Many National Cancer Survivors Day® event planners choose to customize their Celebration of Life by giving their event a theme, like Laughter is the Best Medicine or Superheroes of Hope. While you certainly don’t need a theme to celebrate life after cancer, most people agree that themed events can be lots of fun.
Need a little event planning inspiration?
Here are 5 creative theme ideas for National Cancer Survivors Day®.
1. Let the Games Begin
Have an old-school field day for cancer survivors at a local park, complete with relay races, an obstacle course, hula hoop contests, horseshoes, and other fun outdoor activities. Hand out prizes for the winners, and serve up a delicious picnic lunch or ice-cold treats. You might even recruit a local food truck to set up shop at your Celebration of Life.
2. Life’s a Party
Plan your National Cancer Survivors Day® event around a birthday party theme. Celebrate life after cancer with birthday party hats, balloons, cupcakes, piñatas, and traditional birthday party games like pin the tail on the donkey. Have cancer survivors pin their years of cancer survivorship with paper candles on a giant “birthday cake” display.
3. Cancer Survivors Rock
Music is at the center of this NCSD event, and it doesn’t even have to be rock and roll. Event planners can include performances by local musicians, set up a karaoke stage where cancer survivors can sing their hearts out, or host a workshop on music therapy for people with cancer. The options are endless. An Elvis impersonator would really shake things up!
4. Savor the Sweet Life
All NCSD event planners need for this National Cancer Survivors Day® event theme is ice cream. You can host a homemade ice cream cranking contest, set up a create-your-own sundae bar, or cater in sweet treats from a local scoop shop. A barbershop quartet would be the cherry on top of this old-fashioned ice cream social for cancer survivors. The
5. Fabric of Hope
Have cancer survivors at your NCSD event make quilt squares that represent their cancer journey. Later, sew all the squares together to create a Quilt of Hope, which can be displayed at your cancer center.
Want more inspired event theme ideas for National Cancer Survivors Day®? Check out our Event Themes page.
National Cancer Survivors Day® is the one day each year when people from across the globe gather in their local communities to honor cancer survivors, to bring attention to the ongoing challenges of cancer survivorship, and to show the world that life after a cancer diagnosis can be fruitful, rewarding, and even inspiring. Held annually on the first Sunday in June, it is a day for everyone – cancer survivors, supporters, medical professionals, families, and friends. It’s a day you don’t want to miss.
