30 Ideas for the 30th Birthday Party

Birthday

Thirty is a big birthday year for many people, which some embrace and some would like to ignore. Whatever your feelings about entering your thirties, the best way to do it is by throwing a great, big party! Following are thirty fun 30th birthday party ideas / themes for celebrating this momentous occasion. From our list of 30 there are plenty of 30th birthday party ideas for women and men. Please leave a comment if you have a 30th birthday party idea you would like to share with others!

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30 is the new 20 — everyone dresses like they did in college, with music from college days and cheap beer.
Disco party — music, outfits, and dancing!
Mardi Gras — beads, masks, and hurricane drinks
Oktoberfest—German beer and food
Wine and cheese tasting — enter adulthood in a classy way, with samplings of wines and cheeses
Park party — gather in a local park, play games, and barbecue
Beach party — swimming and picnicking at the beach
Costume party — pretend it’s Halloween and let guests wear their favorite costume more than once this year!
Tribute band — hire a tribute band and have everyone dress up like the original band or their fans.
Wig party — all guests wear a wig
Silly hat and/or silly t-shirt party — all guests wear a silly hat and/or t-shirt
Hawaiian Luau — grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts, tiki torches, and more
Fiesta party — tacos and chips and margaritas, oh my!
Holiday party — dress according to the nearest holiday!
Bar — rent out your favorite bar for a few hours
Bucket list party—whether it’s skydiving, whitewater rafting, or swimming with dolphins, plan a party around the birthday boy or girl checking something off their bucket list
Sports party — rent a basketball court or gym and play sports together
Go to the Games party — take a group of friends to a local sports event (and be sure to blast the birthday boy or girl’s name on the Jumbotron).
Carnival party — celebrate with cotton candy, popcorn, and carnival games and prizes!
Pool party — just like when you were a kid, find someone with a pool, and throw a party there.
Stripe party — have all guests wear an entire outfit of one color, with the best color winning a prize
“Being the Birthday Person” party — print out life-size photos of the birthday boy or girl’s face, and make masks for guests to wear. Perfect for a surprise party!
Take a Trip — Go somewhere you’ve never been; that’s a party in itself!
Casino night — get out the cards and poker chips, and take turns serving as cocktail waitress!
80s theme — dress like your childhood days in the 80s, complete with music!
Sesame Street party — decorate with your favorite childhood characters and reminisce about the hours spent watching Oscar, Big Bird, and Bert and Ernie.
Scavenger Hunt party — plan a fun scavenger hunt during your party.
Roller Rink party — get on your wheels and go skating!
Pajama party and/or sleepover — just like when you were a kid
Amusement Park trip — load up the car and head to the nearest amusement park for a day of rides and laughs.

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Comments (18)

|2011-01-12 16:32:05 Tamar - really?

While I appreciate your ideas these are the best you could come up with?? These are are more of general ideas for any birthday! Are you not close to 30? Or better yet which did you do for yours??
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|2011-01-12 17:17:53 kenny - Click the links

These are topic ideas - there as some links to some articles that will give you more detail.
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|2011-01-26 01:22:59 Sarah - Thanks!

Lots of great ideas! Thanks!
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|2011-02-08 10:35:14 Rencia
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|2011-03-01 17:20:29 Ridiculous - You gotta be kidding

Roller rink? Scavenger hunt? Sesame Street? I thought these were supposed to be adult ideas...
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|2012-05-29 23:08:54 Sonya

I actually threw my husband a scavanger hunt party for his 32nd b-day and it was a huge hit. We had about 20 people... everyone driving around town trying to get items on the list and take pictures of different things and people. It was a blast, and our friends are still talking about how much fun it was.
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|2011-07-19 17:46:47 Anonymous

Not as interesting or exciting as Id hoped :-(
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|2012-12-03 16:08:34 anonymous

Exactly I feel the same
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|2011-07-20 21:29:41 Anonymous

I like the bucket list party idea thanks.
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|2011-07-21 10:00:12 Damian - Wig Party

I like the wig party theme. Not too much effort to go into planning it which means i can focus on the party at hand. My 30th coming up soon
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|2011-09-27 16:11:11 max

kinda sad, except for the bucket list ideas, i was hoping for some 'ah ha!' ideas for my 30th, lol. was thinking something crazy like vegas, which would be awesome, but current economy says we'll probably be hanging out at the local bar
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|2011-09-30 20:32:48 Laurie

I have been putting some thought into my own 30th birthday party and I have landed on a Roaring Twenties theme. I love the gangster/flapper style and I think it can be symbolic of leaving your twenties and entering a new decade. Although, the roaring twenties did lead into the Great Depression. Maybe I haven't thought this through. LOL. Regardless, I love the idea.
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|2011-12-27 08:26:17 Anonymous - Idea

My 30th is coming up. I was thinking of bringing an exciting city to me. Marve decorating to mimic a vegas casino? Maybe Paris? Or someplace, heck idk.
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|2012-01-10 21:47:10 disappointed

I was very disappointed in the ideas!!!
I was thinking since we are meant to be grown ups at 30 maybe having a theme where everyone dresses up as what they wanted to be when they were grown up
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|2012-01-23 18:13:02 Robin - Yeah Pretty Sad

You could add 80's like big hair, 90's parachute pants, burlesque party, fan fan girls, mustache party, these are just a few I rolled off my tounge, also I am a woman so sorry guys cant really think of anything except maybe a "risque" party.
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|2012-04-04 15:22:02 IJ - Classy ideas

Looking for classy and elegant party ideas. nothing like mardi gras burlesque. kind of up market with a low budget.
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|2012-11-07 21:24:07 Steven S. - Cool Ideas

I'm not sure what everyone else is complaining about, but I love the ideas. You just gave me a great idea even though it didn't come from this list it sparked my idea, "Beer Pong Party". I'll let you know how it went .
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