Throw the Best Carnival Themed Party for Adults

The fair is coming to my town soon! That being said, I know a carnival themed party for adults is the thing to do right now.

While you can find many fun carnival themed party ideas for kids, the vibe is a bit different for adults.

Here you’ll find carnival party food ideas, carnival inspired alcoholic beverages, and carnival party decorations.

Let’s get to party planning!

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Carnival Themed Party Invitations

Make sure to check out Etsy’s selection for the best carnival themed party invitations! 

You can also make your own utilizing free software such as Canva (my favorite!) and buying Etsy PNG files. 

Here are some great PNG files for a carnival/fair themed party.

Example Itinerary for a Carnival Themed Party for Adults

You will want the experience to feel like adult. Make the party yours, of course, but here is a great outline for how to organize your adult carnival themed party.

1. Welcome your guests with happy hour drinks. You can turn on some music to set the mood, but keep it low as you want your guests to socialize.
2. Open the photo booth – your guests will prefer photos before food in case there are any mishaps!
3. Serve an entree, fair food style. Set up mini “tents” of various types of food so that your guests can go from food stand to food stand building their plates.
4. Start the carnival games!
5. Once your guests have played some games, it’s time to serve dessert.

Adult Carnival Themed Party Decor

Carnival Photo Booth for Adults

If you don’t want to hire a photographer, you can still have fun taking professional looking photos using an iPad photo booth machine.

Even fancier is the trending 360 degrees photo booth, which you can own at home for probably the same price as a professional photographer.

You will want a photo backdrop for your carnival party photos. Here are some themes to get you thinking about what you’d like to do:

Table Decor

Carnivals luckily don’t have fancy seating available so you can save money here. Just grab some folding tables and benches if your current household seating isn’t enough.

At my state fair, there aren’t table covers over the picnic tables. If you want to go more carnival themed than state fair themed, you can grab some cheap table cloths.

Food Decor

The most fun way to serve food at a carnival is to have different tables set up as mini food vendor tents. If you have enough hosts, have a host at each booth to serve the food. If not, simply just put the food out buffet style at each tent.

You’ll need a few tables and these carnival tent stands to pull it off.

Don’t forget to name each food booth. Grab some banners you can write on and place them at the top of the tent.

Carnival Party Games for Adults

There are lots of fun carnival themed games that adults can enjoy. If you want a classic fair set up, you must check out NorTexEvents.

NorTexEvents has beautiful handmade carnival games. Here are a couple examples:

How fun would it be to have real, high quality, games for your adult carnival party?!

Another great idea is to do a trivia game. Have your guests form teams and do the game during happy hour for a great time!

Here are some other fun games you can include:

Carnival Party Adult Cocktails

A big difference between a kid’s carnival party and a carnival themed party for adults is that alcohol can be served at the adult version.

For those who absolutely love the dill pickles (and even frozen pickle juice!) at the fair, this dill pickle shot by Recipes From a Pantry is a must-try!

Another great option with a carnival friendly these are these delicious root beer float cocktails by Aspiring Winos.

We can’t leave out the caramel apple. This caramel apple martini by Copy Kat Recipes will really bring the carnival vibes to the party. 

Another great option is a twist on my favorite cocktail – the margarita. It’s this delicious and fun cotton candy margarita by Wonder Mom Wannabe. 

Lastly, while this is not a cocktail, you can’t NOT serve fair style lemonade at a carnival themed party. You can always add liquor to it if you want. XOXO Bella has a delicious fair style lemonade recipe.

Carnival Party Snacks for Adults

While happy hour is being served, we don’t want to leave out all the fun snacks you can find at a carnival. Here are some great recipes to get you started!

A cheap and must-have carnival snack is, of course, kettle corn. This homemade kettle corn recipe by Little Sunny Kitchen is perfect for the party!

Mozzarella sticks are another delicious fair snack. These homemade mozzarella sticks by Everyday Shortcuts are exactly what you’re looking for as a party snack.

Loaded fries are a fun appetizer for the adult themed carnival party. The Fruity Jem has these amazing Korean French fries that you will have to try!

I’m not sure if your local fair has frybread but mine does and it is a must-have. This homemade fry bread by I Heart Eating will not disappoint you or your party guests!

Carnival Themed Party Foods

These entrees are all perfect for a carnival themed party for adults. 

What is more “fair” than a corn dog? These homemade state fair corn dogs by Jennifer Cooks are a must-have at your carnival themed party. 

In a similar boat, you can’t skip out on the hot dogs, either! Here are a couple hot dog recipes you are sure to love.

Recipe This has a New York style dirty water hot dog recipe that’s perfect for those who are used to a east coast carnival. 

If chili dogs are what your party guests crave at the fair, these chili cheese dogs by Homemade Heather are perfect.

Keeping with the protein, this slow cooker pulled pork by The Moody Blonde is an easy carnival party food.

We can’t forget the chicken gyro! These 15-minute chicken gyros by Our Home Made Easy make for a quick and delicious carnival party food. 

I’d consider this an entree – buffalo chicken fries by Organically Addison. Seriously, so good!

Loaded nachos – my favorite! These pulled pork nachos by 100 Days of Real Food are another must-have food at your carnival themed party.

Meatball subs anyone? These delicious meatball subs on a stick by Tastes of Homemade are the perfect fair food; your guests can even walk around eating them just like they’re sightseeing at the fair.

Is this a dessert or an entree? I’ll let you decide! The Soccer Mom Blog has the ultimate fair food experience, a donut grilled cheese sandwich!

Carnival Themed Party Desserts

Carnivals really bring out everyone’s sweet tooth! Check out these delicious carnival themed desserts.

Peanut Butter and Julie has a recipe for these super cute cherry hand pies with a vanilla glaze, perfect for wrapping up a carnival themed party. 

Donut holes are a fun carnival treat and Maria’s Mixing Bowl has an easy donut hole recipe that you’re sure to love.

Who craves a deep fried Oreo every year at the fair? These deep fried Oreos by ConservaMom are perfect for a carnival party dessert.

You can’t go wrong with caramel apples! Recipes From a Pantry has an easy to make caramel apple recipe, perfect for the party. 

Churros are a must-have at a carnival! The Slow Roasted Italian has a delicious homemade churro recipe you need to make. 

We can’t forget the funnel cake. I Heart Eating has an amazing homemade funnel cake recipe for your carnival themed party. 

Save the Guide for The Best Carnival Themed Party for Adults

If you are planning on a carnival party, make sure to pin this image to your party board on Pinterest. Alternately, use any of the social sharing buttons at the top of the post to share to your favorite site.