NoCo Mini Maker Faire, largest in Rocky Mountain Region, set for Oct. 4-5

By: InnovatioNews Friday August 22, 2014 0 comments Tags: Elise VanDyne, Epilog Laser, Loveland, Making Progress, SparkFun

 

LOVELAND - The 2014 NoCo Mini Maker Faire, an all-ages festival featuring do-it-yourself makers, will showcase never-before-seen creations including a fire-breathing, laser-shooting, 30-foot Robot Resurrection, a BrickBuilder Expo, a Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase and a 6-foot robotic 3D printing arm.

Held in Loveland at the Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation and Technology, the event will also feature a multitude of hands-on activities from soldering games with SparkFun to laser engraving with Epilog Laser and a Cardboard Challenge, according to organizers.

With opportunities to make, create, learn, invent, craft, recycle, build, think, play and be inspired, the second annual NoCo Mini Maker Faire is Colorado and the region's largest with indoor and outdoor exhibits, hands-on demos and presentations spread out over 100,000-plus-square-feet.

Last year's inaugural NoCo Mini Maker Faire drew hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors over its two-day run.

Faire organizers said time is running out to sign up as a maker/exhibitor at this year's event. The deadline is Sept. 1.

Other event highlights include a soldering workshop for all ages, Sculpture Games building competition and the Nerdy Derby miniature car-buidling and racing contest.

"Our job is simply to find the most creative makers in the region and help make their visions come true within the Faire," said Elise VanDyne, executive director of Making Progress, the organization putting on Maker Faires in Colorado.

"There is nothing more fun than bringing together an awestruck audience with the great people and groups that are imagining, building and sharing their creations."

Sponsors of the NoCo Mini Maker Faire include SparkFun, Make Magazine, Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation and Technology, City of Loveland, Epilog Laser, Kaiser Permanente, Aleph Objects and CSU's Idea-2-Product Lab.

For more information, to sign up as a maker or sponsor or volunteer, visit www.nocomakerfaire.org.