Retro Sports Video Game Day: Wayland Grand Prix

Sat · Nov 28

Retro Sports Video Game Day: Wayland Grand Prix

Saturday, November 28, 4 to 7 PM
Wayland Museum & Historical Society, 12 Cochituate Road
$10 per family; members and kids under 5 free

Grab a controller and race into the past!

Bring the whole family to the Wayland Museum over Thanksgiving weekend for an evening of classic sports video games. Drop in any time between 4 and 7 PM to race in Mario Kart, bowl and swing in Wii Sports, and play more favorites. Whether you grew up with these games or you’re picking up a controller for the first time, there’s a seat for you.

Not a gamer? We’ll have a table of board games for screen-free kids, grandparents and anyone who’d rather roll dice than race.

Why a “Grand Prix” in Wayland?

In fall 1934, about 2,000 spectators gathered off Cochituate Road, across from Sandy Burr, to watch something new to this part of the country: European-style road racing. The Automobile Racing Club of America laid out a twisting course on the Alan C. Bemis estate, with hairpin turns, right-angle corners and a sharp hill. Fourteen cars ran a 50-mile race, many of them small foreign sports cars like the MG Midget, Amilcar and Lancia. Langdon Quinby of Portland, Maine, won by a full lap.

Races on the “Wayland Circuit” continued into 1935. Today much of that land is 40 Acres Drive. Come play, and learn about an early chapter in American sports-car racing that happened right here.

What to expect

• Mario Kart, Wii Sports and more classic games
• Board games for all ages