Honolulu Mini Maker Faire Returns

This Saturday brings one of the best geek events in town. The second annual Honolulu Mini Maker Faire returns to the Sullivan Center at Iolani School. The call went out for makers in March, and they responded wholeheartedly. There will be three floors of hands-on exhibits, demonstrations, and opportunities to learn, create, and converse with interesting people.

Drones, or remotely-piloted aircraft systems, will factor heavily in this year's Mini Maker Faire. A number of quadcopter groups and pilots will show off their stuff, up to and including drone demonstrations and drone races outside. The ground floor will host robotics, farmers, an electronics soldering station and even a blacksmith (working with kid-friendly clay, rather than molten metal).

You can then ride up in the always cool Sullivan Center elevator (which is a rideable student art project) to visit with five makerspaces from across the state, several clubs, school groups, and local companies showing off their stuff. The auditorium will feature presentations on the maker movement, inventing, drone safety, and computer vision. And the top floor is dedicated to hands-on activities, from LEGO to knitting, from handmade toys to hacking Raspberry Pi computers.

And just announced today, the event's lead food vendor: Juicy Brew. The menu is all plant-based, a mix of baked goods and treats like cookies, mochi, tapioca, snacks, and sweet breads. Marquee offerings will be a vegan soba bento (with golden glazed organic tofu, local pickled vegetables and wakame, and steamed sweet potato) and a chicken curry and rice bowl (with organic chicken and local vegetables). Find out more about Juicy Brew on Facebook or at @juicybrew on Instagram.

To learn more about the Honolulu Mini Maker Faire, you can watch this interview with Ross Mukai of Oahu Makerspace promoting the event yesterday on KITV. There's also this video recap I helped put together after the first event:

Organizers are asking attendees to register online for free to help with planning, but everyone will be welcome at the event from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at Iolani School (563 Kamoku Street). You can check out the official website at MakerFaireHonolulu.com, or connect with the event on Facebook or follow it on Twitter at @MakerFaireHNL.

Main sponsors of the Honolulu Mini Maker Faire include Iolani School, the High Tech Development Corporation, and the Federal Managers Association - Chapter 19.

Photos courtesy Burt Lum and Dan Isobe.