ETC Fall Festival

Everything You Missed At 2025’s ETC Fall Festival

By Hannah Kinney-Kobre Email Hannah Kinney-Kobre

The outside of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, lit up to celebrate this year’s Festival.
The outside of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, lit up to celebrate this year’s Festival.

On December 5th, 2025, members of the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) communities gathered together to celebrate the incredible work ETC students have done this semester.

Fall Festival is an ETC tradition. Started by Randy Pausch as part of the Building Virtual Worlds (BVW) course, it was originally a stage showcase in McConomy Auditorium before eventually taking the shape of an invitation-only carnival that takes over the entire ETC building.

Festival spotlights not just the work first-year students do in Building Virtual Worlds but also the projects they created in other Immersion Semester courses like Visual Story. Second-year students also get a chance to show off the projects they’ve been working on all semester, in addition to the interactive experiences they’ve developed in courses like Experience Design.

Guests spent the evening enjoying the interactive experiences, games, student projects, and short films student teams created during the Fall Semester. You can learn more about the work on display on the 2025 Festival website, which also includes a recording of the livestream.

A display celebrating the fact that this year’s Festival marks the ETC’s 25th anniversary greeted visitors in the lobby.
A display celebrating the fact that this year’s Festival marks the ETC’s 25th anniversary greeted visitors in the lobby.
On arrival, guests checked in and received their name tag, as well as two different metagames created by students to guide guests through the experience.
On arrival, guests checked in and received their name tag, as well as two different metagames created by students to guide guests through the experience.
The Randy Pausch Interdisciplinary Studio on the first floor showcased several of the worlds made by first year students in this year’s BVW.
The Randy Pausch Interdisciplinary Studio on the first floor showcased several of the worlds made by first year students in this year’s BVW.
Catana Vengeance, this year’s BVW First Penguin Award winner, a tradition started by Randy Pausch that celebrates a team’s willingness to take risks
Catana Vengeance, this year’s BVW First Penguin Award winner, a tradition started by Randy Pausch that celebrates a team’s willingness to take risks
Guests play Beat Shojo, a Super Smash Bros.-inspired game where players have to yell into a microphone to launch their attacks.
Guests play Beat Shojo, a Super Smash Bros.-inspired game where players have to yell into a microphone to launch their attacks.
ETC legend Quasi — a robot created by students over two decades ago who appeared on the Today show and attended the Super Bowl — was brought back to life for the Festival by Tech Specialist Dave Purda.
ETC legend Quasi — a robot created by students over two decades ago who appeared on the Today show and attended the Super Bowl — was brought back to life for the Festival by ETC tech team Senior Engineer Dave Purda.
Visitors try out the new experience created for the ETC’s 5th Floor Space Bridge by Fall 2025 project team Intergalactic Buttoneers.
Visitors try out the new experience created for the ETC’s 5th Floor Space Bridge by Fall 2025 project team Intergalactic Buttoneers.
ETC Director Derek Ham and Festival guests try out the immersive experience created by team 270° Fun for the CAVERN space.
ETC Director Derek Ham and Festival guests try out the immersive experience created by team 270° Fun for the CAVERN space.
Festival guests celebrate winning KungFu Penguin, a BVW experience created for the ETC’s custom Jam-O-Drum console.
Festival guests celebrate winning KungFu Penguin, a BVW experience created for the ETC’s custom Jam-O-Drum console.
A child of a Festival attendee tries out What The DUCK?, a BVW game where the console is (believe it or not) a rubber chicken.
A child of a Festival attendee tries out What The DUCK?, a BVW game where the console is (believe it or not) a rubber chicken.