IT’S CALLED “THE GREATEST SHOW (AND TELL) ON EARTH!”
There’s a reason the MAKER FAIRE has wound its way around the globe in seven short years and spawned over 60 mini-Maker Faires from Tokyo to Oslo. This is not just another social gathering – it’s a mega-science expo, an inventor’s haven, and a county fair rolled into one.
Yes, the Maker Faire is a geeked-out weird-science fest. But, really, it’s so much more. The Maker Faire is totally Geektastic for every age, gender, and profession — for anyone who makes anything and everyone with a thirst for knowledge, resourcefulness, and creativity!
Expect the Extraordinary
Remember some of those extraordinary landmarks invented for the World’s Fair that people couldn’t wait to experience? (Seattle’s Space Needle and the Eiffel Tower might come to mind.) San Mateo’s original Maker Faire is similar, but with an interactive spin on individual exhibitions, and anyone, young and old alike, can enter to share their DIY creation.
Here’s a quick list of the kinds of people who participate in Maker Faires year after year:
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The Maker Faire celebrates individuality and caters to whatever kind of a person you happen to be with any sort of interest you happen to have.
All the Makers in the House!
First launched by Make Magazine back in 2006 in San Mateo, California, a hotbed of innovation and the hub of the tech boom, the Maker Faire has always been about SHARING and LEARNING from one another. MAKE founder Dale Dougherty decided he wanted to get all the “makers” together—knowing they’d each have a great, hands-on story to share. Maker Faire was designed to for participants to get lost in the creativity and innovation of others, across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft. In the last year alone, a whopping 165,000 people attended the Bay Area and New York Maker Faires combined.
A sampling of new 2013 MAKERS :
- The Repair Cafe: This Café repairs anything from a piece of pottery or torn clothing item to a toaster on the blink
- MindMIDI Brainwave Biomusic: MindMIDI works like a radio and allows you to hear your brain’s amazing electrical symphony
- Aurora Light Graffiti: Create unique and colorful pictures or art in mid-air
- Forage Kitchen: A hacker space for anyone who loves to cook
- Roy the Robot: An animatronic character with awesome moves, made from laser cut plywood and hobby servos
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A sampling of returning MAKER Favorites:
- Drone Games: A neoCopter-style programming competition powered by drones and JavaScript
- Caged Pulse Jets: An audience-controlled sound sculpture that encapsulates five spinning pulse jet engines – caged “birds” – that create a range of percussive and droning tones
- The Hand of Man: An enormous, hydrolic-powered, car-crushing right arm
- Swap-o-Rama-Rama: Recycle and upcycle clothing into new items to love. Includes a fashion show!
- Nautilus Submarine Art Car: A 25-foot long, land-based submarine weighing 11,000 pounds with a top speed of 13 miles per hour
Celebrate the Do-It-Yourself Maker Movement!
and be all about:
Engaging INSPIRATION and CONFIDENCE
Turning DREAMS into REALITY
TEACHING, LEARNING and SHARING
GRASSROOTS INNOVATION THAT WE CAN FOSTER IN EVERY COMMUNITY
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Check out over 900 MAKERS at the MAKER FAIRE in San Mateo, CA!
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WHEN
Saturday, May 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Busy in May? Catch MAKE’S new flagship NYC Maker Faire September 21 & 22
HOW MUCH
$10 to $35; ages 3 and under are free
WHERE
San Mateo County Event Center
1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo, CA
FIND OUT MORE
Website: www.makerfaire.com
On-line tickets: http://makerfaire2013.eventbrite.com/
*Special thanks to Jacquelyn Wood for her contributions to this week’s post*
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