Making Plans to Make Tracks

Faire warning: The Maker Faire is coming back to San Mateo, California, May 30 and 31 (the weekend after Memorial Day weekend).

I have written about the Maker Faire before. I practically start hopping up and down when I think about going to it. In fact, I was lying in bed thinking about it and decided I had to start writing about it again before I'd be able to get any sleep, so I got back out of bed.

The Maker Faire has a huge variety of displays, exhibits, demonstrations, activities, and shopping opportunities that appeal to a wide variety of tastes and interests. You'll see the quaint, the bizarre, the practical, the artistic, the robotic, the gothic, the stylish, the geeky, the eco-minded, the homey, the flaming (literally), the tiny, the giant, and the flat-out "huh?", all in one place.

Tips

Last year the faire was bursting at the seams of the San Mateo Expo Center. In the afternoon, the ticket and backpack search lines were really long. Get your tickets in advance from the website, and arrive early in the day.

Carpool! There is parking, but the extra parking is quite a hike away from the entrance.

Wear comfortable shoes. You will be doing a LOT of walking.

Take a water bottle. You'll need it.

Take empty shopping bags. There is a lot of very tempting stuff there.

Food is not the strong point of the Maker Faire. Eat well before you go.

Take a camera! The sights are amazing, and your friends back home won't believe you without pictures.

Study the Maker Faire schedule and map on the website. They have lots of special events, and different parts of the faire close at different times (as I found out the hard way last year).

Keep an open mind. You'll never know how much fun it is to ride a wooden bicycle until you try it!


See you there!