The Dublin Maker team pictured in 2019. Image: Dublin Maker
Whether your interest is sustainable flowerpots or gaming as Gaeilge, the weekend’s festival line-up is sure to tickle your fancy.
This year’s Dublin Maker Festival is not just working around the pandemic – it is embracing it.
Celebrating all of the strange and wondrous outputs during our time in lockdown, the virtual festival will host its volunteers and attendees over Gather.town in a fully online experience.
Sponsored by Science Foundation Ireland, the festival was postponed last year, but is now taking Covid-19 in its stride.
We’ve highlighted just a few of the exciting showcases that will take place over the weekend (19 and 20 June).
Places are free but require booking. For those who don’t want to attend as a digital sprite via Gather.town, the events will also be livestreamed on YouTube.
Masks made modern
First up is Lorraine’s light-up face mask – showcasing material that scrolls what you are saying across your mask.
The maks is controlled by a small ESP32, two NeoPixel matrices and a small lithium polymer battery, all of which fit neatly inside the face covering. Pandemic paraphernalia has never looked so good.
Gaming as Gaeilge
If you took solace in your PlayStation or Xbox during the long year inside, Gaming as Gaeilge could be the event for you.
In one of the more social events of the festival, Gaming as Gaeilge is a chance to use your Irish language skills in a natural (if digital) setting and explore the world of online gaming. Perfect for both experienced speakers and beginners, your modh coinníollach is appreciated but not required.
At-home synthesisers
If content creation is more your thing, keep an eye out for Dr Joe Timoney from Maynooth University who will be demonstrating how to make sounds with a synthesiser.
Featuring VCVrack, this software modular synthesiser is for all the electronic enthusiasts out there. A regular of the Dublin Maker festival, the veteran Timoney is sure to put on a good show.
Eco-conscious home decor
For the creative and environmentally conscious comes The Dublin Food Co-op.
If you have plastic bottles, egg cartons or any cardboard lying around, come along (virtually) to this workshop and make your next batch of sustainable plant pots, Hallowe’en decorations and paper flower garlands.
Sustainable arts and crafts
Last up is the Imagination Station, carrying on the theme of eco-conscious sustainability.
For those who want to get their children excited about recycling old materials, look no further. Arty Marty will talk through some exciting tutorials on making cool crafts from your green bin salvage. In what is sure to be informative for children and parents alike, go along and see your scrap in a new light.
