Happy Lunar New Year! In case you didn't know, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger and February 1 marks the first day of celebration. Many people think about traveling when a new year comes along. Currently, travel is limited for many global destinations due to the pandemic, and that includes attending the 2022 Winter Olympic Games or Winter Paralympics in Beijing. However, that doesn't mean you can't find ways to enjoy the Winter Games from the comfort of your home or another location you deem safe enough to occupy! Watch parties are the most common way for most of the world to watch Olympic events and I'm going to share some ideas to help you keep those parties interesting throughout the next few weeks in this special edition post.
When
Winter Olympic Games
Opening: February 4, 2022
Closing: February 20, 2022
Winter Paralympic Games
Opening: March 4, 2022
Closing: March 13, 2022
*Important Note: For those in western time zones like myself, the Winter Olympics will be approximately one day behind. Paralympic Games coverage is often limited in the United States on national networks. Check your local listings or streaming service options for coverage dates and times.
Where
The Winter Games will be in the host city, Beijing. This was also the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, so they have prior experience hosting this type of event. Certain competitions will also occur in two other zones: Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
How to Watch
Each country has their particular networks and providers that cover the Olympic and Paralympic games. Depending on the number of options available, you may find that some have better coverage than others. In the United States, NBC is the network that has been granted rights to cover the Games. They typically air the Olympics and Paralympics throughout the day and night across their NBC/Universal networks. They also have additional content on their website and the greatest amount of coverage on their streaming service, Peacock.
Watch Party Preparation
For years, my mom and I have planned for the Olympics with special food and activities throughout the duration of the event. We take time to learn more about any new events that are being included look to see if there may be an opportunity to try them out in our local area. We also like to create menus based on the unique cuisine of the host city/country. If you are thinking about planning one or multiple watch parties for the 2022 Winter Games, these tips can help you prepare!
Location
The watch party location can be your house, a family member's or friend's house, event space, or other preferred location near home whether indoors or outdoors. Any place with cable, WiFi, or both will suffice. Multiple screens at your watch party means you can keep up with more events at once, so that is something you'll want to consider as you think about your venue. Additionally, you'll need to keep in mind how many guests will be in attendance at the watch party. Since there is an ongoing pandemic, you may want to maintain a small number of guests. An outdoor gathering is a great option to consider if weather permits, especially for larger watch parties. Don't forget that you get to set the rules at your own home, so you can require or limit your guests as you wish for your personal comfort and safety. If the watch party will be at a location that is not your home, you will be subject to their rules just the same.
Decorations
Recommended features of a watch party, but not required. Honestly, I haven't decorated for Olympics watch parties before, but I did decorate for the 2021 MLB World Series. Decorations are a fun way to get into the spirit of the watch party and sporting events. You can get plastic table cloths, disposable dinnerware (plates, cutlery, napkins, etc.), streamers, balloons, flags, and any other decorations you would like to have in your watch party space. All of these items can be collectively acquired with any materials your watch party group may already have in their possession. You can also purchase these items for relatively low costs by going to dollar stores. Super stores or party supply stores will have items that vary in cost and are not always as budget-friendly. To take things up a notch with your decorating, you could even make 3D paper snowflakes (one of my co-workers did this for office decorations and they were lovely) or rent/buy a snow making machine.
Pro Tip: If you don't enjoy cleaning up, disposable decorations and other materials is the best way to go.
Food
Keeping in line with the cultural aspect of my blog's theme, you may know that I believe there is much that one can learn about other cultures through cuisine. There is a story behind a recipe, history in the each ingredient, and at least one person involved in the preparation of the recipe or meal that has something special to share. You can learn so much about the history of a place or group of people through food if you allow curiosity and a desire for learning to lead the way. Based on the host city/country, my mom and I plan out an Opening Ceremony menu and, depending on our ability to purchase ingredients or takeout meals, also plan meals throughout the Games. I know I'll be eating many dumplings and potstickers throughout the Olympics and Paralympics this year!
You may find that it is difficult to find ingredients common in some cuisines on your grocery store's shelves. I ran into this issue in 2016 when I was looking for a specific Brazilian spice. Rather than giving up, do the research to learn about the particular spice or spice blend. I was able to learn more about the blend of spices and recreate the spice mixture on my own until my mom and I could find what we were looking for. This same difficulty in finding ingredients also occurs in finding restaurants with the host city/country's food. I encourage you to be mindful of the impact this may have on people who live in your area and call another city or country home and do not have easy access to their culture's cuisine.
Activities
What's great about watch parties is that you can plan fun, inexpensive activities for commercial breaks! Consider recreating winter sports indoors and having mini-competitions with your guests. Are you and your watch party group the type of people who like to show off your knowledge? Winter Olympics trivia is another engaging activity that can be done in rounds and participants could play solo (for small parties) or in groups (for medium-large parties). You could create your own trivia game or find one that has already been made online. Themes could include Winter Olympics history, general winter sports or a trivia game per sport. Need some ideas for questions? The Olympics website has 100 facts about the Winter Games divided into Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 blog posts.
Other ideas include Winter Games-themed Pictionary or BINGO. Again, you could create your own versions of these games. However, there is a likely chance that they are available online in a full version or template.
Feeling like you want to do even more activities beyond watch parties? Depending on your location, you could dedicate some time and money (costs will vary) to trying out the winter sports for yourself! There are local curling clubs, ice rinks, and other winter sports venues across the globe and they typically offer lessons. You could even grab some roller blades and ski poles to do some "skiing" if you do not have the ability to go to a ski resort or live in an area where it rarely snows. Don't forget to check for coupons and options for renting any equipment that you may need!
Wrap-Up
Hopefully, you have some ideas for how to plan for an entertaining watch party for the Winter Olympics. These same ideas can even be applied to the Summer Olympics. This post was not meant to serve as a step-by-step guide to planning a watch party. You should use the suggestions in this post to help guide your event planning and help you generate ideas that will make the experience the best for you and other watch party attendees. There are options to host a watch party and spend as little or as much as you would like. Remember, there's no right or wrong way to host a watch party. The most important thing to do is have fun and root for the athletes that have worked so hard to compete at this level!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share your experiences with or suggestions for planning an Olympics watch party!