This late-night event was held in a large park. Modeled after a scouting campout, artists set up various stations where guests could earn badges. There were art projects in and among the trees, and a short hike past all the activities culminated in a singalong around a bonfire, with several bands performing.
I wanted to create an icebreaker so we used the notion of a hanky code, borrowed from gay culture, to get people to mingle and talk. We devised interesting personality pairings and assigned each to a different colored handkerchief. People could choose one to represent themselves and wear it all night. This created an instant costume for guests who wanted to feel part of the action as well as a way to open up conversation around social dichotomies that ranged from silly to serious to sexy.