Inaugural PaleyWKND festival celebrated entertainment, gaming, sports

PaleyWKND recap

Good Day's Ryan Kristafer attended the first PaleyWKND at the Paley Center for Media. WNYW/Fox 5 is a proud supporter of PaleyWKND.

NEW YORK - The inaugural PaleyWKND — billed as the "ultimate media, sports, gaming and entertainment festival" — took over the Paley Center for Media in Midtown Manhattan and an entire block on 52nd Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue over the weekend. FOX 5 NY is a proud supporter of the event.

"We've collaborated over the last year to put together these interactive, immersive experiences with over two-dozen world class brands, iconic media companies, all of the major sports leagues are here," Paley Center for Media CEO Maureen Reidy said.

At the completely free event inside the Paley Museum, the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL championship trophies were on public display together for the first time. Fans even met athletes like five-time NBA champion Ron Harper.

PaleyWKND in NYC

Here is a look at events that took place Sunday at PaleyWKND in New York City

"Growing up as a kid, we used to dream about these [trophies]. Now I got a few of them but I still dream about them for my other kids," Harper said. "So the cycle keeps going on. It's an honor to be here."

While adventuring around the festival, we found Food Network cooking demos and Drew Carey telling fans to "Come on Down!" Kids spun The Price is Right wheel and showed off their sports skills with ESPN.

Festivalgoers even got behind the wheel of a Formula-E racecar simulator. Formula-E Race Director Mike Hopper explained what New Yorkers experience behind the wheel, simulating the Brooklyn racetrack.

"They're getting to see how hard it is to judge where the turns are, when to hit the brakes, when to hit the gas," Hopper said. "So a really exciting opportunity to get inside these cars — and then see the real Formula-E race car next to them!"

PaleyWKND comes to New York City

The Midtown Museum which celebrates media in all forms is holding a unique celebration all weekend. It is called PaleyWKND.

The virtual reality didn't end there, as META sent New Yorkers to the International Space Station (virtually).

"Immersive learning is all about experimenting and leveraging the super powers of immersive technology like virtual reality and augmented reality like going to space," META's Leticia Jauregui said.

Back on Earth, the New York Red Bulls put on a show and so did possible future stars of the New York Jets and Giants as kids tested their skills on the Nickelodeon Slime Time Football Challenge.

PaleyWKND kicked off with an opening night celebration on Friday, Sept. 30. The main events took place on Saturday, Oct. 1, and Sunday, Oct. 2. The festival was free. Members of the Paley Center were given VIP access.

The Paley Center teamed up with dozens of organizations and companies for the festival, including FOX.

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A rendering of what the red carpet will look like for PaleyWKND. (Courtesy of The Paley Center for Media)