Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts established by Make magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture.

Maker Faire
ORBIT 2 Kinetic Sculpture by Carl Pisaturo shown at 2008 Maker Faire
Location(s)San Mateo, California
Dearborn, Michigan
Queens, New York
Years activeSince 2006
Websitemakerfaire.com
Sharkmobile at Bay Area Maker Faire 2009

History

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In 2005, Dale Dougherty founded the magazine Make: as a quarterly publication with Tim O’Reilly.[1] The first Make: magazine was published in 2005 and the first Maker Faire took place in 2006 in San Mateo. Over the next 13 years, this inaugural maker faire expanded to more than 200 licensed Maker Faires in more than 40 countries.[2]

Dale Dougherty convened the first Maker Faire in 2006 in San Mateo, California, drawing a crowd of 20,000.[3]

Maker Media Inc. went out of business in June 2019, and Dale Dougherty rebranded as Make Community.[4]

Maker Faires in the US

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Flagship Maker Faires

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The Flagship Maker Faire (Bay Area) was held in San Mateo, California and a second is in New York City.

The last Bay Area Maker Faire was held in 2019. The Maker Faire Bay Area was not held in 2020. This was due to the potential impact of coronavirus as well as the 2019 transition of Maker Media to Make: Community.[5]

A revived Bay Area Maker Faire started in October 2023 at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.[6][7]

The New York Maker Faire is also known as the "World Maker Faire".[8] The New York City Faire was cancelled in 2019 due to financial difficulties.[9][10] The most recent New York City Faire was held in Coney Island in 2023.[11]

White House Maker Faire

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On June 18, 2014, President Obama hosted the first-ever (and only thus far) White House Maker Faire.[12]

Past US events

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2008

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Maker Faire 2008 was held on May 3–4, 2008, at the San Mateo County Event Center. Highlights of the Faire included a human-sized Mouse Trap board game, kinetic squid sculpture, 55' wingspan kinetic steel butterfly, bicycle-powered music stage, a solar-powered chariot pulled by an Arnold Schwarzenegger robot,[13] and over 500 other booths from different makers. There were approximately 65,000 people in attendance.[14][15] Featured guests included Adam Savage, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Lee David Zlotoff,[16] Tony Baxter and Eepybird.

An additional 2008 Maker Faire was held on October 18–19, 2008, in Austin, Texas.[17]

2020

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Maker Faire XV was held online.

Worldwide Maker Faires

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Maker Faires are also held in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.

Afrigadget, a website dedicated to African Ingenuity, was created by Erik Hersman in 2006[18] just a few months after Make Magazine and the first Maker Faire Africa took place in Ghana in 2009.

The first Maker Faire in the United Kingdom took place on March 14–15, 2009, in Newcastle upon Tyne, as a joint venture with the Newcastle ScienceFest.

In the US, the 2009 Maker Faire Rhode Island was scheduled for September 6–19.[19] The first Maker Faire North Carolina was held on April 25, 2010, in Durham, North Carolina. It moved to Raleigh, North Carolina for 2011.[20]

In 2010, Canada had their first Mini Maker Faire in Ottawa, Ontario on November 6–7.[21]

Maker Faire has spread worldwide, and the first Maker Faire in Hong Kong was held in 2014. The next year it grew significantly and was organized by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led by Dr. Clifford Choy from the university's School of Design in November 2015 as well as in April 2017.[22][23]

In 2015, the US Embassy in Cairo and Fab Lab Egypt started organizing Maker Faire Cairo that received thousands of visitors.[24][25]

Mini Maker Faires

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Children participating at a Maker Meetup in Garden City, Idaho
 
An organizer examines a project

Make Magazine assists independent event organizers in producing small-scale Maker Faire events in local communities.

In 2011, Mini Maker Faires were held in Canada (Toronto, Vancouver), the United Kingdom (Brighton) and a number of cities in the USA: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; Oakland, California; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Fishers, Indiana; Providence, Rhode Island; Atlanta, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Poulsbo, Washington, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Linthicum, Maryland; Westport, Connecticut; Louisville, Kentucky; and Urbana, Illinois.

School Maker Faires

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Schools are also able to host School Maker Faires.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dale Dougherty". Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  2. ^ "Company Behind Popular Maker Faire Closing Down Due to Financial Struggles". KQED. June 8, 2019. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "Maker Media Has Shut Down. But Founder Dale Dougherty Isn't Calling It Quits". June 9, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  4. ^ "Make: Community". Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  5. ^ "Important update". Archived from the original on March 28, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  6. ^ "Big news! Maker Faire Bay Area will return this October". July 13, 2023. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "Maker Faire returns to Bay Area after more than four years". October 21, 2023. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  8. ^ Maker Faire, archived from the original on December 9, 2019, retrieved December 16, 2011
  9. ^ "Maker Media Has Shut Down. But Founder Dale Dougherty Isn't Calling It Quits. - EdSurge News". June 9, 2019. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Statement on World Maker Faire by Margaret Honey". NYSCI. June 10, 2019. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  11. ^ "Tinkerers, Crafters and Builders Unite At The Coney Island Maker Faire". October 4, 2023. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  12. ^ "The First-Ever White House Maker Faire: Celebrating a Nation of Makers". June 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  13. ^ Autobots, Freaks and Geeks: Welcome to Maker Faire Archived May 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Wired magazine, May 3, 2008, accessed May 4, 2008
  14. ^ "Home invention". The Economist. May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  15. ^ Terdiman, Daniel (May 4, 2008). "Maker Faire more popular than ever". CNet News. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  16. ^ "Holy Crap: MacGyver Blockbuster Film Coming!". Gizmodo.com. May 3, 2008. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  17. ^ "Maker Faire Austin 2008". Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  18. ^ "AfriGadget.com relaunch – AfriGadget". www.afrigadget.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  19. ^ "Home Page". Providence Mini Maker Faire - June 8–9, 2019. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  20. ^ Maker Faire North Carolina, archived from the original on January 2, 2012, retrieved December 16, 2011
  21. ^ "Electric Fields - Festival of Electronic Art and Sound (2010)". artengine.ca. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  22. ^ "Home". Maker Faire Hong Kong 香港造節. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  23. ^ Design, PolyU. "PolyU Design: Maker Faire Hong Kong 2015". www.sd.polyu.edu.hk. Archived from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  24. ^ "Egypt's Second Annual Maker Faire Kicks off Saturday". U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Egypt. March 25, 2016. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  25. ^ "Home". Maker Faire Cairo. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  26. ^ "How to Make a School Maker Faire". Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
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