Toronto’s largest DIY festival

Every innovative idea came from somewhere

Have you ever picked a lock? Or opened up your computer to see how it works?  Or made a catapult designed with spare parts from a junkyard?  A festival being held this weekend at the Evergreen Brick Works might offer you an opportunity.

There is a huge network of DIY entrepreneurs around North America that call themselves “makers.”

Every year, tens of thousands of makers converge in the Bay Area for Maker Faire.  A cross between a county fair and a technology convention, Maker Faire has spread to New York, Detroit, Kansas City and this year, Toronto. It’s the perfect festival for anyone who enjoys tinkering with broken appliances in their basement.

Toronto’s version is a “mini” Maker Faire, an event run entirely by volunteers and grass-roots hack-labs in the GTA. The organizers expect representatives from “maker-spaces” in Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton and Detroit.  Many of these labs serve as de facto sandboxes for engineers and developers to test new ideas before they bring them to their day jobs for refinement, patenting and marketing.

The amount of technological prowess to be exhibited at the event is astonishing. Jonathan Guberman, a member of Toronto’s Site 3 CoLaboratory, is busy working on a robot powered by a fish. (It’s ok if you need to read that sentence again.)

The robot will respond to a sensor tracking where the fish swims in its bowl.  Hooked to omni-directional wheels, the robot will be able to glide side-to-side and back and forth without actually turning its body.

Another installation promises to allow attendees to send text messages to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Astronomy and science superstore Efston Science will be on hand to teach attendees how to solder, and craft enthusiasts (and their kids) can make a Mother’s Day present at one of the craft workshops.

At events like this, makers are generally not motivated by money (just try selling a fire-breathing robot at WalMart).  Instead, they use their projects to hone their tinkering skills and explore the boundaries of their crafts creatively.  Many of the makers see their work as an opportunity to gain control over a runaway consumerist economy. As one hacker puts it, “If you can’t fix it, you don’t really own it.”

Many of the large-scale engineering works might fall into the category of performance art rather than technology. Site 3’s Flux and Fire creation, a platform where dancers can trigger plumes of fire, won last year’s People Choice Award at Nuit Blanche.

If you’re interested in buying pre-tickets for the Maker Faire, check Maker Faire Toronto for details. Organizers Site 3 and the Treehouse Group are both local volunteer-based groups and are raising funds for the project at crowd-funding platform Ulule.

Happy making!

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