Come to Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend

Maker Faire is a showcase of all kinds of creativity, ingenuity and invention. It’s both fun and inspiring for adults as well as kids. I don’t think there’s anything else like Maker Faire but I’m biased.

Long before I started Sebastopol Times with Laura, I started Maker Faire Bay Area in San Mateo in 2006. Last year, the event moved to Mare Island in Vallejo on the grounds of an historic naval base where the Napa River meets the Bay. This weekend, Maker Faire Bay Area will be back along the waterfront for our 16th edition. We will have 350 maker exhibits, presentations and performances. I’d like to tell you about this amazing event, even though it’s an hour away from Sebastopol.

The basic idea of Maker Faire is to create an opportunity for people who make things to show their projects to an interested public, and give the public the opportunity to ask questions about what makers do and how they do it. It’s a kind of satisfying conversation you don’t often get to have.

You’ll meet people who do robotics, blacksmithing, soldering, electronics, screenprinting, machine knitting, and reacing drones. Others make props for movies, pinhole cameras and drawing machines, puppets, interactive toys, low-rider cars, jewelry and 3D printed chocolate. You can learn about artificial intelligence, digital fabrication, design and electronic music.

On both days, there’s a schedule of presentations and performances. Bam Singhasaneh of CrunchLabs will be giving a talk on demystifying creativity at 2pm on Saturday at the Make:Live stage. Beth Ferguson from the UC Davis Design Department Makerspace will talk about Prototyping Climate Action at noon on Sunday. Pablo Garcia, Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will give a presentation on What is a Drawing Machine? at noon on Sunday. Here is a complete schedule.

Other highlights include the Diet Coke and Mentos show by Eepybird on Saturday and Sunday at noon. Mario the Maker Magician performs on the Foundry Stage on Saturday and Sunday at 1pm. His show is so entertaining and he encourages his young audience to become makers and make things.

You’ll see art and art cars that have been at Burning Man (and I assure you Mare Island is a lot more hospitable than Black Rock Desert).

There are some makers from our area including the team behind the kinetic bike sculpture Trashlantis, Dickinson Glass Studio, and Ed Haas whose group Sebastopol Makers is a “collection of hackers from the North Bay in and around Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, CA. In our group we have experts in everything from chemistry to carnival rides, electronics, additive and subtractive manufacturing.” Loren Crotty who is captain of Sepia Lux, a mobile, illuminated cuttlefish, lives in Sebastopol. Hubbub Club, a marching band from Graton, will come on Saturday and lead our Maker Parade at 4pm.

There’s so many hands-on activities at Maker Faire that you just have to do something, learn something, make something and take it home with you.

I invite you to come join us at Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend. Bring your family and friends. I hope to see you there. It’s an unforgettable experience.

Here is a special ticket offer (25% off gate admission) for subscribers to Sebastopol Times.