Maker Faire is a convention of

do it yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and se ...

aka-DIY enthusiasts started by '' Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers,

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

, and hacker culture.

History

In 2005, Dale Dougherty founded Make: magazine as a quarterly publication with Tim O’Reilly. 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. Dale Dougherty convened the first Maker Faire in 2006 in San Mateo, Calif., drawing a crowd of 20,000. Maker Media Inc. went out of business in June 2019, and Dale Doherty rebranded as Make Community.

Maker Faires in the US

Flagship Maker Faires

Flagship Maker Faires are held in San Mateo, California and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The last Bay Area Maker Faire was held in 2019. The decision to end the Faire was mostly financial. Attendance had dropped more than 30% in recent years from 145,000 makers in 2015 to 100,000 in 2018. 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. The New York Maker Faire is also known as the "World Maker Faire". Maker Faire has most recently happened in New York in 2018. However, the New York City Faire was cancelled in 2019 due to financial difficulties.

White House Maker Faire

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

Past US events

2008

Maker Faire 2008 was held on 3–4 May 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, and over 500 other booths from different makers. There were approximately 65,000 people in attendance. Featured guests included Adam Savage, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Lee David Zlotoff, Tony Baxter and Eepybird. An additional 2008 Maker Faire was held on October 18–19, 2008, in Austin, Texas.

2020

Maker Faire XV was held online.

Worldwide Maker Faires

Maker Faires are also held in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.
Afrigadget
a website dedicated to African Ingenuity, was created by

Erik Hersman Erik Hersman (born 1975) is a technologist, blogger and commentator who specialises in the impact and application of technology throughout Africa. Raised in Sudan and Kenya, he is a graduate of Kenya's Rift Valley Academy and Florida State Univers ...

in 2006 just a few months after Make Magazine and the first

Maker Faire Africa Presently curated and organized by Emeka Okafor, Henry Barnor and Jennifer Wolfe, Maker Faire Africa is an international organization co-founded by Mark Grimes (Felonious Nun) Emeka Okafor (TED Africa), Lars Hasselblad Torres (IDEAS Global Challen ...

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 Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, as a joint venture with the

Newcastle ScienceFest Newcastle ScienceFest is a 10-day event at venues across NewcastleGateshead, with the principal aim of increasing the North East's enthusiasm for science and encouraging young people to consider a career in this area. Early history The first Scie ...

. In the US, the 2009 Maker Faire Rhode Island was scheduled for September 6–19. The first Maker Faire North Carolina was held on April 25, 2010 in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 Census, Durham is the 4th- ...

. It moved to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Sout ...

for 2011. In 2010, Canada had their first Mini Maker Faire in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, Ontario on November 6–7. Maker Faire has spread worldwide, and the first Maker Faire in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

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. In 2015, the US Embassy in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

and Fab Lab Egypt started organizing Maker Faire Cairo that received thousands of visitors.

Mini Maker Faires

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 Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

), the United Kingdom ( Brighton) and a number of cities in the USA:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

;

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

;

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Fishers, Indiana;

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

;

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

;

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

;

; Poulsbo, Washington, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Linthicum, Maryland; Westport, Connecticut; Louisville, Kentucky; and

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 38th-most pop ...

School Maker Faires

Schools are also able to host School Maker Faires.

References

External links

*{{official website, makerfaire.com Festivals in the San Francisco Bay Area Festivals in Austin, Texas Tourist attractions in San Mateo County, California Recurring events established in 2006 2006 establishments in California Robotics events DIY culture