A large congregation filled with explosive creativity, unique inventions, enthusiasm for knowledge, and countless fans certainly deserves an official event....maybe its own faire? Is it even possible to contain such diversity all in one place? Well of course! And congratulations if you guessed this event right because I am talking about the famous Maker's Faire; the perfect heaven for an invention junkie!
There are many reasons to attend such an event, and for those who have not had a chance, it is time to clear room on the calendar. Not only is this a perfect family attraction to attend, but it is also embedded with a dash of engineering fun and a pinch of science and technology. You can even learn how to pick a standard lock and solder together a ring! Inspiration is everywhere and those at the faire who had harnessed its capabilities really showed their success with flying colors.
Where else can you find a giant umbrella sculpture that whenever a listener of curiosity presses a button, flames shoot into the air with magnificent fury? Where else can you find two Teslas being fortified as a musical instrument while simultaneously sending out bolts of electricity onto a cage filled with enthusiastic children? Where else can you find motorized cup-cake cars manned by people zipping around in the crowd?
Whatever inspired the Making Warriors to create such oddities, it also helped foster the rebounding spirit of creating things by hand, not soullessly mass produced by machine. And that right there is the significant heart of what Maker's Faire is all about. Adam Savage applauded this current movement during his speech on the last day of the Faire. He used several stories from his “making” career as a foundation of encouragement to inspire listeners, especially children, to be resourceful and to take the pledge to create whatever they wanted. This pledge is meant to kick down any doors that would prevent someone from making, let's say, a giant, obnoxiously florescent, fabric covered, bike driven float that screams total awesomeness. Every single attendee in the faire had traveled to that event because somewhere, somehow, they have been touched by the magic of innovation. Not only can you learn from this innovation, you can also catch its fever and continue the making trend; from imagination, to engineering, and to production.
-Brianna Harbinson; All Images © Brianna Harbinson
