Last-Minute Holiday Event Inspiration From Top Brands and Venues

Fashion brand Aerie celebrated the holiday season with a festive shopping party at its New York location on Dec. 7. Produced by the SHADOW experiential team, the event allowed guests to shop Aerie’s holiday “It” lists curated by brand partners Aly Raisman and Kelsea Ballerini. Highlights included a colorful, holiday-themed photo op area.

The gathering also featured a custom embroidery station, a holiday cocoa and coffee bar, and a specialty donut and oatmeal bar. As guests arrived, they were able to scan a QR code on their phones that brought them to an Aerie event microsite, which took them on a journey throughout the shopping experience. Once they clicked “go,” attendees were instructed to go to different points throughout the four floors of the Lexington Avenue store, where they could scan additional QR codes that guided them to the next activation area.

There was also a performance by the East Coast Inspirational Singers (decked out in Aerie PJ sets, of course), along with a performance from DJ Amrit.

One fun touch? Popular Instagrammer “Dudette With a Sign” was on-site to help celebrate the brand's holiday PJs.

Coca-Cola hosted a family friendly holiday experience at Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theater on Dec. 10. Produced by Idlewild Experiential, the gathering had a “Harlem Express” theme—a nod to the New York City subway—with activities like photos with Santa, artisan hot chocolate from the Harlem Chocolate Factory, and performances from gospel choirs Bethel Gospel Assembly and Mama Foundation—Sing Harlem.

Fantasy in Color, a local artist collective, created custom artwork for a Santa photo backdrop.

There was also a custom ornament station, along with a toy and food drive for Iris House, a local nonprofit that provides support and education services for women and families affected by HIV/AIDS.

For the second consecutive year, The Hallmark Channel—in partnership with experiential marketing company GDX Studios—hosted a number of “Countdown to Christmas”-themed events around the country. From mid-November through Christmas, the brand visited eight family owned Christmas tree farms around the country, popping up with holiday goodies and festive photo ops for shoppers to enjoy while finding their tree. Randomly selected visitors were given a free Christmas tree courtesy of The Hallmark Channel.

The brand also debuted a flock of sweater-wrapped car fleets (pictured)—installed by crochet artist London Kaye—that traveled to five cities around the country this season.

In addition to Miller Lite's Christmas Tree Keg Stand—a fully functioning, limited-edition stand designed to fit around a quarter barrel keg of beer while also holding trees as large as five feet tall or 150 pounds—the beer brand also marked the holiday season with the High Life Leg Lamp Beer Tower. Modeled after the iconic lamp from A Christmas Story, the functioning lamp can dispense a six-pack’s worth of Miller High Life. The lamp is selling for $120, in honor of Miller High Life’s upcoming 120th anniversary.

Looking for some over-the-top decor inspo? In New Orleans, the lobby of The Roosevelt, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel, features block-long holiday decor with more than 112,000 lights, 1,600 feet of garland, and 4,000 glass ornaments.

For Bloomingdale’s Best Holiday Ever campaign, which also continues the retail giant’s year-long, 150th-anniversary celebration, the brand’s flagship store in New York has unveiled its Santaland experience—a custom-built space that merges classic and modern holiday decor with NYC iconography. The red, white, black, and gold space was designed by Scenester Projects with fabrication from Pink Sparrow.

Design-wise, the four-wall enclosure has an exterior that includes white brick walls, iced round windows, and a glittering red-door entryway complete with an arched LED sign. Inside, surrounding Santa’s plush red throne, are oversized gifts and ornaments, as well as New York-inspired touches like a subway replica that kids can sit on—contributed by fabrication partner Sets & Effects—and a skyline wall mural with LED illumination.

Santaland also has a “north pole” bearing the store’s NYC cross streets, along with an “elf door” for kids to peek through. There’s also a nearby holiday bear sweater customization station.

For the first time ever, Miracle—the festive holiday bar popping up in almost 200 locations worldwide this year—came to Palm Beach, Fla., at the Lobby Bar at the PGA National Resort. Running from Nov. 23-Jan. 1, the pop-up is a holiday oasis with elevated Palm Beach-chic holiday decor (a departure from Miracle Bar's traditional design scheme) along with a themed cocktail menu—complete with cheeky names like Christmapolitan, Yippie Ki Yay Mother F****r!, Holiday Spiked Chai, and Grandma Got Run Over By a T-Rex.

Cocktails are served in unique, holiday-themed mugs and signature glassware, which is made available for purchase for the duration of the pop-ups. Ten percent of all proceeds go to the Seva Foundation, a global nonprofit eye care organization that works with local communities around the world.

In celebration of Canadian Tire's 100th birthday, the Canadian Tire Christmas Trail is a 1.5-kilometer drive-thru experience at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto. The family friendly experience is adorned with light displays and interactive installations, along with costumed “elves” guiding cars through the trail and offering treats like milk and cookies.

A highlight of the trail is a visit with Mrs. Claus to check the naughty and nice lists, which leads to a photo op with Santa. The trail runs from Nov. 12-Dec. 23, and all proceeds from ticket sales are being donated to Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities.

Gabby’s Catmas Spectacular immersed 100 kids in DreamWorks Animation's hit children’s show Gabby’s Dollhouse with on-site characters, themed treats, a watch party, and more—all with a holiday twist. The show’s playful nature was translated into an IRL playground at LA's Second Home Hollywood thanks to experiential event company ROCK+PAPER. Holiday activities were found at Santa’s Kitty Workshop (a crafting area), along with a garden space decked out with toys, on-theme photo ops, and sweet and savory treats that nodded to the show. See more: A Meowy Christmas: How This Catmas Spectacular Engaged Kids with Recognizable Touchpoints

Restaurant chain Bodega Taqueria y Tequila teamed up with PATRÓN Tequila for a holiday bar pop-up experience at four of the venue’s South Florida locations. Open through Dec. 26, the spaces are decked out with holiday decor, including a mix of string lights, ornaments, presents, and greenery that creates a unique ceiling installation. Guests who bring a toy—which will be donated to local nonprofit organizations—can get a free holiday cocktail.

Other decor includes an upside-down Christmas tree chandelier.

The pop-up features a seasonal, themed cocktail menu made from PATRÓN Tequila, with some drinks served in unique vessels—like branded ornaments.

At the James New York—NoMad, the hotel’s classic Beaux-Art lobby windows have been turned into an augmented-reality holiday art installation. Artist Steven Fragale has created a visual journey of the neighborhood through the last century, with digitally sculpted scenes of sleigh rides flowing through glass windows set to the backdrop of the neighborhood’s evolution. The AR aspects can be accessed using the Fragale app on an iPhone or iPad.

Panasonic Connect—in partnership with Downtown SF Partnership and A3 Visual Solutions—brought the holiday season to life through an immersive projection mapping experience in San Francisco’s central business district from Dec. 2-11. The second annual Let’s Glow SF, which organizers bill as the largest holiday projection arts festival in the U.S., combined art and technology to feature the work of local and international artists on various city buildings. This year’s event highlighted works from 14 different artists.

Proving that everything really is bigger in Texas, the pastry team at the Hilton Americas-Houston has created a larger-than-life chocolate masterpiece in its lobby. The display, which this year has a Minions theme and weighs more than two tons, features 900 pounds of dark chocolate, 1,000 pounds of white chocolate, 850 pounds of gingerbread, 600 whole eggs, and 400 pounds of sugar icing. Oh, and it clocks in at modest 6.5 million calories.

On Dec. 9, Poshmark celebrated the end of the year by reconnecting its U.S. employees with a holiday party at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Attendees were encouraged to dress to fit the theme of Old Hollywood for the event, which was produced by Innovate Marketing Group.

Hollywood’s Lost Property Bar opted for a dark twist on the holiday season this year, debuting the "Krampus’ Cove" pop-up experience on Dec. 6. Running through Dec. 31, the space—the brainchild of industry veterans Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage—celebrates the pulpy and macabre legend of Krampus, the horned, anthropomorphic figure from Alpine folklore known for frightening mischievous children.

The pop-up features black Christmas trees decorated with doll heads and fake severed body parts, among other creepy decor. On the soundtrack? Haunting renditions of Christmas classics, of course.

The drink menu features seasonally inspired cocktails made with unexpected flavors, with options like Violent Night (with Bruxo X Mezcal, purple sweet potato, pumpkin pie spice, and lemon), Better Watch Out (with Ford’s Gin, cranberry shrub, pine, cinnamon, and soda), and Santa’s Slay (with vodka, coconut, peppermint, lemon, amontillado, and bitters).

“We wanted to take traditional holiday flavors that everyone knows and loves and flip them upside down,” said Ramage in a press release. “Incorporating ingredients like blood orange and spiced cider mixed with St. Remy Signature Brandy and cranberry and pine with Ford’s Gin, we’ll bring out the twisted holiday cheer in all our guests.”

This holiday season, Foot Locker brought its Holiday House Party campaign to life through a 24-hour celebration at select Foot Locker locations across the world. Starting on Dec. 16, participating stores in Asia, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles recreated some of the campaign’s most unique components, including a Foot Locker sneaker holiday tree and curated shoe refrigerator. Stores in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines kicked off the 24-hour celebration by creating a basketball-themed arcade, “drop or cop” claw machines, and personalized trading card printing services for customers, along with sneaker customization stations and DJ performances throughout the day. Other stores had activities like a henna station, a cookie bar, gift wrap stations, and more.

Tech company ByteDance celebrated the end of the year with its Los Angeles-based employees on Dec. 14. The holiday event, produced by Innovate Marketing Group, was meant to reflect the upbeat culture of ByteStyle (the name the company uses to refer to its corporate values). Employees enjoyed a culture panel discussion, which took place in front of a tinsel-covered stage backdrop.

The event also featured ByteDance- and holiday-inspired cocktails, while a confetti popper celebration ended the evening.