What should I do if the power goes out during a party?

What to do in the first ten minutes

Pause whatever the guests are doing before you try to deal with the outage. At a children's party, you could say: "The power has gone out. Come and sit with me while we work out what to do next." Getting everyone in one place comes first. Information about the outage can wait a few minutes.

Once the group is settled, work through the checklist below. If another adult is helping, split the jobs so one adult stays with the children the whole time. A neighbor's report or a utility notice may tell you how widespread the outage is, but it does not guarantee when the power will come back. This plan does not cover electrical troubleshooting.

Splitting jobs is easier if you've prepared beforehand. Before the party, collect parents' phone numbers and decide which adult does what. Plan for any agreed arrangements, such as a quieter place for a child. See what safety and emergency arrangements a host should make.

Keep guest contacts and helper jobs together, for example in your party planning checklist, so another adult can handle messages without searching your phone.

• Gather the children in one place and check that everyone is there.
• Turn on flashlights or battery-powered lanterns. Keep a phone free for calls and messages.
• If another adult is helping, ask them to check the utility's outage information while you stay with the children. At a hired venue, contact the person responsible for the building.
• Write down the time the power went out. Keep fridge and freezer doors closed, and note when any perishable food came out before the outage.
• Check whether the room has enough light for the group, and whether losing heating, cooling or other equipment affects anyone's needs.
• Tell the children which game comes next and decide when you will check the situation again, so nobody is left waiting for the lights.

If you'll be the only adult, ask in advance whether someone can stay for part of the party. If nobody can, plan supervision you can manage by yourself and be ready to ask for early pickup. See how to host a children's party without a co-host.

Where to go and what to play without electricity

If it is still daylight and the weather and outdoor space are suitable, you could move the group outside. Keep everyone somewhere you can supervise, and tell parents if the pickup spot changes. Daylight alone is not a reason to take children outside in severe weather. If bad weather keeps you indoors, the rainy-day party plan can help you rethink the space and the activity.

If you stay inside because of bad weather, choose a room with enough light and room for an adult to see every child. The rainy day party plan includes quieter activities children can join or skip.

If you stay inside, choose a seated game you can play in the light you have. Games without electricity still need enough light for everyone to move around safely and for you to supervise. Each of the games below can be played from these instructions with no supplies, or with things you already have.

If you want more options, choose them before party day. Pick only seated games that work in the light you'll have, such as Mirror Me. See these no supplies party games you can play together.

• Twenty questions: one child thinks of an animal or familiar object. The others take turns asking yes-or-no questions, such as "Does it live in water?" Allow up to twenty questions, then reveal the answer and let someone else choose. Younger children can announce the category first.
• A story everyone adds to: start with a sentence such as "A dragon arrived at the birthday party." Each child adds one sentence in turn. Anyone can pass. End the story after one trip around the group. More starters: "When we opened the birthday present, a tiny dragon asked for a slice of cake" or "The birthday cake had disappeared, and the only clue was a trail of purple footprints."
• Guess the sound: an adult makes a simple sound without leaving their seat, such as clapping, tapping a cup or rustling paper. Children take turns guessing what made it. Show the object afterward, then try another sound. Nobody needs to search a dark room.
• Take-turns questions: go around the group answering a question such as "If you could invite a storybook character to this birthday, who would you invite?" or "If your pet could organize a party, what would everyone do?"

Sound and picture games don't work equally well for every guest. Ask families beforehand what helps their child join in, and choose or adapt a seated game. See how to adapt party games for guests with different abilities.

How long can the food wait without power?

Keep track of two times: when the electricity stopped, and when each perishable dish came out of the fridge. Food already on the table does not get a fresh allowance when the power goes out, so count the time it was out before the outage too.

The limits below come from FDA guidance on food during power outages. CDC also advises throwing away refrigerated perishable food after four hours without power if nothing else is keeping it cold. Don't taste food to decide whether it is safe. Follow the guidance for that particular food, and throw it away if you are not sure how it has been stored.

Packaged foods that don't need the fridge can replace dishes you can no longer serve, as long as they suit your guests' food requirements; check the labels. If you promised a meal and can't provide it, tell parents. The rainy-day party food ideas may help you change the menu, but several of those recipes need heat or refrigeration, so not all of them will work in an outage.

Example: an outage partway through a birthday party

This is an illustrative example, not a rule. Ten children are at a 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. birthday party at home, and that count includes the birthday child. Two adults are there and are not part of the ten: the host and one helper who has agreed to stay. No siblings are staying. The power goes out at 2:20 p.m. It is a mild day, and the yard is usable.

Food in the example: cheese sandwiches were put on the table at 2:00 p.m. and have been out ever since. Cut fruit and the cake, which has a filling labeled keep refrigerated, are in the closed fridge. A box of packaged crackers is in the cupboard. Under the two-hour limit, the sandwiches have to be eaten or thrown away by 4:00 p.m. If the temperature were above 90°F, that would be 3:00 p.m. The fridge items stay cold for about four hours if the door stays closed, but each time you open it, the food inside warms up.

• The steps add up to 10 + 15 + 15 + 10 + 10 = 60 minutes, measured from the start of the outage.
• Serve the cake only if its time out of the fridge still fits the perishable-food limits. Throw away any food left on the table when its limit is reached.
• You can end sooner than this or set another check-in time. The schedule just keeps everyone from waiting with no end point.

After the party, decide about each perishable food using its whole storage history: time on the table before and during the outage, plus how long it sat in a fridge without power. Shelf-stable items follow their package directions. If you aren't sure, throw it away. For whatever you keep, see what to do with leftover party food.

When to end the party and what to tell parents

End early if you can't supervise the children in the light you have, the space no longer works for them, or you can't manage the new activities and pickup. You can also simply decide that a shorter celebration is enough. You don't need to wait for any particular time.

If things are going well but you don't know how long the outage will last, send a heads-up with a set update time: "The power is out, and we're playing a seated game while we check the situation. I'll message again by [time] to confirm whether pickup will stay at [original time] or move earlier. Please keep your phone nearby."

When you decide to finish, fill in the details and send: "The power is out, so we're ending the party early. Please collect your child at [time] from [address and meeting place]. Reply to confirm, or call me if you cannot get here then. We'll be in touch about another birthday get-together."

Call any families who haven't replied. Keep every child with an adult until the person collecting them arrives, and write down each handoff. Gather coats, bags, gifts and favors in one place. If siblings come along at pickup, stick with the favor plan you already had. If someone is also unwell, treat that as a separate decision, using the guides for when the birthday child or the host gets sick.

Can we get a refund if the venue loses power?

Practical arrangements at a hired venue depend on that venue and your booking, so don't assume the same rules apply everywhere.

Write down your backup plan before party day

Fill in these details ahead of time and keep them on the host's copy, not on any sheet the children use. If you change the pickup time, keep a note for each child of who is collecting them, their phone number, the confirmed new time and when they actually left.

Write any changed pickup details next to each child's contact record. The party guest-list planner already records who is collecting each guest. Add the actual departure time to your private notes.

Sources and further reading

• Birthday Party Plan for a Power Outage

Related questions

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