This Weekend, Empire State Maker Faire! An Interactive Showcase of DIY Creativity and Tech Ingenuity

SAN FRANCISCO, October 15, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​​​On Friday and Saturday, October 16-17, the first Empire State Maker Faire will share the creative work and technical know-how of makers of all ages who share a passion for making just about anything they can imagine. This event is free and open to the public. During the time of a pandemic, all sessions will be online. There is still a focus on maintaining the hands-on, DIY nature of Maker Faire through demonstrations, performances, and how-to workshops. You can experience everything from 3D printed chocolate, cosplay, and robots to haunted houses, cardboard creations, and unusual board games. Most importantly, you can meet and learn from hundreds of different makers.

“Despite the pandemic, and perhaps even because of it, there are more people making things and applying what they learn to new projects,” said Dale Dougherty, President of Make: Community and the creator of Maker Faire.  “I’m excited that Empire State Maker Faire offers a new way to bring the spirit of Maker Faire to more people and yet continues to build on our fifteen years of tradition.”

Here are some of the highlights:

• Mario the Maker Magician! is Friday's Student Day keynote speaker: Mario is a maker and a performing magician. He creates his props for his magic show and uses them to inspire young people to create and make things themselves.
• Limor Fried, CEO of Adafruit Industries, is Saturday's keynote speaker: An electrical engineer and computer scientist, Limor Fried founded Adafruit Industries from her dorm room at MIT. She has grown Adafruit into one of the most influential resources for all makers.
• Project Showcase, ​highlighting the works of makers on makeprojects.com
• Student Day, on Friday, October 16, from 9:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. EDT. Geared toward students and educators, whether they are learning in person, remotely, or homeschooled, the program offers hands-on activities as well as STEM/STEAM workshops. 
• Five-Minute Lightning Talks featuring a wide variety of makers inspiring creativity for all ages.
• Saturday is a Full Day of sessions with makers, exhibits, tours, and more across three streaming channels from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm EDT.  Topics including beekeeping, puppetry, 3D printing, woodturning, and felting.
• Makerspaces Tours throughout New York State, several spaces will give tours and demonstrations of their community members' work. 
• To see the full program, go to www.makerfaire.com.

Source: Maker Faire