Source: Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers

Two years ago, Maker Faire Bilbao had the intriguing theme “Technology is the new rock n’ roll.” Lead organizer and creative director at Espacio Open Karim Asry had explained the intersection: “Self-expression, the collective experience of enjoying something together, identity, skills: there are so many things in common.

Many people probably experience the same thing at their first Faire as with their first music concert, thinking something like, ‘How could we have not known about this?’” Over the years, the intersection has not only been metaphorical, but Maker Faire Bilbao has always showcased a healthy sampling of maker-made experimental music.

This year Maker Faire Bilbao, October 27–29, is taking that connection to the next level — they’ve partnered with Bime Music Festival, who is bringing The Prodigy, Franz Ferdinand, and master makers Einstürzende Neubauten (the pioneering industrial band from Berlin who’ve been making their own instruments since the 80s) to their festival on October 27–28. As Asry puts it, “So basically, Bilbao will see its streets filled with music, rockers, makers, and positive digital revolution this week. All the makers will get full access to the festival, and we’ll be fooling around there with VR glasses and more surprises. We really believe that all cultural movements go faster and further when they get close to music. Our time has come in Bilbao!”

It’s also European Maker Week this week, an initiative promoted by European Commission and implemented by Maker Faire Rome in collaboration with Startup Europe. There will be maker activities in 28 countries across Europe, and Bilbao will be celebrating in solidarity through the Maker Faire.

Asry adds, “We’ll be happy to show all sides of the maker spirit, from alternative culture to business, cross-pollinating each other under the same roof.”

Reflections on 5 Years of Maker Faires

Maker Faire Bilbao is now in it’s fifth year at the historic industrial multi-use space dubbed the Cookie Factory, and their lineup includes 60 maker exhibits and more than 150 activities in total, including workshops and talks. Last year’s celebration drew 11,000 attendees. Asry offered some insightful reflections on the Faire and maker culture in Bilbao and beyond:

In moments of uncertainty in Spain, maker culture is more and more necessary as a roadmap for a better future for all. This year will be our 5th anniversary, and it’s a good time to think about how the generation that has grown up with Maker Faire in our city has blossomed in ways impossible before, having access to tools, knowledge, and community spaces. Makerspaces and maker culture, in general, is allowing this generation and the next generations to become better engineers, programmers, artists, biohackers, activists, entrepreneurs, or whatever they want to be, but in its best version. And we’re proud to have contributed to it for sure!

The Cookie Factory has grown into a large-scale makerspace (20,000 square meters) that mixes maker culture with social projects, traditional industries, and contemporary culture, gathering high-tech and low-tech makers in a very emblematic building that fosters woodworkers, metalworkers, a digital fabrication lab, mechanics, a circus school, a rock climbing boulder, and many other DIY activities shaping the soul of the last…

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