How many game booths do we need?

Plan on one game booth for every fifty guests on site at the same time. A 150-person church night runs well on three or four booths. A 600-person company party with families needs ten to twelve, plus concessions. My Little Carnival sizes the booth count off your peak crowd, not the total for the day.

Can Santa and Mrs. Claus come to a Christmas carnival?

Yes. My Little Carnival books Santa and Mrs. Claus for photos at the Santa photo station under the holiday balloon arch. Add a photographer if you want someone else taking the pictures instead of guests passing their phones around.

What food do you serve?

Seven concessions: churros, pretzels, popcorn, cotton candy, nachos, snow cones, and caramel apples. Each one runs on a staffed machine in a concession booth. Meals and drinks come from the host, a caterer, or a food truck.

How far ahead should we book a Christmas carnival?

Company parties book ten to fourteen weeks ahead, which puts most bookings in October and November. School, church, and HOA dates book six to ten weeks ahead. City events need three to six months. The first three weekends of December go first.

Do you bring tables, chairs, or tents?

No. My Little Carnival brings its own 10x10 striped booths, the games, the concession machines, and generators to run that equipment if venue power falls short. Tables, chairs, extra tents, and ticket sales stay with the host or the venue.

🎄 SEASONAL GUIDE · SAN DIEGO COUNTY

How to plan a Christmas carnival.

A Christmas carnival is a December event built from carnival game booths, a Santa photo station, and a concession row, dressed in red, green, and white. Schools run them as winter festivals, churches as a family night, HOAs on the clubhouse lawn, and companies as the holiday party staff can bring their kids to. This guide covers the look, the layout, the food, booth counts, and cost.

The Christmas look

My Little Carnival swaps the standard booth covers for red-and-white and green-and-white stripes and runs warm string lights along the booth line. The photo spot is a holiday balloon arch with candy canes, peppermint balloons, and gingerbread figures. Candy-cane signage marks the games and the concession row, and snow-flocked trim adds a winter finish to props without anything falling or melting. For a bigger photo moment, the walk-in snow globe inflatable lets families step inside a giant globe for a picture.

If you want something the standard look doesn't include, such as wreaths, evergreen garland, or a gift-box entrance, ask for custom décor and it gets quoted separately.

Put Santa where the line can grow

Families queue for the Santa photo station, so give it room for a line. Set Santa and Mrs. Claus under the balloon arch at one end of the booth row, not next to the entrance, and leave open space in front for families to wait. Guests then walk past the games on the way to Santa and come back to them afterward. A photographer at the station means each family gets its photo without handing a phone back and forth, and a DJ or sound system plays holiday music across the whole site.

Picking concessions

The menu is short on purpose: churros, pretzels, popcorn, cotton candy, nachos, snow cones, and caramel apples. Churros, pretzels, and caramel apples feel the most like December. Popcorn and cotton candy are the easiest to serve fast to a crowd. For an evening event, pick two or three and let the host or a caterer handle dinner and drinks. A one-machine booth fits a 5x5 space; the Fun Food Station runs three machines in a 10x10.

How many booths for your crowd

Count the guests who will be there at the same time, then plan one game booth per fifty. A church night with 150 people needs three or four booths. A school winter festival with 400 parents and kids moving through over three hours peaks around 250, so five booths cover it. A company party for 600 with families needs ten to twelve. Add concession booths on top of the game count, and an inflatable or two when younger kids make up most of the crowd.

Plan around 4:45 sunset

December sunset in Southern California lands around 4:45 PM. An afternoon event that runs from 2:00 to 5:30 gets daylight for setup and the first rush, then the string lights come on as it gets dark. An evening event needs lighting built into the booth layout from the start. Ask the venue to light the walkway from parking, since it is dark by 5:00.

What the host covers

My Little Carnival brings the booths, games, prizes, concession machines and supplies, Santa and Mrs. Claus, the balloon arch, and the attendants who run it all. The host handles tables and chairs, any tents beyond the booths, meals and drinks, ticket sales if the event charges, and the venue or park permit. If the site has no power the booths can reach, My Little Carnival brings generators for its own equipment, quoted at booking.

What it costs

A neighborhood or HOA Christmas carnival runs $4,000 to $10,000. A company Christmas party runs $10,000 to $25,000, and a large multi-department party runs $25,000 to $40,000 or more. Church events start around $2,000. Guest count, hours, and the number of booths move the price more than anything else. A 50% deposit holds the date, and quotes come back within about a day.

Planning a Christmas carnival?

Send your date, location, and expected crowd and My Little Carnival will size the booths, concessions, and Santa time for it across San Diego County.

See Christmas event rentals →

Common questions

How much does a Christmas carnival cost?: A neighborhood or HOA Christmas carnival runs $4,000 to $10,000. A company Christmas party with a carnival runs $10,000 to $25,000, and a large multi-department party runs $25,000 to $40,000 or more. Church events start around $2,000 for a single congregation. The smallest custom event we quote starts at about $1,500.
How many game booths do we need?: Plan on one game booth for every fifty guests on site at the same time. A 150-person church night runs well on three or four booths. A 600-person company party with families needs ten to twelve, plus concessions. My Little Carnival sizes the booth count off your peak crowd, not the total for the day.
Can Santa and Mrs. Claus come to a Christmas carnival?: Yes. My Little Carnival books Santa and Mrs. Claus for photos at the Santa photo station under the holiday balloon arch. Add a photographer if you want someone else taking the pictures instead of guests passing their phones around.
What food do you serve?: Seven concessions: churros, pretzels, popcorn, cotton candy, nachos, snow cones, and caramel apples. Each one runs on a staffed machine in a concession booth. Meals and drinks come from the host, a caterer, or a food truck.
How far ahead should we book a Christmas carnival?: Company parties book ten to fourteen weeks ahead, which puts most bookings in October and November. School, church, and HOA dates book six to ten weeks ahead. City events need three to six months. The first three weekends of December go first.
Do you bring tables, chairs, or tents?: No. My Little Carnival brings its own 10x10 striped booths, the games, the concession machines, and generators to run that equipment if venue power falls short. Tables, chairs, extra tents, and ticket sales stay with the host or the venue.