Something New brought a little medieval mayhem to Hawkefest, a Forbes-recognized gathering of founders, CMOs, brand builders, and leaders shaping the future of commerce. Returning to the Santa Monica Pier on October 1st, Hawkefest was designed to be anything but a traditional business conference. With the Pacific Ocean as its backdrop, the event transformed the Pier into a Renaissance-inspired world of knights, castles, competition, and commerce.
For Something New, that meant creating an entertainment experience that could live up to the theme.
Rather than dropping standard carnival games into a trade show environment, Something New designed and operated three fully custom Renaissance-themed games specifically for Hawkefest: Jester's Jaw, King of the Castle, and Sword Throwing. Each game was created to feel like a natural part of the world Hawkefest was building, giving attendees an opportunity to step away from the traditional conference format and actually participate in the experience around them.
Hawkfest: A Renaissance
Festival | Carnival Games for
Adults | Something New
Case Study
Three-Game Package
Creating games for Hawkefest meant starting with the Renaissance theme and building the experience around it. Rather than placing standard carnival games into a themed event, Something New created three custom experiences designed to feel like a natural part of the world Hawkefest had created.
The lineup included Jester's Jaw, King of the Castle, and Sword Throwing, each bringing a different element of the Renaissance concept to the activation. From playful competition to medieval-inspired challenges, the games gave attendees an interactive way to experience the theme while adding energy to the trade show floor.
Together, the three custom games gave Hawkefest an entertainment experience that felt cohesive, intentional, and completely on-theme.
Games Fit for Royalty
The games weren't simply themed. They were created for the theme.
Instead of taking standard carnival games and adding a few Renaissance-inspired details, Something New built the activation around Hawkefest’s theme from the start. The goal was to create games that felt like a natural extension of the Renaissance world taking over the Santa Monica Pier, while still delivering the playful, competitive energy Something New is known for.
That meant thinking beyond the games themselves and considering how they would fit into the larger event. The custom setup gave attendees an interactive experience that felt different from the typical trade show entertainment, giving founders, CMOs, and brand builders an opportunity to step away from conversations and networking and simply play.
The result was a three-game activation that added personality, energy, and a little medieval mayhem to Hawkefest, without feeling disconnected from the event around it.
Features & Add-Ons
The carnival games came with full-service support from Something New as a carnival game vendor, turning the setup into a seamless, end-to-end experience.
Custom Themed Games
Jester's Jaw, King of the Castle, and Sword Throwing were each designed specifically for the Hawkefest Renaissance theme, giving attendees three distinct and fully immersive ways to play that felt like a natural extension of the event world around them.
Fun Facilitators
Something New's on-site staff ran every game with the energy and enthusiasm the moment called for, keeping attendees engaged, lines moving, and the overall vibe exactly where it needed to be throughout the event.
Setup & Rentals
Something New handled all setup, breakdown, and equipment, delivering a seamless, stress-free experience for the Hawkefest team so they could focus on running a world-class event while we handled everything on the game floor.
Why it Worked
Hawkefest set out to create a business gathering that felt completely different from the traditional conference circuit. The Renaissance theme gave the event its creative foundation, and Something New helped extend that concept into the attendee experience.
The games worked because they belonged there.
Jester's Jaw brought the humor. King of the Castle brought the competition. Sword Throwing brought the spectacle. Together, they transformed the carnival activation into an interactive part of the event rather than an entertainment element placed beside it.
For attendees, that meant an opportunity to let loose, compete, laugh, and connect in the middle of a day built around business and innovation. For Hawkefest, it meant the Renaissance theme extended beyond the décor and into something attendees could actually experience.
When a gathering of founders and CMOs can go from discussing the future of commerce to throwing swords and defending their castles, you've created more than a trade show.
Carnival Games,
Reimagined.