Saint-Malo Mini Maker Faire is the Greatest Show & Tell in France

A roundup of happenings at the Saint-Malo Mini Maker Faire in France, which was held at the Quai Duguay-Trouin on the weekend of April 11-12.

A statue of a robot, carved by another robot.

The improving face of human — robot relations. The open-source 3D printed life-sized robot from InMoov.

Halt, or you will be EXTERMINATED!!!

A retro-arcade machine driven by a Raspberry Pi.

Experiment Boy makes things go “Boom!”

The mechanical shadow theatres of the Lever le Rideau.

A pit stop for the karts.

The teddy bears and tablets of the Les P’tits Doudous.

Experiment Boy meets his fans and subscribers

Almost time to get the OpenROV into the water.

Learning to solder.

Learning to use a scroll saw.

This year’s Saint-Malo Mini Maker Faire — held at the Quai Duguay-Trouin not far from the historic walls of the old town — was a much larger affair than the first held two years ago.

With a new venue, and over 110 projects on show brought to the show by 250 makers — who ranged between 7 ½ to 77 years old  — all packed into a venue more than four times the size of the original site, this year’s show attracted almost 3,000 visitors over the course of the weekend.

“The new location at le Quai Saint-Malo is a great move for the future growth of the event. In addition to the existing hall there is the potential to spread out along the quay; across the street there is a convention centre  with more space for makers, and rooms for workshops and classes. But the biggest opportunity is in the surroundings: the port itself where we could dock some maker boats, and the beach, where I’d love to see sand castles, RV racing, and kites.” — Bertier Luyt

But there were not just more projects on show, but the faire had a much broader range of makers than attended last year. This year’s faire included artisans, artists, scientists, and startups founders. With the makers coming not just from the local area, by from all over France — including representatives from all of the FabLabs in Brittany.

“It was a great weekend for the French makers in Saint-Malo. This second edition of the Saint-Malo Mini Maker Faire has seen more makers willing to participate with an amazing range of projects. The audience discovered a great community of sharing and caring makers.” — Bertier Luyt

There was action both indoors — from robot sculptures made by robots, teddy bears and tablets, shadow theatre, and just catching up with old friends — and outdoors, with some added explosions thanks to Experiment Boy.

With support both from sponsors and the local Mayor — as well as the hard work of leFabShop production team — if you missed it this year, the Mini Maker Faire in Saint-Malo will be back next year and will be held on the weekend of April 2-3. Also announced on Sunday was another event for next year, Maker Week in Nantes. This will be a week long event held  in collaboration with  les Machines de l’Ile who are based in the town.

However if you don’t want to wait till next year, Maker Faire UK is in just two weeks time over the weekend of April 25-26, with Maker Faire Paris just one week later, over the weekend of May 1-2. Then of course — just one month away now — we have the biggest faire of them all, Maker Faire Bay Area. So come one, come all, and roll up for the greatest show (and tell) on Earth.