Music at Maker Faire North Carolina

Subscape AnnexMaker Faire North Carolina is proud to announce the 2012 music performance schedule. Every year we track down musicians that are doing innovative, cutting edge stuff with a Maker's slant.  Many of the performers have created their own instruments in addition to creating their own unique sound.

This year we have returning favorites and some new soon-to-be favorites: Ann Feld, Small Life Form, the Robotic LEGO Band, Subscape Annex, powercloud, and Bryce Eiman will all be there on the main stage.

Click here to see the full 2012 performance schedule.

Featured Maker: Petit Bones

Maker Faire: NC is all about people that do amazing things.  Some of these are things that push the boundaries into that which has never done before.

We're just as excited, however, by those Makers that are doing things that were once so very important but which have now almost been lost but for the efforts of a few passionate, wonderful Makers that preserve the knowledge and keep the flame alive.

Today we're featuring one such Maker:  Drucila Pettibone.

The best way to show you what Drucila is keeping alive is by quoting her statement to Maker Faire: NC as to what she wanted to share:

I would like to demonstrate making yarn on antique spinning wheels out of raw fiber from my own rabbits and sheep.  If possible, I can also bring a rabbit and hold him on my lap and spin directly from him (it doesn't hurt the bunny)!  I will also demonstrate dyeing the yarn I spin in an indigo vat.  I will also have examples of handspun yarns and yarn dyed with natural dyestuffs gathered from the woods in NC.

Raw fiber.  Antique spinning wheels.  Natural dyes from materials gathered in the woods.  If that isn't enough, she can spin yarn straight off a bunny!

I honestly don't know what else to say. THIS. IS. AWESOME.  Can't wait to see Drucila at Maker Faire: NC on June 16th!  Want more from Drucila?  Her etsy site is here.

Soldering Coach Volunteers Needed!

We still need more soldering coaches for Maker Faire NC's 'Learn to Solder' area.  Can you spare a few hours and show people how to make a cool blinky robot badge?

Head over to our volunteer page and choose one of the saturday shifts between 10am and 5pm and mention soldering in the comment box.

Thanks!

Featured Maker: NC NearSpace

Did you, DO you...

...ever dream of space?

Maybe the day hasn't arrived for us to take a vacation on the Moon, but we've reached a point where a small group of space-loving Makers can actually send a probe from their backyards right up to the edge of space.  That's exactly what NC NearSpace does... and they plan to do it again at Maker Faire: NC this June 16th around 12:00 p.m.!

This picture was taken by the NC NearSpace high-altitude balloon launch that occurred at last year's Maker Faire: NC.  Yep... that little probe went so high you can actually see where blue sky of Earth turns to the black of space.  No million dollar backers.  No government agencies.  Just a small group of individuals taking their dreams and Making them real.

Want to be a part of the next launch?  Come meet the team that tackles the challenge of reaching for the final frontier at Maker Faire: NC and witness the event first hand!  Afterwards head over to their website to see pictures returned from the edge of space.  Here's a chance to inspire the kids with just how much a few people with a dream can do -- and just maybe recapture that wonder of space for yourself as well.

Press, Bloggers, Podcasters, and other Media: Register for your press pass now

We cordially invite you to visit the most photogenic, creative celebration of North Carolina's ingenuity.

We want you to talk to the individuals that make Maker Faire North Carolina such a tremendous success. We want you to meet North Carolina's educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, scientists, students, tech enthusiasts, and inventors and share their stories. Why have they built a Tesla Coil? Where did they learn to raise bees? What is unique about their Kickstarter-funded innovation?

Please register using this form so that we can add you to the official press list. An all-access press pass will await you at the ticket window.

Our press release is available here. We would like to put you in touch with Makers ahead of the event. Please indicate on the registration form any Makers from our 2012 Roster that you are particularly interested in featuring.