What is Maker Faire?
Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. From engineers to artists to scientists to crafters, Maker Faire is a venue for these "makers" to show hobbies, experiments, projects.
We call it the Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth - a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness.
Glimpse the future and get inspired!
Featured Makers
EC Glass Hovercraft
The EC Glass Hovercraft is a hovercraft made by a Woodshop teacher at Dunbar a few years ago. It was found behind EC Glass falling apart and dilapidated. Braedon Watson and Kyler Englund saw this project and wanted to take it in to get it running again. Since then they have been working on it in the EC Glass Auto Technology shop for two years. They have added lights horns and a roof to this project and got the engine running again. Braedon and Kyler hope to get some sponsor money and get the hovercraft in full working order again and inspire young makers of all ages.
BattleBot Armageddon and Creature Combat in 2026
Armageddon is back! After our first trip to the big bot arena in Las Vegas last September, the infamous 250-lb BattleBot Armageddon returns—battle-tested, upgraded, and hungry for more. We laughed, we cried, and we learned some hard lessons live, in front of an audience (no pressure!). Those lessons helped push Armageddon from raw prototype to a seriously dangerous, dual-armed combat machine. Stop by this year to see the 250-lb BattleBot helping usher in the future of BattleBots and Creature Combat in 2026—and talk with the team building it from the ground up.
Sweet Briar College Summer Programs
Sweet Briar offers summer programs for children, high-school aged young adults, and adults for many different interests and topics. Organizations of all kinds make our 2,847-acre campus their own when they hold camps and conferences at Sweet Briar. Each summer, our 22 miles of trails, forests, streams, meadows, and lakes inspire the work of high school engineers, writers, athletes, musicians, leaders, and more. Stop by our booth for a build-your-own nightlight kit as a preview of Explore Engineering camp.
Dancing Fabric
Eight fans form a circle and point towards the midle where two pieces of long light weight fabric dance in the resulting air turbulence.
Pour painting
Join Randolph College to create a pour painting masterpiece while learning about viscosity and color mixing.
Mythic Hall Adventures
Mythic Hall: immersive tabletop gaming and creative space for all adventurers. NEW and now open in Downtown Lynchburg. Come roll some dice, play a legendary character and battle epic monsters in a private, movie-quality setting. Experience amazing storytelling amidst immersive sets and effects made to inspire creativity and fun - our 'theme park for gaming'. So, gather your party and let our Game Masters take you on a mythic quest. Beyond gamers, we are MAKERS. We build everything here in our creative space from immersive table pieces, minis right down to the set of the atmosphere, itself.
MAKE Roanoke
Come engrave a keychain at MAKE Roanoke's booth using our pantograph engraver. Stay and compete in a friendly game of Hextraction while you learn more about Roanoke's first non-profit makerspace!
Laser energy
Join Randolph College to learn about the energy in lasers and how you can use a laser to pop a balloon.
