The Mp3 Experiment Twenty

Please Note: The 2026 Mp3 Experiment will take place on Sunday, June 21 at 2 PM in New York City. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates. We’ll announce the details and location as the date gets closer.

For our latest mission, thousands of people followed secret, synchronized instructions delivered via headphones at Hudson River Park’s Piers 62, 63, and 64.

After surprising random strangers in the area with a series of activities like freezing in place, laying on the ground, and giving high fives, participants convened at the lawn in the middle of the piers for a picnic, freeze tag, dancing, and a spray bottle battle.

This was all part of our twentieth annual Mp3 Experiment event, held every summer in New York City and toured around the world.

We support this free event by touring it to schools, festivals, and conferences. If you want to hire us to stage one for your organization, see here for more details and how to get in touch.

The Mp3 Experiment is created each year by Charlie Todd and Tyler Walker. All music is by Tyler Walker.

A huge thanks to the amazing community of people that continue to come out to be a part of this event every year. We’re so proud of what a diverse, joyful celebration the Mp3 Experiment has become. As silly as the project is, it’s life-affirming to be in a crowd of strangers, all smiling, laughing, and working together.

If you’re new, be sure to join our email list to be the first to hear details for next year’s event. We also have an NYC Mp3 Experiment Facebook group you can join, and you can follow us on Instagram.

The Mp3 Experiment 20 was presented in partnership with Hudson River Park and Make Music New York.

This year’s event included activities from the past 20 years of Mp3 Experiments, a sort of “greatest hits.” Participants were divided up by birthday and started on two different piers, Pier 62 and Pier 64, blending in with everyone else on the pier. Everyone was instructed to wear a red, blue, green, or yellow shirt (or dress, etc.) At exactly 2 PM the audio track began playing in everyone’s headphones, powered by our smartphone app.

One of the first instructions was for everyone to lay down on the ground. Then, in unison, everyone shouted “I am asleep!”

Participants were told to form a single file line behind people not participating and to copy their every move.

We got a ton of great reactions from people sunbathing, walking dogs, and jogging through the park. Participants were told to give high fives to non-participants.

Participants formed long lines on the side of the piers and cheered on joggers (and walkers).

In a callback to last year’s experiment, participants performed a ballet routine on the “ballet barre.”

Participants wave at the other half of the group on the other pier.

We did a series of activities where participants yelled back and forth from across the water between the piers. First each pier yelled “secret words” that the other pier tried to yell back. Then they yelled a series of words back and forth (“New!” “York!”, “Hot!” “Dog!”, “Non!” “Sense!”)

Both groups met up on Pier 63, a big grassy lawn in the middle. They circled the lawn and hummed a note together, before a mad scramble to cross the lawn to the other side.

Participants found a partner and played a few rounds of thumb war.

Then it was time for some freeze tag, a game that has been played at nearly every Mp3 Experiment since 2007.

Everyone was told to bring picnic blankets. For the “ghost walk” activity, participants were told to put the blankets over their head and walk in a straight line.

Participants were asked to bring a small stuffed animal they didn’t mind giving away. They used the blankets to launch them into the air together. Many happy kids went home with more stuffies than they brought. We then had a big picnic, where everyone sat on their blankets and enjoyed a snack. Participants were encouraged to trade their snack with someone else. We’ve never had a food portion of an Mp3 Experiment before!

In a very self indulgent moment, we had an activity where participants sat down when Steve said the number of Mp3 Experiments they had attended in the past. It always amazes us how so many people have been to 10+ Mp3 Experiments. In the end, creators Charlie Todd and Tyler Walker were the only two left standing, with Steve admitting that they wrote themselves into their own script.

Next up was a country line dance and a little square dancing. We also danced to the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” which also happened in the very first Mp3 Experiment in December of 2004. The first few Mp3 Experiments had a few pop songs in them, until we switched to the track being 100% original music by Tyler Walker.

After the dancing, it was time to cool off. Everyone got out their spray bottles and set them to “mist” for a huge mist storm.

After the mist storm, it was time for the “spray bottle battle finale.” Participants divided up into two groups (red/yellow and blue/green) and went to opposite sides of the lawn. They then set their bottles to “spray” and marched in formation, stopping twenty paces apart before engaging in the battle.

Finally it was time to say goodbye to narrator Steve. It was another super fun year, and we can’t wait until the next one!

Mission Accomplished

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HIRE US
We regularly tour The Mp3 Experiment around the world to places like Berlin, Germany and Adelaide, Australia and to college campuses in the US like UNC and Texas Tech. If you’re part of an organization (festival, conference, university student activities board, arts group) that is interested in commissioning an Mp3 Experiment, get in touch via our contact form. Here’s some more info on our touring version.