Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth — a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the maker movement.
Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these people come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.
Explore below to see the best of Maker Faire, and head to makerfaire.com for more information.
One of the more awesomely bizarre things that happened at this year’s Maker Faire was the band OK Go performing onstage while inside of WaterBoy, BucketHead, and BubbleHead. These are three water-immersion devices created by Marque Cornblatt. WaterBoy is sort of a full-body water bladder a person climbs into with goggles and a breathing apparatus, […]
Wow, we had an awesome time showing off our project to hundreds of people at Maker Faire Bay Area 2010! Here’s a short video showing some of the reactions we got when people put the headphones on and started making their own beats with beatseqr and steppa. We’re just getting started, so keep an eye […]
Leading up to the Faire, we did a small series of posts with makers on their way to the event. Now that the show’s over, we hope to get some post-Faire impressions from some of them. Here, Raven Hanna, of Made with Molecules and the Science Tarot project shares her experience. — Gareth The Maker […]
Apparently there was some kind of giant rocketship at Maker Faire this year. Did anybody else notice this? I tend to tune everything else out when there’s funnel cake around. We should probably put it in a more prominent location next time.
Anyhoo, if, like me, you were at the Faire and happened to miss the 40-foot-tall gleaming aluminum spaceship in the middle of the grounds, on the program, and on all the posters, don’t fret: There are plenty of groovy photos and videos whooshing around the tubes, and if you find yourself unsatisfied by two-dimensional simulacra you could always purchase one of Raygun Gothic crewman Alan Rorie’s kit models of the craft. He’s got
beautifully-printed pepakura
for $12.50 and laser-cut plywood for $50.
Ah, 2006…
Er, wait, I meant to say: Ugh! 2006! No doubt a hundred years from now future history will recall, as I do, that the only really good thing that happened in 2006 was the first appearance of Russell the Electric Giraffe at the San Mateo Maker Faire. The years have gotten steadily better since then, for me at least, and certainly for the Faire, and, it would appear, for Russell himself, who is now a five-year Maker Faire veteran. We heart you, oh gentle glowy grazing one. Long may your lava-lamps shine.
Saphira, the mechanical fire-breathing dragon, was a huge hit at the Faire. She is the creation of high school students Alex Jacobson and Sam DeRose of Marin, CA, whose combined ages are less than 30.
Mashable put together a nice video of highlights from the Faire.
