When a corporate retreat becomes a festival: the Annual Retreat at OHAI Nazaré
Some corporate retreats meet their objectives. And then there are retreats that people remember years later, that become part of a company’s culture, that define what it means to belong to that team. This article is about the second kind, and about what it takes to build one.
In 2021, Venuesin organised the Annual Retreat of a Technology company at OHAI Nazaré The Outdoor Resort, at a moment that carried a very particular emotional weight: it was the first large in-person retreat after months of pandemic, isolation and remote work. The company wanted to make that return something truly extraordinary. The result was a three-day, two-night event in festival format, with continuous programming from dawn to the early hours, simultaneous activities throughout each day, and a production that transformed the entire resort into a world of its own.
Why OHAI Nazaré was the right venue
The choice of venue was decisive for everything that followed. OHAI Nazaré is an outdoor resort with wide open spaces, lush greenery and a close relationship with nature, making it the perfect antidote to months of confinement and screens. Its village-style layout, with different zones and spaces that can be activated simultaneously, is precisely what a festival-format event demands: the ability to run different activities at the same time in different parts of the space, without any of them interfering with the others.
All lighting across the venue was designed from scratch by the production team, transforming the resort into a completely different world after dark, with warm tones in the dining and socialising areas, colour lighting in the party zones and scenic lighting for the performance spaces.
The leadership team dinner: a moment before the moment
Before the programme launched for the whole company, the leadership team experienced an exclusive moment that Venuesin conceived as a completely separate experience. A Michelin-starred restaurant was invited to serve a private dinner for the leadership team at the resort, creating a fine dining setting outdoors that deliberately contrasted with the festival spirit of what would follow. It was a moment of recognition, a celebration of leadership and an emotional preparation for the three days ahead, in an intimate and high-calibre register that stayed with everyone present.
The programme: a festival with a corporate soul
The programme was designed with a festival logic, with multiple simultaneous activities throughout each day, so that each participant could shape their own experience within the event. There was no single mandatory path, there was a universe of possibilities within the same space.
During the day, the resort came alive with a range of activities covering completely different registers. The colour fight brought dozens of participants together in a battle of coloured powder that is, by definition, the kind of activity that breaks down hierarchies and produces photographs that last forever. Dawn yoga sessions offered a counterpoint of calm and intention for those who wanted to start the day differently. Volleyball tournaments created healthy competition and team spirit among mixed groups. Painting workshops gave space for creative expression to those who rarely have the opportunity to explore it in a professional context.
One of the most original activities was a graffiti session on a resort building that was already scheduled for renovation, which created a unique opportunity: the walls were handed over to participants as a blank canvas, with urban artists facilitating the process, and the result was a collective work that lasted until the walls came down. The barbecue was another anchor moment of the programme, running continuously through the afternoons and creating a relaxed, informal gathering point where conversations happened naturally.
The float that circulated through the resort grounds during the afternoons and evenings was one of the most unexpected and memorable elements of the event. In the style of great street festivals, the float carried live music and entertainment, creating a moment of surprise and joy wherever it passed, drawing participants into dance and celebration across every corner of the space.
The 24-hour open bar was a deliberate decision not to put limits on socialising. In a retreat that set out to celebrate the reunion of a team, the ability to continue conversations and festivities at any hour of the day or night was one of the elements that most contributed to the sense of freedom and celebration the event aimed to create.
The sunset and the silent disco
At the close of the first day, as Nazaré’s golden light began to fade, the programme arrived at one of its most special moments: a silent disco at sunset. With headphones distributed to every participant, each person chose their music channel and danced at their own pace, in a visually surreal setting where hundreds of people danced in silence with the ocean horizon as a backdrop. It is the kind of moment that only works with the right venue, the right hour and a production team that understands that some of the best moments in an event do not need to be loud.
The gala dinner and the circus party
The gala evening was built in two acts. Dinner took place in an illuminated tent with a lighting and décor production that transformed the space into an atmosphere of rare outdoor elegance, with full table service and an awards ceremony that recognised the teams and individuals of the year. It was a moment of pause and formal celebration within an event that had been predominantly informal, and that contrast was entirely intentional.
The party that followed had a circus theme, with performers, props, costumes and a scenic production that completely transformed the space. The décor, lighting, live entertainment elements and artistic direction of the party created an immersive experience that participants would have been hard pressed to distinguish from a professional cultural event.
Catering in festival mode
Serving meals to hundreds of people across three days and two nights in a festival format demands a completely different approach from a conventional gala dinner. The solution was a combination of themed buffet stations and food trucks distributed across the space, each with a different offer, allowing participants to eat what they wanted, when they wanted and wherever they wanted, without queues or imposed timetables. The variety of the offer ensured that no two meals across the event were the same, and the presence of food trucks in different parts of the resort encouraged circulation and the discovery of new corners of the space.
Dietary requirements were mapped in advance and each station had clearly identified options, with briefings given to service teams to ensure that no participant was left without an appropriate response to their needs. The 24-hour bar completed the system, ensuring that at no point during the day or night was any participant without access to food or drink.
What this event teaches about corporate retreats
The Annual Retreat at OHAI Nazaré was a case study in how a corporate event can have genuine creative ambition without losing sight of the company’s objectives. At its core, the company wanted to celebrate the reunion of its team, rebuild bonds after months of distance and create shared memories that would last beyond the event. All of those objectives were met, but the way they were met was entirely unconventional.
The key was the combination of a venue with the right conditions for a festival-format programme, a production team with the capacity to conceive and execute a three-day immersive experience, and a company with the courage to move beyond familiar formats and trust a creative process that knew where it wanted to arrive but was willing to take a different road to get there.
Planning your company’s next retreat?
If your company wants to create a retreat that goes beyond the usual, that generates shared memories and genuinely strengthens team culture, Venuesin has the experience and the right partners to conceive and produce it from scratch. Contact us for a personalised proposal.