloween! Gather your ghouls and goblins for a Halloween-themed backyard pool party! Check out our Best-Ever Halloween Pool Party Guide for tons more spooky-fun ideas.

• Food. Create a delicious Halloween-themed party food spread including spooky eats like charcuterie boards with olive “eye-balls,” cheese and cracker variety and dark purple fruits like blackberries, blueberries and red grapes.
• Décor. Hang spider webs, ghosts and witches from trees. Turn your front porch into a spooky scene by dangling witch hats from the ceiling and incorporating plenty of orange and black items.
• Pool Décor: Make a splash by decorating your pool for Halloween! Think fog machines, floating pumpkins and skeletons in pool floats! You can also place lanterns around the exterior of your pool for a high-end haunted look.
• Games & Activities. Host a Halloween-themed dance off to spooky music or set up a pumpkin ring toss. For older kids or adults, decorate Halloween cookies!
• Party Favors. Give guests a bag of sweet treats, fun headpieces like animal ears or flower crowns and glow sticks for trick-or-treating.
• What to Wear. Halloween is all about costume parties. If you don’t feel like going all-out, consider wearing black and orange.

Fall Festival Backyard Party

Celebrate the beauty of autumn by host a fall festival-style backyard party! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Food. Picture a fall-themed carnival: set up a caramel apple bar, popcorn, apple cider and cinnamon sugar donuts! You can also have a hot dog bar with your favorite toppings to really put the at-the-fair feeling over the top!
• Décor. Decorate with tons of fall colors: think orange, gold and red! No fall festival is complete without a photo booth, so have fun setting up a nice photo-op with hay bales, pumpkins, mums and more.
• Pool Décor: Set your swimming pool lights to fall colors like red, gold or orange. Spread decorative plastic fall “leaves” across your pool and make sure to turn on any pool fire features like fire pits, strips or fireplaces.
• Games & Activities. Outdoor games and activities like pumpkin painting, apple-bobbing and potato sack racing are must-haves! Other fun ideas are yard games like corn hole, giant tic tac toe and pumpkin bowling.
• Party Favors. A Polaroid taken at your photo booth is an awesome favor, but for something a bit more, here are some ideas: fall-scented candles make a fantastic adult favor. Send kids home with a candy apple, corn-shaped puffed rice treats or maple syrup lollipops!
• What to Wear. Time to break out your favorite chunky sweaters, fluffy boots and plaid. Fall weather calls for layering, so have fun pairing your favorite sweaters, jeans, boots, scarves and more.

S’more S’mores Party

Gather ‘round the fire pit for a s’mores themed party that your guests will never forget. Before the event, check out our unique s’mores recipes Pinterest board for some amazingly delicious s’mores ideas!

• Food. S'mores are the main event at this party, so prepare a "s'mores-cuterie" board filled with different types of cookies, marshmallows and chocolate. Keep snack or dinner offerings light and simple, like finger sandwiches, veggie and dip or fruit kabobs. You can also set up a drink station for milk, hot cocoa or pumpkin spice lattes.
• Décor. For this party you’ll definitely need a backyard fire pit. Other décor ideas are twinkle lights, path lights and plenty of seating around the fire feature for guests to make s’mores.
• Pool Décor: Throw a few chocolate bar-shaped pool floats in the pool and place Tiki torches around the exterior. Add giant white floating orb lights that resemble marshmallows in the water for an absolutely amazing look!
• Games & Activities. Have guests write their favorite s’mores combinations on a chalk board to inspire others! Host a s’mores taste-testing contest with a small panel of judges… may the best s’more win!
• Party Favors. Chocolate bar notebooks, chocolate-scented lip gloss or nail polish and custom koozies are some amazing ideas.
• What to Wear. S’mores can be messy, so don’t be afraid to rock something simple that you don’t mind getting dirty. For example, a long-sleeve tee and jeans.

Kid’s Camping Party

Turn your backyard into a woodland forest for a Kid’s Camping Party! Break out the tents, sleeping bags and teepees and get ready for the best backyard camping party ever.

• Food. Use your fire pit or fireplace to help kids cook delicious foil packet recipes reminiscent of your favorite camping trip. Some favorite ideas are fire pit nachos, campfire biscuits and eggs and cobbler! Click here for more foil packet recipes.
• Décor. Place chairs around the fire pit for cooking and ghost stories. Offer guests pillows, cozy blankets and sweaters. Then decorate your backyard camping party with lights, logs and homemade trail signage!
• Pool Décor: Cover the floor of your pool in LED lit fiber optic star lights for a Starry Night look! Place lots of potted evergreens around the coping and hang summer camp-style flags above the pool. For an added touch of fun, put frogs, toadstool and other woodland creature figurines around the pool.
• Games & Activities. Games and activities that would be super fun during a backyard camping party are nature scavenger hunt, constellation spotting and yard games.
• Party Favors. Sleep masks, binoculars and flip flops for wearing around the camp site. For the creative folks, you could gift a flower press, watercolor set or sketchpad for capturing the beauty of the outdoors.
• What to Wear. Since this party takes place outdoors, it’s important to wear comfy clothes you would take on a camping trip. For folks in colder areas, make sure to bundle up with plenty of layers as it can get cold in the evening!

Pumpkin Decorating Party

Get into the autumn spirit by hosting a pumpkin decorating party! Express yourself by painting, carving or decorating pumpkins in a variety of sizes and colors.

• Food. If it’s a morning event, offer brunch favorites like bagels, cinnamon donuts and apple cider. For lunch, turkey sandwiches, roasted veggies with hummus and a giant fall-inspired salad are great ideas. For an evening party, set out a spread of autumn favorites like pimento cheese dip, chili bar and pie for dessert.
• Décor. Turn your backyard into a pumpkin patch with haybales, wheelbarrows, scarecrows and tons of colorful pumpkins. Create some homemade signage before the event to really take the pumpkin patch look over the top!
• Pool Décor: Did you know that pumpkins float? Turn your pool into a floating pumpkin patch with real or plastic pumpkins!
• Games & Activities. There are many ways to decorate a pumpkin, so make sure to have supplies for each kind. For pumpkin carving, have knives, paper towels and spoons on standby. For painting or decorating pumpkins, set out paints, brushes, glue and fun arts and crafts items.
• Party Favors. Guests can take home their decorated pumpkins as party favors!
• What to Wear. Wear your favorite fall clothes to the pumpkin decorating party, but expect to get dirty. It’s an outdoor craft party, after all!

Tailgate Party

Show your team spirit by hosting a tailgate party complete with football-themed food, décor, games and more! Below are some ideas, but click here for a full guide to throwing the ultimate backyard tailgate party.

• Food. For food, prepare a spread of stadium favorite foods liked grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and meats. Appetizers are another great crowd-pleasing idea, so prepare a selection of dips like buffalo chicken dip, spinach and artichoke dip and salsa.
• Décor. Decorate your tailgate party with sports-themed décor like pennants, table runners and plenty of banners and crepe paper in your team colors. Have a nice table for serving and plenty of seating around the TV or outdoor movie screen.
• Pool Décor: For your backyard tailgate party, place football-shaped floats in the pool. You should also opt for some pool lighting, either by hanging it above the pool or inside the pool for added and safety throughout the party. To really go all-out in supporting your team, why not create a custom team logo pool mosaic?
• Games & Activities. Yard games like cornhole, volleyball and ping pong are so fun for all. You can even customize your yard games with your team logo! You can also set up a basketball net or water polo set in the pool for guests to enjoy!
• Party Favors. Mini footballs, tumblers and koozies make awesome party favors for your fall tailgate party.
• What to Wear. This is the time to really show your team spirit by wearing a jersey or your team’s colors!

Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving Party

Celebrate the beauty of the outdoors by inviting friends and family over for a Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving dinner party in your backyard! Check out these ideas on planning your perfect Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving backyard party for friends and family:

• Food. For this event you can go traditional with foods like turkey, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. Or for a fun twist, consider a mash-up like Thanksgiving pizza. Click here for more amazing Friendsgiving party food ideas.
• Décor. Give your backyard a Thanksgiving-style makeover with fall wreaths, leaves and gourds. Set up a nice seating area around a fire pit or cover a picnic table in an autumn table runner.
• Pool Décor: Decorate your pool furniture with Thanksgiving-themed outdoor pillows and blankets. Place cornucopia displays on your coping or bond beam walls.
• Games & Activities. Fill a kiddie pool with leaves for “leaf swimming,” finger painting turkeys and bingo. For adults, share stories around the Friendsgiving table and reminisce on beloved memories. Or, do a group gratitude exercise like journaling.
• Party Favors. Give guests bags of candy shaped like ears of corn, turkey-shaped cake pops or a small Thanksgiving wreath as a take-home gift.
• What to Wear. Break out your autumn best for this backyard fall party. Think about what you would wear to Thanksgiving dinner!