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Arts & Entertainment

Connecticut's first Maker Faire

The Maker Faire movement sweeping the nation will arrive in Westport on Saturday, April 28, from 10-4 at the Westport Library. Over 50 “makers” have applied to exhibit a wide range of creations from robots and sculptures crafted from pencils to a personal, handmade submarine that functions at 120 feet below water.

The event will include competitions as well. The “battle of the homemade bands” will challenge entrants to assemble non-electrical instruments with ordinary materials and play them in a group, judged on criteria including creativity, difficulty of melody and quality of harmony. The Rube Goldberg Experiment, named for the American inventor, is an opportunity for teams to assemble machines that can perform a simple task, like crack an egg, with materials supplied to them.

Presented by CLASP Homes in partnership with the Westport Library, the Maker Faire will take place in several locations of the Library, as well as on Jesup Green outside the building. The event will feature engineers, tinkerers, hobbyists, science clubs, students, craftsmen, commercial exhibitors and speakers, including New York Times technology writer David Pogue.

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“The idea of these fairs is to bring people together to share creativity and innovation,” says Mathias, a technology business consultant and founder of the event. “We all have that in us; we just have to have it unlocked.”

Maker Faires are gaining popularity around the world. The largest one, a two-day event in San Jose that has been going on for six years, attracts 100,000 people. Until this year, the closest one to Westport has been in New York.

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For registration and more information about the event, including a video of the organizers and the creator of a talking robot, see http://www.westportmakerfaire.org/

Questions? Contact Mark Mathias, mark@mathias.org, or Bill Derry, bderry@westportlibrary.org.

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