Heads Up Makers! Apply Now For Featured Fall Faires

From Mare Island’s esplanade to Rome’s Gazometro, Happy Valley to the Orlando Fairgrounds, this fall share your world with the world at one of the dynamic Maker Faires featured below…and check our UPCOMING FAIRES page for smaller events across the world.

This year is extra special. The first Maker Faire Bay Area took place in 2006 in San Mateo and we’re thrilled to celebrate two decades of ingenuity and creativity with makers like YOU. This is where it all started 20 years ago.

Built something that makes people stop and ask, “Wait… how did you do that?” Bring it to Maker Faire Bay Area 2026. Startups, science clubs, inventors, artists, backyard inventors, garage groupies–there are as many ways to participate in Maker Faire Bay Area as there are ways and things to make. Whether you’re experimenting with AI, robotics, engineering, science, or art and technology, this is your chance to put your work in front of thousands of curious minds. Exhibiting at Maker Faire Bay Area boosts visibility, sparks connections, and feeds the creative chaos we call the maker movement. Think your project belongs here? Apply now to be an exhibitor, presenter, or performer.

We spoke with makers who were at the first event and heard about how Maker Faire is part of their lives personally and professionally. Check out what they had to say and sign up for some life changing of your own…

“Maker Faire Rome has been building something rare: a space where experimentation becomes visible, where talent meets opportunity, and where Rome stands out as a leading innovation ecosystem,” said Lorenzo Tagliavanti, president of the Rome Chamber of Commerce. According to the organizers, Maker Faire Rome has recorded more than 895,000 visitors and more than 7,000 exhibitors from around the world over 13 years.

The 14th edition Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition takes place from 23 to 25 October 2026 at the Gazometro Ostiense in Rome. Organised by the Rome Chamber of Commerce through Innova Camera, its in-house company, the team behind this human-centered event has extended the deadline for its 2026 calls for participation to June 30th. The extension applies to all three open calls: the Call for Makers, the Call for Schools and the Call for Universities and Research Institutes. It gives makers, students, researchers, innovators and academic teams more time to submit projects for the event’s 14th edition, which takes place from 23 to 25 October 2026 at the Gazometro Ostiense in Rome.

The Call for Makers is open internationally to projects in robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, sustainability, digital fabrication, agritech, wearables, food technology, space technologies and other fields of applied innovation. The event brings together makers, companies, schools, universities, research centres, institutions and the public around prototypes, technology and hands-on experimentation. And, the projects are, naturally, incredibly diverse. Call-specific criteria for applications include prototype functionality, creativity and originality, visitor interaction, novelty, technical and logistical feasibility, and safety.

Applications for all three calls are open until 30 June 2026. Applications for MakeITcircular are open until 1 October 2026. Full guidelines, eligibility requirements and selection criteria are available on the Maker Faire Rome website:

Maker Faire Rome has also opened MakeITcircular 2026, now in its sixth edition. The contest is dedicated to circular-economy projects and solutions involving reuse, repair, recycling, eco-design, durability, resource efficiency and reduced environmental impact. MakeITcircular is open to individuals aged 18 and over, as well as companies, public and private bodies, associations, foundations and other legal entities based or resident in Italy. Projects submitted to the “Circular Economy” category of the 2026 Call for Makers are entered automatically into the contest. The winning project receives 3,000 euros. Two honourable mentions receive 1,000 euros each. Entries are assessed for their alignment with the principles of the Circular Consumption Charter, their environmental im pact, feasibility and technical maturity.The contest follows the Circular Consumption Charter, which promotes a more informed, sustainable and responsible model of production and consumption. MakeITcircular gives those principles a practical setting at the fair, through projects that can be presented, tested and discussed with the public. Applications for MakeITcircular are open until noon CEST on 1 October 2026. LEARN MORE.

Maker Faire Happy Valley in State College, PA is back for a second year at Axemann Brewery on October 3rd & 4th. Last year brought a wide variety of makers out of the regional woodwork — APPLY HERE to join them!

There’s a new Maker Faire in China’s Greater Bay Area (Guangzhou-HongKong-Macau) and it is gearing up for its second year. A center of global innovation and manufacturing, Maker Faire Guangzhou is expanding the connected and collaborative culture of innovation Maker Faire is known for. Join in HERE.

Maker Faire Orlando Can’t Happen Without Makers! We have not yet opened the Call For Makers exhibit application process for 2026. Check back later this summer and follow MFO on social media for announcements HERE.

Maker Faire Shenzhen from Chaihuo Makerspace and Seeed Studios is returning December 12th & 13th. Keep and eye out for the Open Call HERE.