How a synthetic ice rink works at a corporate event

Some attractions can be explained in one sentence and still change the feel of a whole event. An eco-friendly synthetic ice rink is one of them: a rectangle of interlocking plastic panels where people skate on ordinary bladed skates, with no water, no chiller and none of the machinery needed to freeze a real rink. From the outside the effect is the classic one: people skating, people clinging to the barrier and many more watching and filming on their phones.

If you are planning a winter company party, a shopping-centre campaign or a street activation, you will want to know how this actually works before it goes into the budget. This article covers how it differs from real ice, how skating sessions are organised, how much space it takes, which other games pair well with it and what can be branded. At the end you will find the questions we get asked most before a booking.

What an eco-friendly ice rink is

The eco-friendly synthetic ice rink is built from gliding polymer panels that lock together into one continuous surface, with a barrier running around it. It is not ice, but it behaves like ice: the blade glides, leaves a mark, and you can brake and turn exactly as you would on a conventional rink.

The difference is what is missing underneath. A real ice rink needs a sheet of frozen water, compressors running day and night and a controlled temperature. None of that is here, and that is where the name comes from: synthetic ice uses no water and no refrigeration, it does not melt, drip or leave puddles at the end of the day. That is why it works just as well in December as in high summer, outdoors in a courtyard or inside a warehouse.

For whoever is organising the event, that difference is very practical: the rink can go into venues where a traditional ice rink would be out of the question, and the space is left exactly as it was once it comes down.

What skating on synthetic ice feels like

The glide is slightly shorter than on natural ice, and at a corporate event that works in your favour: anyone who has never skated gains confidence in the first few minutes, because the surface is far more forgiving. Experienced skaters notice they have to push a little harder, adjust within two laps and end up doing everything they would do on an indoor rink.

Skating runs in timed sessions with a maximum number of skaters on the ice at once, set according to the size of the rink and the type of audience. Two good things come out of that: nobody crowds the surface, and the queue becomes part of the show, because people stay and watch while they wait. When guests are not expecting to skate, it helps to keep an early slot free as a trial run, while the rink is still quiet.

Skates are bladed, in adult and children's sizes, and guests change on the benches around the perimeter. If people are coming straight from dinner or a working day, tell them there will be a rink: footwear and long dresses matter far more here than the cold, which simply is not there.

How much space it needs and how it is installed

The first thing we check about a venue is not its size but whether it is level. The panels need a firm, even base: asphalt, concrete, staging, warehouse flooring or compacted artificial grass all work; soft ground or a noticeable slope does not. The rink is built to fit the venue, so the right question is usually not how many metres it measures, but how many clear metres you can give it.

Around the skating surface you need a walkway so guests can get in, get out and change their skates without crossing paths with skaters, plus a corner for the benches and the session control point. You also need an access route for the equipment: the panels arrive on pallets and are unloaded by forklift or by hand, depending on the site.

Our team handles the installation, and the rink does not depend on a water supply or on mains power to operate (electricity is only needed if you want lighting or music over the surface). That makes the technical sheet the venue asks for much simpler, especially in shopping centres and public squares, where getting hold of a large power supply is usually the real bottleneck.

The events it suits best

The rink works when you want a centrepiece attraction, the kind you can see from the entrance and that stays open for hours. These are the cases where we install it most:

• Winter parties and company Christmas dinners, as an activity before or after the meal.
• Corporate family days, where staff, partners and children mix.
• Shopping-centre campaigns that need something to hold footfall for days or weeks.
• Street and square brand activations, with the rink as the visual hook.
• Openings, seasonal fairs and city events.

If you are weighing up options for a large party, the games for events catalogue shows what it is usually combined with, and the games for events in Barcelona page explains how we work in the area where we do most of our installs.

Pairing it with other winter games

A rink on its own fills the space, but it leaves out everyone who does not want to skate. That is why we almost always surround it with two or three games that keep the same winter feel and give people something to do while they wait for their session.

The ski simulator and the snowboard simulator are the natural partners: same mountain imagery, runs of just a few minutes and a leaderboard that hooks the competitive ones. Fairground stalls and mini fairground games add the funfair side, with small prizes guests take home. And if the event ends with dinner, professional karaoke picks up everyone who has skated enough.

Branding the rink with your company

The barrier around the rink is, in practice, a billboard at camera height: every photo your guests take will have it in the background. It can be wrapped in vinyl with your logo, the colours of the campaign or the event claim, and the same goes for the entrance area, the benches and the session signage.

From there, branding games with the client's identity can go further: uniforms for the staff running the rink, your own music and screens, a photo wall at the exit and a prize for everyone who completes a session. If the activation has to deliver contacts, the usual move is a promotional prize wheel at the exit, collecting details before the spin, so that the rink pulls the crowd in and the promotional game collects the leads.

Frequently asked questions

Does it skate like real ice?

Very close. You use bladed skates and the movement is the same, although the glide is slightly shorter, which makes the rink easier for beginners.

Does it need water, cold or a large power supply?

No. The surface is never frozen or chilled, so it uses no water or electricity to work; you only need power if you add lighting or sound.

Can it be installed indoors and outside the winter season?

Yes. With no real ice involved it works inside a warehouse, a hotel or a shopping centre, and outdoors at any time of year.

Are skates and staff included?

Yes, it comes with skates in a range of sizes and with staff who run the sessions, help guests put the skates on and supervise the rink while it is open.

What does the budget depend on?

On the size of the rink, how many days it stays up, the city and the installation window the venue allows, plus any branding extras. We set it all out in writing before you book.

If you already have a date and a space in mind, tell us about them and we will say what size of rink fits, how many skaters you could move per hour and how it would look with your brand on it: write to us from the contact page and we will put together a quote with everything included.