It’s hard for an individual to flash back to 2020 and expect what can possibly happen for the following couple of years. Even harder to reflect on the past and never mention COVID these days! But proving the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s adage that “what does not kill me makes me stronger”, the world moved on, and here we are in 2022’s finale, with Maker Faire Cairo, organized by San3a Tech in collaboration with the US Embassy and the American Center in Cairo, as the perfect last bite, on repeat!
Reflecting on Maker Faire Cairo 2020; the last in-person version of the event, the atmosphere was glowing. Everyone was excited to work on the next version. Few weeks later, a global pandemic occurred, and everything got skewed dramatically. The team behind MFC did not give up on making it work through an online edition of the event. However, working on an online edition of such a social event that depends on gathering people was not an easy mission but eventually the event came to life in the best way it could possibly be and fueled the whole team behind MFC with enthusiasm, longing, and hope for the future versions!
2022 is the first year for Maker Faire Cairo to go offline after the pandemic and it’s already bouncing back to a whole new setting up level! “We are all makers” is the slogan of Maker Faire Cairo, focusing on families and young people. Accordingly, 12 different zones were introduced to cover almost all the related interests for the biggest family friendly DIY festival in Egypt! What is even more brilliant about MFC 2022 is that it offers various opportunities for people. Not only will they get to know various fields and explore other passions, but also, they will get to be involved in workshops, working things out with their own hands. What an experience to end the season with!
Maker Faire Cairo always supports introducing the young people to the maker movement. Consequently if there is a potential around for the youth to find out what they are passionate about or talented in, MFC can be the ideal catalyst! Therefore, Maker Faire Cairo supports 8 to 10 educational institutions this year to make free trips to MFC for 7 to 18 years old students. Moreover, MFC announced an exclusive promo code for students -aged from 7 to 24 years old- so they don’t have to pay the full price of the tickets to experience the event.
There are 12 different zones in Maker Faire Cairo this year, so we bet that whatever background you come from, and whatever age you are currently at, you will enjoy the overall experience! Noticing how various the zones are is as easy as looking at their names; “Knowledge Hub”, “3D Expo”, “Scale Modeling & Cosplay”, “Young Makers”, “Green Innovation”, “Future Verse”, “Crafts Village”, “Art Square”, “Paper World”, “30 Talents Inside”, “Science City” and “Robots Arena”. So basically there is a peerless festival full of activities that guarantee making, trying new things and having lots of fun is waiting for us at the Smart Village in a few days.
Starting with the “Knowledge Hub” zone, powered by Chevron, a zone dedicated for some of the best and featured makers to share their art and knowledge with attendees through demos and hands-on sessions.
- “The Brick Pharaoh” will walk us through the history of LEGO and its applications in different fields.
- Afterwards, “Michael Henry” will share with us how to make a “Happy Cat Automata”.
- Soon after, “Haidy the Printmaker” giving a session about printing and engraving can be learnt by all people.
- Interested in recycling, meet “Asem Kamal” the maker and content creator at his session about recycling old things.
- Flying to the art of typography with “Waleed Abodouh” who’s going to talk about the basics of lettering.
- Following art by design, “Nasser Junior” is going to do a webcomics workshop.
- Spicing things up with two different media related workshops; “Sherif Rashwan” talking about webcasting for makers.
- “Dina Amin” teaching us how to create cool stop motion videos using everyday items.
Cosplays are one of the things that people always look forward to seeing every year at Maker Faire Cairo but what is really interesting about the “Scale Modeling & Cosplay” zone this year is that it’s no longer limited to watching the cosplayers of famous characters or cool scale models and taking fun pictures with. For instance, the artists are going to host workshops about the process of making models and cosplays starting from the ideas and inspirations to the fabrication and finalization process.
Visiting the “3D Expo” zone is a must for anyone interested in 3D printing. The Expo gathers all the manufacturers and service providers from all over Egypt. You can attend talks and demonstrations, visit exhibitions, and try many hands-on activities for all ages. This Expo aims to raise awareness of the 3D printing industry in Egypt, and to bring together enthusiasts and professionals at the same place.
For 8 years in a row, Fab Lab Egypt has always been organizing with Maker Faire Cairo. In celebration of their 10th anniversary, San3a Tech and Fab Lab Egypt are having a special contribution at Maker Faire Cairo this year by offering multiple stations providing demos and workshops related to digital fabrication machines -like 3D printers and laser cutters- in addition to the alumni projects of their educational programs. The aim of these stations is to raise awareness about the maker movement and introduce digital fabrication to people in an interactive way.
Apparently, a lot can happen in a couple of years, sometimes it’s even beyond what our minds can imagine, and as the world stares down year three of a crisis that has affected so many lives and livelihoods, we’re bringing you a look at how exactly most of us survived it; through communication, collaboration and entertainment. So, on October 22 – Save the date! – Almost all of the Maker Faire Cairo attendees will have their hands busy making, innovating, and experiencing through more than 60 hands-on activities related to crafts, art, technology, and science besides 12 zones and a lot of surprises in between. Countdown the days left for the biggest DIY festival in the region!
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