Take a Video Tour of Maker Faire’s First 10 Years

The lights. The fire. The explosions. The dancing robots. There’s a lot to see at Maker Faire, and it can be difficult to digest it all in a short weekend.

Thankfully, over the past 10 years there have been hundreds of Maker Faire videos, ones produced by Make:, ones done by other media outlets, and others put together by exhibitors and attendees.

Here is a sampling of just a few videos that help us relive some of our favorite moments from the past decade.

The Heart of Maker Faire
This in one of my favorite videos that Make: has ever produced. In just over a minute, it manages to capture the spirit of the Maker Movement and why we all do what we do.

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KQED’s coverage of MFBA, 2007
It’s always interesting to see how other outlets experience and explain Maker Faire to their audiences. Here is one of the first videos done by another media outlet, KQED, covering the 2007 Bay Area Faire.

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Adventures in Time, with Phil Torrone and Bre Pettis
There’s something endlessly charming and nostalgic about this very creative promo video that former Make: editors Phil Torrone and Bre Pettis put together for the 2007 Austin Maker Faire. It’s staggering to think of the amazing talent, like Bre and Phil, that has contributed to Make: and Maker Faire over the years and been so instrumental in creating such a vibrant and rapidly-expanding movement.

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Best of Maker Faire Austin, 2008
Over the years, we’ve put together a “best of” video for each of the flagship Faires in SF, NY, Austin, and Detroit. Here is the one we did for the 2008 Austin Maker Faire, the second event we held in that wonderful city. If you want to see all of the wrap up video through the years, just search “Best of Maker Faire” on YouTube.

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Life Size Mouse Trap
There have been a number of iconic exhibitors at Maker Faire over the years, ones that you almost can’t think about the Faire and not think of them. Fritz and Steven of Coke Zero and Mentos fame, Russell the robotic giraffe, Cyclecide bike-based amusement rides, and probably most iconically of all, Mark Perez’s Life Size Mousetrap. This awesome Rube Goldberg contraption has been seen at the Bay Area, New York, Austin, and Detroit events. It’s always good vaudevillian fun, even if the mousetrap frequently needs lots of human intervention before that dastardly safe finally comes crashing down on the domed car waiting at the end of this surreal human-sized board game.

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Martha Stewart comes to MFNY
In 2013, Martha and her crafty minions came to World Maker Faire, and even had an exhibit there. She did a follow-up episode of the Martha show and had Maker Media V.P. Sherry Huss and other members of the Maker Faire team on the program. Here, Martha narrates the taped segment shown on the program.

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Power Racing Series, Maker Faire Deroit
In 2010, the PPPRS (the Pow Pow Power Racing Series), more commonly known as the Power Racing Series, came to Maker Faire Detroit. Since then, this increasingly popular Maker sport (which turns Power Wheels kiddie cars into crazy adult racers) has been a staple at Bay Area, New York, and Detroit events. This racing season, the sport’s seventh, PPPRS will be burning the plastic and rubber (and racers’ pride) at the Bay Area, New York, Detroit, Kansas City, Atlanta, Nashville, and Fort Wayne Faires. Here’s a great video put together to commemorate the epic race at last year’s Detroit feature Faire.

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Adam Savage on “Working Smarter,” MFBA 2013
Adam Savage’s Maker keynote is always one of the high points of the Faires where he presents. In 2013, he gave this very inspiring talk from above the amazing Nautilus Art Car.

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Robots, Robots, Robots
Robots are always a big featured attraction at every Maker Faire. They have walked, crawled, wheeled, flown, skittered, and rolled their way around the fairgrounds and into the imaginations of all who come in contact with them. In this video, then Senior Editor of Make:, Phil Torrone, offers us a representative sampling of the robots gallivanting around the 2008 Bay Area Faire.

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A Drone’s Day at the Faire
In 2014, our friends at 3D Robotics used one of their IRIS autonomous aerial vehicles to record a drone’s eye view of the 2014 MFBA.

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Maker Faire Yearbook, 2014
If you want to get a sense of just how huge Maker Faires have become worldwide, check out this video “yearbook” of events, both large and small, from nearly every corner of globe.

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“Today’s DIY is Tomorrow’s Made in America”
Last year marked a milestone for the Maker Movement when the White House (yes, THE White House) held a Mini Maker Faire on its lawn and declared June 18 a National Day of Making. As part of that event, President Obama gave a 15 minute speech on the importance of the Maker Movement and rekindling the spirit of innovation in America. One of the funnier moments in the video came early on when he teases Maker Faire for having an “e” at the end of it. “Why’s there an “e” at the end of Faire?,” he joked. “Is there jousting? Do we have to dress up? I’m just warning you now that next year, the “e” may be gone.” With all due respect, Mr. President, I think we’re going to keep our quirky little “e.” After all, it took us all the way to the White House. BTW: There will be a National Maker Faire this June 12 & 13 in Washington, DC and June 12-18 has been designated by the White House as a National Week of Making. Get more details and sign up to be a presenting Maker here.

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Want to make your own Kodak moments at a Maker Faire? Get thee to the San Mateo Fairgrounds on May 16 & 17.