Zhang Yang

    nicolezyyy@163.com

    MAKER Faire Shenzhen 2016, an annual gathering for makers to exchange ideas and display their creations, will be hosted in Sea World in Nanshan District from Oct. 21 to 23, according to a press conference hosted by organizers Thursday.

    The original Maker Faire event was held in the United States in 2006, followed by more events hosted in countries across the globe. The Chaihuo Maker Space, created and sponsored by Seeed Studio in Shenzhen, has organized Maker Faire Shenzhen for the past four years.

    “I still remembered that there were over 60 makers — half of whom from overseas — attended the first Maker Faire Shenzhen in 2012,” said Eric Pan, founder of Chaihuo Maker Space. “Makers from around the world gathered at the event because they shared the same value.”

    Pan said that an estimated 190,000 visitors attended Maker Faire last year, while there were only around 1,000 people visiting the first event. He said that Maker Faire has become a family-friendly event popular among people of all ages and all backgrounds, rather than the small gathering of the maker community.

    Maker forums, exhibitions, workshops and performances will be held during Maker Faire this year. A range of activities, such as robot combat, drone performances, an electronic party, fashion shows and other hands-on activities, are scheduled.

    Apart from technology products, this year’s Maker Faire will for the first time have an exhibition area for traditional crafts to display handmade products created by artisans.

    Pan said that this year’s Maker Faire will highlight the essence of maker culture — DIY (Do It Yourself) — and encourage visitors to create things with their own hands in more than 30 workshops.

    Over 200 exhibitors will attend Maker Faire this year, with one-third of them from overseas. The organizers will also invite 50 globally renowned makers as guest speakers, such as Mitch Altman, founder of the maker space Noisebridge based in San Francisco, and Eric Wilhelm, founder of Instructables, a creation sharing website.

    Yang Jiankang, Shenzhen Nanshan High-tech Incubator’s head, said that there were approximately 300 maker spaces based in Nanshan and 197 of them have registered with the government. He said that the number of maker spaces citywide was estimated to be twice the number in Nanshan.

    Pan said that Chinese makers are good at making reliable products at reasonable prices, which is mainly thanks to the vast manufacturing resources in the Pearl River Delta. However, they are not so good at design compared with foreign makers. “Thus, Maker Faire is a good exchange platform for makers from both China and overseas to complement each other,” Pan said.

    In 2014, 119 independently produced Mini Faires and 14 full Featured Maker Faires occurred around the world, including cities like Tokyo, Rome, Detroit, Oslo and Shenzhen. Maker Faire Shenzhen upgraded from Mini level to Featured level — the 7th in the world — in 2014, and it was a highlight event during the Maker Week that was organized by the Shenzhen government last year.