2015 Date and Location Announced
Saturday, September 19, 2015 from 11a.m – 6 p.m. Museum Row at 700 & 800 Blocks, W. Main St.
Louisville, KY–(May 13, 2015) – Join the fun on September 19th as the Louisville Mini Maker Faire showcases a wide variety of incredible projects. Our hands-on, show and tell format is fun for all ages and brings out the “maker” in everyone. You will get to interact with all kinds of makers ranging from old school DIYers to techy students to next generation garage tinkerers. You will find robots, a homemade, rideable gigantic roller coaster (seriously), solar-powered live music, visual art created in real time, and a ton of other one-of-a-kind stuff. “The Louisville Mini Maker Faire will entertain, inform, and connect people and projects. We hope to inspire and empower students and adults alike to create, tinker, DIY, and foster the maker inside all of us, said Nelea Absher, Chair of the Louisville Mini Maker Faire 2015 Committee.
WOW – what a show!
There are so many thanks to give for this great event!
Unbelievable weather complemented an equally amazing fair of show & tell. A hearty thanks to all of our Makers – for delighting in design, demonstration and determination – we can’t wait to see you again soon!
Of course, we couldn’t have done it without our sponsors: FirstBuild, TWC, Vogt Awards, Samtec, and Collegiate. And our event partners MAKE Magazine, IdeaFestival and NuluFest. Thank you for helping to make this event free, local, and family-friendly!
Lastly, what can be said about our Louisville mini Maker Faire staff & volunteers? We did amazing things together. Hats off!
Catch raving reviews for yourself!
Get ready for a “not-so mini” 2015!
2nd Annual Faire is TOMORROW!
We’re so excited to bring more than 100 Makers to our second annual Louisville Mini Maker Faire! Catch the world’s first 3D-printed car, things that explode, power tool drag racing, robots and rockets, Nerdy Derby Racing, Rube Goldberg Machines, food, music, and beer!!
Bring the whole family for this amazingly fun, family-friendly event that officially kicks off IdeaFestival week and check out the NuLu Fest, happening right next to us on Market Street.
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Maker Faire To Do List 1. Register for the Maker Faire – Though it’s absolutely free to attend, please register. It helps us prepare event supplies and you’ll be entered to win cool prizes, such as a 3D Printer from Make! Sign up here – Thanks! 2. Attend FirstBuild’s Open House – Our Master Maker Sponsor, FirstBuild, invites you to tour their new micro-factory/makerspace. Please RSVP via EventBrite to enjoy a free dinner! Friday, Sept. 26, 5 – 7 PM, 333 E. Brandeis Ave., Louisville, KY 40208 (near the University of Louisville) 3. Come to the Maker Mixer – A pre-party with live music, laser show and interesting “maker” people in a great outdoor “pop-up plaza” downtown. Friday, Sept. 26, 7 – 11 PM, at Resurfaced, 615-621 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202. Learn more here. 4. Gather Ye Power Tools – Power tool drag racing is back! Bring your fastest power tool racer and join us Saturday at the Mini Maker Faire at 2:00, 4:00, and 6:00 PM if you’d like to compete for more great prizes!. |
Sign up! Still time to volunteer, register as a maker and get your free tickets!
Ballista Team from Newton’s Attic
We’re only 2 weeks away from the greatest street fair featuring amazing inventions and creations such as the Ballista posted above!
MANY makers will line the 800 & 900 blocks of East Market on Saturday, September 27 for interactive demonstrations, hands-on participation and education for fair goers of all ages. This free, family-friendly event runs alongside the 6th Annual NuluFest and kicks off the start of IdeaFestival week, running September 30 through October 3.
There are so many ways you can participate: volunteer to be a part of this amazing street fair; sign up as a maker and share your talent with attendees; and join the rest of our incredible sponsors!
Registration is required to attend this free event – simply sign up here and let us know you’ll be there. We can’t wait to see your delight, amazement and curiosity!
The making of a great Fair!
The momentum continues as we count down to our second annual Maker Faire… Only 4 more weeks!!
Makers such as Engineers of Tomorrow, First Robotics, LVL1, Line by Lion, Good Garbage, Digital Fabber, Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft, Little Loomhouse, Louisville Free Public Library, and many more join us on the 800 & 900 blocks of East Market in Louisville’s Nulu District on September 27, 2014. From 10a – 10p, the curious, inquisitive, creative and dreamers can witness amazing works, creations, robotics, art from regional makers.
Perfect for families and free thanks to our generous sponsors: GE’s FirstBuild, Louisville Collegiate School, Vogt Awards, Samtec and TWC !
We simply ask that you register in advance and help us build our attendance even more this year – spread the word!
Big thanks to Business First for their recent story!
More sponsors show support!
We’re so excited to welcome 2 more sponsors to the growing list of companies supporting our second annual fair!
The Vogt Awards and Time Warner Cable join the fold in support of Louisville’s maker movement! Thank you to these new sponsors and all of our 2014 sponsors in making our September 27th fair possible and free to attendees.
Makers among Louisville’s movers & shakers!
Louisville mini Maker Faire will be among the many of Louisville’s movers & shakers at these two events coming up. Hope to see you there!!
August 28 – Leadership Louisville Mayoral Luncheon, featuring Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore. The city’s Digital Harbor Foundation works to get youth connected to technology, innovation and making. Register here!
September 3 – Venture Connectors will host a panel of local “makers” at its Sept. 3 luncheon meeting. Panelists Natarajan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat) of maker fair sponsor GE’s FirstBuild and participating maker Brad Luyster of LVL1 join LmMF organizer and founder Campbell Boyer is discussing what the local “Maker Economy” looks like, as well as how the movement is positively impacting the city, its business climate and the lifestyles of its citizens. Sign up today!
GE’s FirstBuild signs on as Master Maker (title) Sponsor!
GE’s FirstBuild has signed on as title sponsor of the 2nd annual Louisville Mini Maker Faire!
“We believe that the Louisville Mini Maker Faire event has great potential to become the must- attend Maker Faire of the Midwest, and are excited to help achieve that goal,” said Natarajan Venkatakrishnan (“Venkat”) of GE’s FirstBuild.
FirstBuild is a “micro-factory,” GE’s version of a hacker space where students, techies and GE engineers collaborate on innovations related to the appliance industry. Since 2013, GE has been growing increasingly close to the tech and startup community in Louisville, looking for new ways to tackle production problems that big corporations find hard to solve.
Campbell Boyer, Louisville Mini Maker Faire organizer said, “We’re ecstatic to be associated with GE’s FirstBuild. It’s focus, mission and dedication to the local maker community is second to none. Having public support means a lot to the community and to the makers of our city.”
The Maker Faire will be held in conjunction with the 6th Annual Nulu Festival and kick off week of IdeaFestival®. The date of the event is Saturday, September 27, 2014 in the 800 & 900 blocks of East Market Street (between Shelby and Wenzel Streets). Last year’s Louisville’s Mini Maker Faire drew an estimated crowd of between 12,000 – 17,000, with over 85 makers participating.
The Louisville Mini Maker Faire is free and appropriate for all ages, but participation in some activities will require safety waivers, available at the event.
Louisville Mini Maker Faire is accepting applications for maker participation through August 31, 2014. Makers, apply here!
LEGOs® + MakerBots + Community = FirstBuild
I noticed the signs first.
“Community Welcome.”
“Collaborate. Contribute. Belong.”
“Think It. Make It.”
When’s the last time a big corporation asked you “How would you make our products better?” and then invited you into a beautiful, creativity-inspiring, cool-tool-filled place where you could do more than just offer suggestions but actually Make?
FirstBuild kicked off in a big way on Thursday, July 24, with a picture-perfect grand opening. GE, University of Louisville, and Metro Louisville officials shared the podium with our homegrown LVL1 Hackerspace and talked about the journey.
Like the products and innovations it’s intended to inspire, FirstBuild was born of a good idea – “How does a company shift to a market- and community-driven innovation strategy?” And the mindset seems one of “We’ll innovate as we go.” As GE’s Kevin Nolan says, “There’s no playbook for this.”
What I loved most was seeing a pile of LEGOs® on a table next to a CNC machine.
The message? Makers can use all kinds of tools to turn inspiration into reality.
I’m pretty proud to be a Maker in Louisville today.
Coding Classes for Kids – Just Across the Bridge
Makers think geographic boundaries are to be crossed. Especially when there are interesting things to be learned on the other side.
If you have young people in your life between ages 8 and 13, and want them to get a taste of coding, then you’ll want to check out the kids’ coding classes at Velocity, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurship in Jeffersonville, IN (literally 5 minutes from downtown Louisville). Learn more on their website – http://velocityindiana.org/
Classes are offered each night of the week – the next session runs July 21 to August 14.
Hats off to Velocity for feeding our regional Maker pipeline – we expect to see some of these sharp young minds sharing their talent with the crowd at our September 27 th Mini Maker Faire!