Second Annual RVA Makerfest will be at the Science Museum of Virginia Oct. 3

Richmond’s second annual Makerfest will take place this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Science Museum of Virginia.

Presented by Capital One, RVA Makerfest is an annual festival with the goal of advancing the maker movement in Richmond. RVA Makerfest brings together a wide range of local innovators and hobbyists, with hands-on demonstrations in science, art, technology, engineering, sustainability, food, music, crafts, fashion and more.

Toward the end of 2013, employees at Martin Agency, a Richmond based advertising company, was discussing the global maker movement and how it’s manifested itself in  Richmond, especially through the manufacturing revolution and at VCU and the Art Depot.

“We were looking for an opportunity to break down silo and get makers from various backgrounds together to start their ideas,” said President of RVA Makerfest, Corey Lane. “We really believe there’s a maker inside everybody and getting everyone together in one room helps people discover what their interests are and natural skill sets are and possibly take up a new hobby themselves.”

Last year’s festival drew about 3,500 people for hands on demonstrations from nearly 70 different makers. This year, the board of directors are anticipating 6,000 guests.

“To draw more people, we have a bit of a wider net and have over 100 makers showcasing at this year’s event,” said Lane. “We are hoping to draw a lot more people from the Commonwealth. We have a lot more makers that are from the region and outside the region as well.”

In addition to more makers and a projected larger crowd, there are other differences in the event’s actuality.

“Last year there were speakers and we heard from people that they were interesting speakers but there was just too much to see and do,” said Lane. “They couldn’t sit down and listen for 40 minutes. This year is 100 percent demonstration and entirely outside on the train platform.”

This year, a trolley will run the day of the festival. RVA Makerfest partnered with with Virginia Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), who gave funding to go toward the cost of the trolley. Stops will be made at Neighborhood Resource Center, Peter Paul Development Center, Northside Outreach Center and Storefront for Community Design

“We want to break down barriers and bring people to event that might not be able to get there otherwise,” said Lane. “We’re giving folks the opportunity to come to this event that might not otherwise be capable.”

Somewhere between an arts and crafts fair and a tradeshow, RVA Makerfest has been working to expand the diversity of makers at their event. The festival displays a lot of technology and craft but also a lot of the “lost arts,” such as blacksmiths and blowers.

“We are trying to preserve a range of makers at the even so there’s a range of something for everybody,” said Lane. “We try to maintain balance so it doesn’t seem like too much of a one sided event.”

As someone who has been apart of the RVA Makerfest team from the early beginning, Lane has already had some incredible experiences with the outcome of the festival. Personally, one of his favorite parts is seeing how the festival goers lives’ are impacted days after the festival is over. Lane has seen people find new hobbies, such as children taking up coding. But one of Lane’s favorite stories is of a girl from the collegiate school who was born without a left hand.

“She met folks from the Chesterfield Public Library and a group called Enable, who uses 3-D printers to print prosthetics,” said Lane. “She tried on one of the pre printed prosthetics and she used her left hand for the first time. Since then, she’s gone on with that group to design her own and print her own. She now has a prosthetic hand she printed herself, only because she was in the room with those other makers. And that’s one of the stories that’s come out of the woodwork and had such a good time at the event and been inspired in their very own backyard.”

Sophia Belletti, Staff Writer

Sophia is a sophomore journalism major who writes for the Odyssey in addition to the news, sports and spectrum sections of the CT. Sophia also works in sales at Nordstrom and likes hiking and going to concerts. // Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

bellettisr@commonwealthtimes.org