The holiday season poses an ideal opportunity for brands and venues to host pop-ups and events with festive and over-the-top decor, activities, catering options, and more. From life-size gingerbread and Hanukkah-inspired bars to Christmas topiary dogs, these on-theme highlights from venues and brands such as J.C. Penney, PopSugar and Kohls, Wired, and Goop got event attendees in the holiday spirit.
For Jewish guests, the pop-up also includes a Hanukkah-inspired “Chinese and a Movie” room, which features a Chinese takeout box ceiling installation and lanterns with menorah and Star of David graphics. The bar serves Jewish-theme cocktails including “Maccabeats by Dreidel,” which is a tiki cocktail inspired by those served at Chinese-American restaurants.
Stella Artois partnered with actress Olivia Culpo to kick off its “Host One to Remember” campaign—which aims to provide inspiration for hosting holiday gatherings—with an event on November 7 in New York. The kick-off event invited guests to decorate cookies shaped like the Stella Artois chalice and star logo.
Southern lifestyle and culture magazine Garden & Gun hosted its fifth annual Jubilee—a Made in the South celebration in the magazine’s hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, featuring food, shopping, art, and live entertainment—December 1 to 3 at Charles Towne Landing. The magazine designed a number of event spaces including the tented Jubilee Village, which had Christmas trees and plaid decor, and showcased items from more than 20 local artisans.
Decor included Christmas-theme topiary dogs in partnership with Volvo and inspired by the nine reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh.
Lifestyle brand Goop launched its holiday pop-up on November 27 at 25 Bond Street in New York. The pop-up, which translated the brand’s gift guide into a live shopping experience, was decorated with holiday greenery and florals provided by Hessney & Co.
Goop partnered with Grey Goose to invite attendees to create their own espresso martinis.
The event had a holiday-theme calligraphy station.
Bacardi patterned with “Despacito” singer-songwriter Luis Fonsi to host a traveling holiday party bus that took riders around downtown Toronto on December 13. The exterior of the bus was decorated with branded holiday wrapping created by Shinzo Media. Pomp & Circumstance organized the event.
The inside of the bus featured over-the-top Christmas and branded Bacardi decorations, which were handled by Caspar Haydar Design.
The pastry team at JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live designed a life-size gingerbread bar, made with 1,300 pounds of spiced cookie dough and sugar. The structure, which will be on display through December 30, serves holiday cocktails and features bar tools and spirit bottles made out of candy and cookie dough. Guests can have their name engraved in icing on a sponsored gingerbread brick by making a donation through the hotel to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Riffing off the brand’s high-end-sounding French nickname, J.C. Penney went with bright, gold colors for its holiday pop-up, which came to 446 Broadway in New York December 8 and 9. The pop-up featured nine curated collections, including those of Nicole Richie and Tracee Ellis Ross. Proceeds from the pop-up went to the J.C. Penney Foundation, which helps moms and serves the needs of underserved children by providing clothing, youth opportunities, and career readiness programs. The pop-up was designed by event production company Periscope.
The third edition of the Instagrammable holiday pop-up bar from Drink Company in Washington took over the former Mockingbird Hill bar space on November 24 and runs through December 31. The pop-up, which was designed by Drink Company’s special projects director Matt Fox and special projects manager Adriana Salame, features a variety of themed areas, including a section meant to evoke the inside of a gingerbread house. The bar serves on-theme drinks including salted whiskey hot chocolate, a buttered popcorn Manhattan, and egg nog shots.
The pop-up is decorated with garlands and 6,000 ornaments.
Designed for Instagram, another section of the space features a vintage red sleigh photo op, a real 12-foot Christmas tree, and an illustration of Beyoncé from her “Formation” music video.
As seeing a movie on Christmas Day is a tradition for many Jewish families, the room also features marquee-style posters for new movies.
Old Navy and PopSugar hosted a holiday pop-up in Brooklyn where the centerpiece was a conveyor-belt gifting station that evoked Santa's workshop. Guests at the December 9 event picked out gifts from Old Navy and from a collection curated by PopSugar editors. The Visionary Group produced the event.
PopSugar partnered with Kohl's to host a holiday pop-up at Westfield World Trade Center in New York on December 14. The pop-up, which offered holiday-theme items for purchase, was designed by the Gathery to resemble a giant present.
The event served festive peppermint mocha cold-brew coffee on tap in branded cups.
Swarovski hosted a holiday pop-up at New York’s Chelsea Market from December 4 to 10. The pop-up, which was designed in-house with help from Medoff Inc., offered consumers holiday jewelry, accessories, tech products, and more gifts that were adorned with Swarovski crystals.
Decor included a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge created with hanging crystals.
The City of Beverly Hills kicked off Bold Holidays, six weeks of holiday celebrations taking place at Rodeo Drive, on November 16. Agenc designed a festive, branded stage for the kick-off concerts and DJ sets every Saturday.
For the holiday season, Haven Rooftop at the Sanctuary Hotel in New York rebranded into a tented and heated ski chalet with winter-theme decor. The pop-up, which was designed in house, offers hot and cold holiday-inspired cocktails, s’mores, and fondue plates.
Wired magazine brought its branded pop-up store back to New York at Brookfield Place on December 6. The 14th annual pop-up, which is open through Friday, features design and technology gifts curated by the brand. NA Collective produced the space.
Wired partnered with Netflix to stage an interactive augmented-reality station for the streaming service’s new series Altered Carbon.
