2495 South Delaware Street
San Mateo, California 94403

Ok gang, we have an official press release for Maker Faire - we're projecting 40k attendees this year!

"You ain't seen nuthin' yet..."-Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Sebastopol--The 2nd Annual Bay Area Maker Faire (May 19 & 20) at the San Mateo Fairgrounds in northern California is just 10 days away, and this year's event is shaping up to be even better than last year's award-winning DIY fiesta! This year's event will have twice as many Makers (400), twice as many fans (40,000 anticipated), and twice the terrain (200,000 square feet).

Just a few of this year's incredible highlights:
The Kitchen of the Future--Unlike the retro-futuristic unkept promise of the 50's, this kitchen is musical--a collection of circuit-bent, MIDI-ready appliances such as a toaster and blender. This debuted in Toronto last year, and for the finale the blender triggered sound samples from the song "Tequila" while blending frozen margaritas...

Project Pimento--There's only one theremin lounge band and we've got them at Maker Faire. Project: Pimento will launch with a half-hour set and then play several short sets throughout the afternoon. Other great bands will play throughout the day outdoors on the main stage.

Moonshine Powered Motors--David Blume shows how to produce your own alcohol auto fuel from ground corn and enzymes, and how to convert your car to run on it. Blume is the author of "Alcohol Can Be a Gas."

The Woz--Steve Wozniak, inventor of the Apple computer will be interviewed Saturday on our main stage.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Fashion Show--Participants can donate a bag of old clothes--and then work with a team of celebrated designers to make new clothes! This year's Swap will take place on May 19th (11am to 5pm) and May 20th (11am to 4pm) with a recycled fashion show happening at 5pm on Saturday May 19th.

Other incredible highlights include:
The "King of Fling" catapult competition, The Puppy Mover Monorail, Survival Research Labs (SRL), Five Foot Russian Submarine, Junkyard Jet, Bazaar Bizarre, Silicon Death Valley, RoboGames' Combat Robots, Power Tool Drag Races, Life-size Mousetrap, Walking Robotic Chariot, Build Your Own Blinkybug, The Electric Giraffe, The Disgusting Spectacle, Tomato-basket Dragons and Whales, Internet Crane Game, The Art of Motion Control, Model Rocket Video Camera, Chris Benton's Kite Aerial Photography, Electric Supercars, Roobma Hacking, Winners of the Most Spectacular Failures contest, and acres more.

Established by the tech-loving creators of the gloriously irreverent Make and Craft magazines, Maker Faire is a family-friendly, hands-on event where hundreds of backyard inventors gather to share their fun projects, creative ideas and eye-popping creations. This resurgence of grassroots invention has been celebrated everywhere from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal, but nowhere is it more visible than at Maker Faire.

"They're enthusiasts and hobbyists," said Dale Dougherty, Editor and Publisher of Make magazine, explaining the magazine's following. "People are doing something they love, and they love talking about it.It's one thing to do a project. But the real satisfaction is to share it with other people. That's what Maker Faire is all about."

Sponsors:
Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, Adobe, Carlo Rossi, Chronicle Books, Lion Brand Yarn Company, ShopBot, Sun Microsystems, Inc., TechShop, Texterity.

Media Sponsors:
Boing Boing, Cool Hunting, EE Times, IEEE Spectrum, Laughing Squid, O'Reilly Media, ReadyMade, Robot Magazine, San Jose Tech Museum, Swap Thing, TODO, Toolmonger, Twitter

Exhibitors:
Cohousing California, Epilog Laser, Future Technology Device International, Ltd.
Hardtent RV Rental, HSC Electronic Supply, iFixit, Instructables, iRobot, Joby, LEGO, Lulu.com, OpenMoko, PictureItPostage.com, ProtoPulsion Inc., RadioShack, Revell Incorporated, Simplified Building Concepts, Solarbotics Ltd., Sony Electronics, Surplus Center, Wired/ GeekDad.

Official Website: http://www.makerfaire.com/

Added by raines on January 29, 2007

Comments

waxpancake

This was so outstanding last year, I can't recommend it highly enough. Perfect for any age.

spiraltime

looking forward to it - see some of you at the auditions ;)

stuartzero

Should be able to make it, though it is on the same weekend as both Bay to Breakers and Pin-A-Go-Go (pinball faire in Dixon) http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/154695/

irina slutsky

a couple of my favorite GETV episodes taped there last year. including WOZ! this year we are invited to show ppl how to make something, so cant wait to see everyone there!

kentbrew

Awesome event. Looking forward to the Fire Truck again!

k0re

mini SRL exhibition included :)

jaschu

Last time I couldn't go because my appendix had to go and burst. I need twice the fun this time to catch up! I may have to build a Twiceasfunitron and show it off.

vonguard

ACCRC all up in dat shizzle nizzle, givin' away free laptops and free electronic junk.

judielaine

Does anyone know the hours for the event?

testwaxy

Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday from 10am-5pm.

aglick35

THIS WAS A GEEK, TECHNO, UBER BLAST EVENT last year and very happy to see it continue!
Fire-Organ insturment's and dancers, Hack sessions, Myriad mechanisms and mayhem!

judielaine

@testwaxy: Thank you!

spidra

Ukey Stardust will be performing in front of the live mousetrap around 3pm on the 19th. Be dere!

spiraltime

i will be there with friends doing a 'build your own sociable tandem bicycle' demo... open sourcing our method used to make six side-by-side bikes we made for BM 05... except this year we are welding two tandem bikes into a quad (same method though)...

i went last year, this is a big fun exploration event - great for families and geeks or combos thereof ;)

ExploVols

Last year we had three generations of geeky gals from 5 to 65 -- it was wonderful! There was also a ground squirrel or gopher, waist-deep in her burrow, seeming to enjoy the outdoor sewing crafts literally all around her. We're eager to see which creatures, organic or fabricated, will make an appearance this year ;-)

bonniegrrl

I'll be there making yoda felt dolls! ;-)

larrybob

Greg from Bazaare Bizarre is supposed to be there:
http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/

Mai

i'm hoping to take loads of photos for fashionist there. anyone want to assist me for an hour? (either photo taking or just grabbing people while i shoot.) pretty please?

stuartzero

They've organized an after party at Edinburgh Castle, too ..
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/191946/

shawnbot

The Graffiti Research Lab guys will be there, too. If anyone wants to help build a L.A.S.E.R. tag bike for San Francisco, drop me a line. :)

Randy Farmer

G'head. Drag yer butt(s) to the fairegrounds. You ain't seen nothin' like it.

alanleclair

This is going to be grand!

laughingsquid

eBoy has made an awesome limited edition Maker Faire 2007 poster which will be available at the event.

Interested 478