The new year’s eve ball drop is set to have its virtual version this year all thanks to Decentraland. The celebration tagged “MetaFest 2022” is set to feature NFTs, art galleries, music and entertainment acts, rooftop VIP lounges, and immersive games.
Jamestown, the owner of the Times Square building in New York, worked with Digital Currency Group (DCG) to make this famous place in the real world recreated in the virtual world of Decentraland (MANA) for the New Year’s Eve ball drop.
For its annual New Year’s Eve ball drop, One Times Square, a 26-story building in the heart of Times Square in New York City, is well-known. The event, which marks the start of the new year, is preceded by live entertainment from performers and musicians.
There will also be a “MetaFest 2022” version of the event this year thanks to the partnership with DCG, which is an investor in Decentraland. The event will feature non-fungible token art galleries, music and entertainment act, VIP lounges, and immersive games.
As part of the One Times Square project, virtual billboards in the virtual One Times Square will also show live feeds of real-world Times Square and virtual Zoom parties, Jamestown said.
Virtual real estates
Michael Phillips, the president of Jamestown, said in a press release that the metaverse is an important part of the development of real estate and the built environment.
“Whereas physical real estate is mostly limited to people who live near each other, the metaverse can give people from all over the world meaningful access to places through immersive virtual experiences.”
Virtual real estate in popular metaverse games like Decentraland and The Sandbox is becoming more valuable and sought after. Over the last week of November alone, investors put in about $100 million into land sales for NFT.
Because of the Omicron outbreak, the celebration in real-world Times Square has been cut back to 15,000 people who have been vaccinated, instead of the usual 58,000. They also have to wear masks.
However, if you join Decentraland and find the virtual One Times Square at (-106, -119) coordinates, you can go to the virtual party in Times Square, too. After 11pm Eastern Time (04:00am UTC), the party is going to start and go on until the early hours of 2022.
This year, the metaverse has become more popular. Tech companies like Meta and Microsoft, luxury brands, and investment firms have all made moves into this new field.
