Maker Faire Coming to Phoenix in October 2011

For the first time ever, Maker Faire will be coming to Phoenix, Arizona! This is very exciting news that I am very glad to share with you.

For those who have not heard of Maker Faire before, it is a festival that showcases homemade projects from people of all ages. Think of it like a science fair that adults are allowed to enter. Instead of baking soda volcanoes, makers will be showing off their own inventions like custom built bicycles, homemade kegerators, programmable robots, and all kinds of other cool projects!

The exhibits at a Maker Faire event are not usually done by professionals. They showcase the work and creativity of local residents - tinkerers, inventors, and the curiously inventive. These people spend their own money and work out of their garages and sheds to create wondrous things designed to solve problems, make life easier, or just to give their creators something to do.

Maker Faire is more than just a bunch of weird things to look at. It is a celebration of do-it-yourself culture in a mass-produced world. It celebrates the values of creativity and imagination, and reminds us that there are lessons to be learned when things don't work out quite right the first time.

Maker Faire is a festival started by Make: Magazine, a quarterly publication that is part magazine, part instruction manual. First started by O'Reilly Media in 2005, Make: Magazine has become an international sensation. The company hosts three major Maker Faires each year: one in the Bay Area in California, one in New York, and one in Detroit.

For the first time ever, Maker Faire will be coming to Phoenix on October 15th, 2011. The event will be held in the Roosevelt Row district of the city, an arts district most famously known for hosting the Phoenix First Fridays Art Walk.

Maker Faire: Phoenix is accepting entries for exhibitors through July 15th, 2011. For details, please visit: http://makerfairephoenix.com (site gone, mirrored on Archive.org). You can check back this October for a follow-up post from the North Phoenix Blog media team, who will be on-site covering this event!