Over 3000 people joined in on the fun at the Mini Maker faire, which took place at the Cape Town Science Centre in Observatory from the 26-28th August, to check out and participate in the innovative technological ideas.

This year’s Mini Maker Faire brought together techies, hackers, hobbyists, crafters, artists, tech gurus, authors and inventors together to engage with the public and exchange ideas.
Described as the “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth”, the Mini Maker Faire is a space where people with a passion for learning, collaboration and creativity can connect.

“The faire is a place where art meets science meets technology meets mathematics and engineering,” says event producer Zelda Coetzee – Burger.

According to organisers, the conference connected individuals at the forefront of the maker movement and provide new ways of making things and getting them to market. The event was supported by the City of Cape Town.

“Some of the makers are small business owners while others are do-it-yourself enthusiasts. They are found in a myriad of fields – from craft, to food, to technology. The fair creates a platform for these creative minds to come together.

“The show-and-tell format of the fair will help to stimulate conversations and will also help to facilitate the sharing of ideas and peer-to-peer learning. I am sure this fair will inspire many to take up the challenge and in the process help to reduce our carbon footprint by recycling certain items into usable objects,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Councillor Garreth Bloor.

The Mini Maker Faire is a spin-off of the Maker faire originally started in the United States years ago and was brought to Cape Town for a second time this year. The event is seen as a big show and tell which is also both child and adult friendly.

“Through exhibits and play, learning was made fun for the children as well as the adults,” said a visitor.
The Overberg 3D printing group decided to join in on the Pokemon GO hype and create huge Pokeballs and large and mini Pokemon .

“Our most popular exhibitions are probably the drone zone, the cardboard challenge and we also have a very interesting tinker zone where kids can learn to disassemble appliances and make new things from it,” says Zelda Coetzee- Burger excitedly.

Many children were impressed by the fact that they could touch many of the objects.

“I liked that we could interact with the objects,” said 12 year old Lola.

“This is a very interesting event, it’s unusual, not something you can see and attend every day,” adds another visitor Gary.

“I was little and started making things,” Brent from Formatize said enthusiastically.

“When children interact with objects they develop a passion for science and technology,”“

The fact that we got to wear a Virtual Reality headset and have a drone experience was really cool,” 24 year old Taariq stated.

SA Maker, Hugo Van Schalkwyk started making things he wanted but could not afford it. He then made YouTube videos to inspire people.

Many visitors who were there for the first time said they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and will definitely attend next time.  VOC (Quaanita Satardien)