MAKER FAIRE ORLANDO

Maker Faire Orlando 2025 was amaaaazing.

It's a grass-roots event. It used to be part of a national maker group, but it isn't anymore--you can go check out the maker space itself down by John Young and Sand Lake in Orlando. What it is is one of the few natural events in the region. Like Metrocon, Necronomicon, Holiday Matsuri, and AFO, it's run by locals and not an event chain.
Worth it for that alone.

What it also is is unique. The droid builders come, the makers and casters and weavers and unique electronic projects and mad scientists and historians-- whoever you are, you can come exhibit. Whether your booth is a bare table and a project or a full art installation, you can do the Maker Faire. I've seen technofashion lines, homemade dragon robots, an opera booth, underwater ROVs, you name it.
UCF usually brings a Spot robot, which--military applications aside--is a delight to get to pet. There's a human hamster wheel shaved ice booth. There's robot cage matches. Bards showed up to do walkabout music.

I love this event.
This year I got to run a zine station on field trip day, which was a delight (the photo below is from some of the takers on that). I did coptic binding at my booth, just for fun, and got to share off my newest prints and stickers. I hope to make it back in the future.

If you want to make something, no matter how weird-- well, weird is freedom.