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Away day evening entertainment: what to put on at 7pm
By Kevin Durham, event host and MC
4 November 2026 · updated 1 November 2026
6 min read
In short
- Away day evening entertainment is whatever follows the working sessions: usually dinner with one short hosted activity, not a second programme.
- A hosted game or quiz of 30 to 40 minutes, played from the table, suits a tired, mixed group better than anything physical or personal.
- Put the activity between the main course and dessert, with a stated finish time for the evening.
- Nobody should be made to perform: every round has to be playable from a seat.
- Bring in a host when you want to be a guest at your own away day.
Away day evening entertainment is what you put on after the sessions end, and for most teams it is dinner plus one short hosted activity. The hard part is the audience. At 7pm you have a group that has sat through a full day of work, includes people who drink and people who do not, and has the senior team and the new starters at the same tables. I am Kevin Durham, a professional event host and MC, and this is how I would shape that evening. The daytime is covered in my guide to away day ideas and in the full-day plan on conferencehost.uk.
What should you do on the evening of an away day?
On the evening of an away day, serve a proper dinner and add one hosted game or quiz of 30 to 40 minutes between courses. Everything else should be optional: a drink beforehand, somewhere to sit and talk afterwards, and a clear finish.
The University of Leeds events team suggests building in time for casual networking, with a reception or a relaxed trip once the formal programme ends. That is the right instinct: the evening exists so people can talk to colleagues they rarely see. The hosted activity gives those conversations something to start from, then gets out of the way.
Who is actually in the room at 7pm?
At 7pm the room is tired, mixed and half-watching the clock. A day of sessions has used up attention, and the Health and Safety Executive links fatigue to slower reactions, memory lapses and a lack of attention. That is not the moment for instructions that need concentration.
It is also the moment when preferences split. In a YouGov poll for Acas published in March 2025, 31% of 1,052 employees put team building among their three least-favoured workplace social activities, and 20% said the same of regular after-hours events such as drinks. Acas advises holding team building within normal working hours, to protect personal time and avoid excluding people with caring responsibilities. An evening sits outside those hours, so say clearly on the invitation what is expected and when it ends.
How long should away day evening entertainment run?
Away day evening entertainment should run 30 to 40 minutes as a single block, inside an evening that ends about three hours after it starts. That is my rule of thumb for a tired group, not a researched figure: past 40 minutes, the people who were happy to play begin to look at the door.
A worked timeline, for sessions that finish at 5pm:
| Time | What happens | Why it sits there |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00 | Sessions end, free hour | Rooms, showers, calls home |
| 6:30 | Drinks, soft options on the same tray | People arrive in ones and twos |
| 7:15 | Seated, starter and main | Food first, a fed room listens |
| 8:10 | Hosted game, 35 minutes | Plates cleared, before the tiredness peaks |
| 8:45 | Dessert, coffee, prizes | The result gives people something to talk about |
| 9:30 | Formal end, bar stays open | Early leavers can go without a scene |
The arithmetic: 7:15 to 9:30 is two hours fifteen, of which 35 minutes is hosted. The other hour and a half is the evening doing its real job, which is conversation.
Which away day evening entertainment suits a tired, mixed group?
The best away day evening entertainment for a tired, mixed group is a hosted game or quiz that every table plays from its seats, with scoring the host handles. It asks for attention, not energy, and nobody is put on the spot.
| Format | Why it works at 7pm | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted game show at the tables | Every table is a team, familiar formats need no explaining | A host who only picks volunteers |
| Quiz with a company round | Questions about your own year start conversations | Too many rounds, so keep it short |
| Phone-based play-along | Everyone plays from a chair, quiet people included | Check signal in the venue |
| Awards woven with games | Recognition without a long ceremony | Needs a briefed host |
| Dinner only | Right for a small team that likes each other | Can drift if the group is mixed |
| Physical or off-site activity | Suits a morning, not a tired evening | Excludes anyone with a mobility need |
My own signature is to split the whole room into two teams and rotate the rounds, so as many people as possible take part and it stays snappy. Play Your Cards Right can run at the tables, so nearly every table plays. Every game is written for the people in the room, which matters most when the group is mixed: a graduate intake and a leadership team want different questions. There is more on formats in my guide to a corporate quiz night if you prefer a quiz.
Four rules against forced fun in the evening
You avoid forced fun by making participation easy, visible and optional, and by never putting one person on the spot. Forced fun is rarely about the game. It is about being made to do something in front of colleagues.
Four rules I would hold to:
- Play from the seat. Every round has to work for someone who stays sitting.
- Teams set in advance. Mix departments and seniority on the seating plan, so nobody is the last one picked.
- No personal reveals. Questions about the company, the year and the world, not about people’s private lives.
- A stated end. Tell the room when it finishes. People relax when they know there is an exit.
A host helps because the room takes its cue from the front. Say it is fine to sit this one out, and more people join in.
Drinks, food and access
Plan drinks, food and access so that nobody has to ask for an exception. Acas gives an example of weekly pub socials that left a colleague who did not drink feeling excluded, and the agreed outcome was that socials should vary and not always centred on alcohol. Put good soft drinks on the same tray as the wine.
Collect dietary needs with the invitation. Food businesses must tell customers about the 14 allergens, for prepacked and non-prepacked food alike. Check the room for step-free access, too: Acas states that employers must make reasonable adjustments by law, and that they can cover any area of work.
Conduct matters as well. Acas guidance on sexual harassment, last updated 30 October 2026, says the Employment Rights Act 2025 requires employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Its page does not mention social events, so ask your own HR lead how it applies to yours. A host who sets the tone in the welcome is a sensible step.
When is it worth hiring a host for the evening?
It is worth hiring a host when you organised the away day and want to enjoy the evening as a guest. DIY is the right call for a team of about a dozen who know each other, with one confident person happy to run a short quiz. Past that, or with a mixed group, a professional earns the fee.
Clients tell me the same thing: a senior colleague who hosts ends up trying to present rather than enjoy the evening, and it gets awkward. A professional runs the game, keeps the dinner on time and reads the room, so you can sit at a table. I brief you beforehand, write the questions around your company and change style if a different crowd turns up. One client at Faerch Group wrote in a review: “Kevin kept the evening flowing superbly and has the unique ability to read a room and keep everyone happy.” That is the room’s doing as much as mine.
What to have ready before you get in touch
Have these to hand: the date, the number attending, when the sessions end, when dinner is served, the finish time and anything that went wrong last year. See corporate event entertainment for what I run, or call 07596 851647 or email hello@eventhost.info.
