When the Associated Students Program Board (ASPB) at University of California Riverside throws a party, they do not do it halfway. The UCR Block Party is one of the biggest celebrations on the Riverside campus calendar, bringing students together on the HUB Lawn for a full day of live music, food trucks, attractions, entertainment, and plenty of reasons to stick around.
Something New was excited to return as part of its annual partnership with UC Riverside, bringing 6 custom-branded carnival game booths and premium prizes to the celebration. With thousands of students moving throughout the event, the Something New setup created an interactive destination where students could compete with friends, test their skills, and take home a prize.
The activation was designed to feel like a natural extension of the Block Party itself: colorful, social, highly interactive, and impossible to miss. Positioned among the day's many attractions, the six-game setup gave students another way to participate in the celebration rather than simply watch from the sidelines.
UC Riverside Block Party |
Campus Carnival
Games | Something New
Case Study
Six-Game Package
The scale of the UCR Block Party called for an experience that could hold its own across a busy event footprint. Six custom-branded game booths gave Something New a substantial presence on the HUB Lawn while creating enough variety for students to keep exploring and playing.
Each booth offered its own challenge, giving students the freedom to find a game that matched their skill level, compete against friends, or simply take a shot and see what happened. The variety also helped keep traffic moving throughout the activation, with students circulating between games instead of experiencing the setup as a single attraction.
With six games running side by side, the result was less of a single game station and more of a mini carnival right in the middle of the Block Party.
Made to Stand Out on the Lawn
At an event packed with entertainment, visibility matters.
The custom-branded booths gave Something New's footprint a distinct visual identity that fit naturally into the Block Party while making the activation easy for students to spot from across the HUB Lawn. The branding added a polished, event-specific touch, transforming the standard carnival game experience into something that felt intentionally created for UCR.
But the booths were more than a visual element. They created a natural gathering point throughout the day, with students stopping to watch games, cheer on friends, compare prizes, and decide which challenge to tackle next.
The combination of recognizable branding and physical, hands-on entertainment helped the activation stand apart in an environment where students had plenty of other places to go.
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.
Expert Facilitators
Our facilitators kept the experience moving from the first student of the day to the last. Beyond explaining how each game worked, they brought personality and enthusiasm to the interaction, encouraged friendly competition, and helped create an environment where students felt comfortable jumping in.
Custom-Branded Game Booths
Six branded booths created a substantial footprint on the HUB Lawn and gave students multiple games to discover throughout the event. The custom graphics helped tie the activation directly into the UCR experience while giving the game area a polished, cohesive look.
Premium Prizes
The chance to win something memorable gave students another reason to take their shot. Premium prizes added excitement to the games and turned successful plays into moments worth celebrating, while the variety of rewards helped maintain interest throughout the day.
Why it Worked
The activation succeeded because it gave students something the rest of the Block Party could not: a chance to become part of the action.
The six custom-branded booths created a strong visual presence, while the facilitators brought the energy that made students want to participate. Premium prizes added an extra incentive, but the real draw was the social experience around the games: challenging friends, celebrating wins, laughing at misses, and finding out who could actually take home the best prize.
Together, those elements made the Something New footprint feel like a true part of the Block Party rather than an add-on sitting alongside it.
And this is only one chapter in Something New’s growing relationship with UCR. Scarefest is coming up this October, bringing another opportunity for the team to create a memorable student experience together. As the partnership continues across UCR’s campus calendar, Something New looks forward to bringing new games, new energy, and new ways to play to the Riverside community.
Carnival Games,
Reimagined.