This week we heard from a first-time Maker Faire Bay Area family who is excited to be coming back this year. “We went for the first time last year and my son loved it. He's 8 and was so inspired last year. Can't wait to go again,” I’m excited for Maker Faire Bay Area and I’m happy to hear that after twenty years, Maker Faire still inspires kids of all ages.

We are returning to Mare Island for the fourth straight year. The Foundry at Mare Island has become a favorite place of ours and this year, we will have an expanded footprint in the Foundry for the first time. There’s a back half of the building that we haven’t been able to use in previous years, but this year, our Foundry Stage will move to that back half.

The Foundry, like so many of the buildings we use at Mare Island, reflects the industrial heritage of this historic naval shipyard. You can still see the large overhead cranes. Submarines were made in the five-story Foundry.

John Law is quite a character and he has many tales to tell of his daring exploits in the Bay Area. Co-founder of Burning Man, and a member of the Cacophony Society, Suicide Club, and the Billboard Liberation Front, John Law has been an artistic force shaping the Bay Area’s unique creative culture since the 1980s. I like to think that the Bay Area’s tech culture is built upon and co-exists with its creative culture. That’s what makes events like Maker Faire Bay Area so special.

I have often said that I don’t think we could have started Maker Faire anywhere else twenty years ago and been successful. Long before our first event, John Law and others were experimenting, exploring and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Long before “Think different” became an Apple slogan, John Law and countless other non-conformists in the Bay Area created the Bay Area’s own counter-culture.

Law never asked for permission to do daring things and he was fortunate to find other free spirits. One legendary tale is how a group of “urban explorers” entered an abandoned theater through the roof, organized a presentation on stage, and exited without leaving any trace, which became a motto for Burning Man. He has climbed the Golden Gate Bridge several times — without permission.

John is a neon artist who came up with the idea of using neon lights to light the Man at Burning Man.  He hasn’t been to Burning Man since 1996 and he recently wrote how Burning Man had lost its soul. I want to talk to him about the origins of the Bay Area’s creative culture.

Join me on Sunday at noon on the Foundry Stage for my conversation with John Law. We will be followed by Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino, who will talk on Sunday about new Arduino projects that he’s been building.

On Saturday, on the Foundry Stage, we have:

Here are some highlights from the Make: Live stage, which will take place in our new Le Tigre tent. (You’ll know it when you see it.)

Saturday

Sunday

Here’s a link to the Maker Faire Bay Area schedule.

Here are some of the activities that we will have:

Steve and Fritz of EepyBird are back with Diet Coke & Mentos. They are performing Friday at 11:15, Saturday at 11:30, and Sunday at 2:30

One more thing about Maker Faire Bay Area on Mare Island. It’s such a beautiful setting for a live event. The waterfront along the Napa River is an amazing place to stroll. You might run into a drone, a droid, a quadruped robot or one of your neighbors.

It’s also amazing when we get there in the early morning for set up.

I hope to see you and your family there. If you see me, please say “hi”.

Join on this Wednesday, September 16 at 4pm PT / 7 PM ET, for a “sneak peek” of Maker Faire Bay Area. My guests will be assorted makers that you can meet at this year’s event.

Register here to join us.

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I’d love to hear from you if you have ideas, projects or news items about the maker community. Email me - [email protected].