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Sebastopol, CA. March 17, 2011—The ultimate 21st century county fair, Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 mashes items possessing an On/Off switch with old-fashioned human curiosity, resulting in a round up of robots, musical Tesla coils, fresh-squeezed sunflower oil, futuristic chariot races, antique pinball machines, super-sized Lego projects, and more neon, flame, and brightly gaseous glows than are normally seen outside an MIT lab.
Maker Faire combines the best of Burning Man's sizzling creativity with the hottest creations of the DIY community and serves it all up in a dazzling two-day event guaranteed to engage every member of the family. Now in its sixth year, Maker Faire Bay Area runs May 21-22 at the San Mateo County Event Center and will host some 100,000 visitors as they learn from and play with over 600 crafters, makers, engineers, vendors, and artists who come from all over the country to exhibit their particular brand of genius.
Produced by MAKE Magazine and O'Reilly Media, Maker Faire's geek culture flourishes with droids, DIY kits by kids for kids, and mobile land sharks roaming in the dark. Longtime favorites the Flaming Lotus Girls return, this time bringing their fiery Mutopia pods. The SF Model Yacht Club has "Race and Shoot" games not to be missed; the Stanford Solar Car Project soaks up some attention; the Madagascar Institute whips things up with their zany chariot races; and robotics and animation engineer Dr. Mike Regalbuto showcases his Posables, lifelike forms that literally bend to your will. None of this would be complete without rockets, bikes, food, and a huge children's area for young dreamers and makers.
Focused on making education so fun as to be seamless, Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 embraces the universe, loosely titling the weekend "From Maker Space to Outer Space" in honor of a recent collaboration with MAKE, NASA, and Teachers in Space in which students conceive experiments to be conducted during suborbital flights.
"Maker Faire offers a feast for people of all ages who love good learning: it's authentic, inspiring and satisfying," Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty wrote in a recent essay. "One day, perhaps, we'll see a Maker Revolution that changes what we're trying to do in our schools and our communities, replacing education with good learning."
To purchase tickets, including weekend passes, see:
http://makerfaire-marketwire.eventbrite.com
Calendar Editors
A celebration of DIY culture, Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 runs Saturday-Sunday, May 21-22, at the San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo. Saturday, 10am to 8pm; Sunday, 10am to 6pm. $5-$25; 3 and under are free. www.makerfaire.com
Social Media
#MakerFaire 2011 hails DIY culture May 21-22 in San Mateo, CA. http://oreil.ly/iaWV6e
Editors
For video of past Maker Faires, see:
http://oreil.ly/fz5bCs
For interviews and media info, contact Maker Faire director of marketing and PR,
Bridgette Vanderlaan, 727.278.2888 or bridgette@oreilly.com
About Maker Faire
Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 is slated for Saturday-Sunday, May 21-22, at the San Mateo County Event Center. Started in California in 2006, and now held in Detroit and New York, Maker Faire is the premier event for grassroots American innovation. Maker Faire is supported by MAKE Magazine and O'Reilly Media, the information source for leading-edge computer technologies. The company's books, conferences and web sites bring to light the knowledge of technology innovators. For more information about Maker Faire, please visit http://www.makerfaire.com.
About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.