Making a big deal about Maker Faire YYC!

This past weekend was a busy one in Calgary and I didn’t get a chance to see all of the things I wanted to see. Luckily, my good friend Alex was able to go the Maker Faire YYC event, so I made her a Bloggity correspondent for the day (just made up that job title) and she wrote a sweet review of the festival.

If you were wondering what the constant sunbeams were coming from the East Village RiverWalk in Calgary this weekend, it was likely the gleaming reflection coming off the many robots and art works at Maker Faire YYC. Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth – a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning – and a pretty cool (read: nerdy) way to spend a Saturday in the sun in Calgary.

Maker Faires have been taking place all over North America, and the Calgary edition did not disappoint. Along with the Saturday fair standards (shout outs to the YYC food trucks and Village Brewery beer gardens) were some creative individuals you don’t see much – because, quite frankly, they’re too busy learning about and DOING the cool things you’ll read about in 10 years. There were dancing poetry-spouting robots (Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre’s iROBOT),
people driving sofas around (Beakerhead), MacGyver challenges (Telus SPARK!) and zombie make-up workshops from movie make-up magicians. Best part? Behind all the glitz, glamour and gadgets were uber creative artists, engineers, tinkerers, hobbyists, crafters, students, authors, speakers or other proud nerds that are MAKING Calgary cool.

That was maybe the coolest thing I learned at Maker Faire this weekend: this city is PACKED with some of the smartest most inventive people on the planet to some of the craziest most important work out there. Congratulations to everyone who showed off their talent and hard work this weekend – and a major kudos to the volunteers in the community who made it happen. You put my fifth grade science project to shame – in the raddest way possible. (It was a leaf collection, and it did not win. I’m in the arts. Give me a break.)

Thanks Alex and a super big thank you for the sweet photos! It looks like a blast, I can’t wait for the next one!

All this talk about robots got me thinking about my favourite song about robots. Of course, I’m talking about Dan Mangan’s Robots.
Enjoy!