The fifth annual Southwest Maker Fest (SWMF) will bring a variety of exhibitors, presentations, and workshops to downtown Mesa on February 17! The FREE festival engages visitors in exploring hands-on creation, from 3D printing to rocketry to weaving, from 10 am to 4 pm, on Pepper Street between Robson and Macdonald Streets in Mesa. The i.d.e.a. Museum will be open free to the public that day as part of the festival experience. Details can be found at SouthwestMakerFest.com.
This year, Southwest Maker Fest is happy to be partnering with Downtown Mesa Festival of the Arts, a successful bi-monthly “made by me” arts festival. The two events will happen adjacent to each other, creating a contiguous experience of 100 exhibitors and presenters that create a vibrant marketplace of original hand-made art, craft and food on MacDonald Street. It includes a variety of fun and engaging activities on Pepper Street such as art, science and technology, sustainability, innovative projects, hands-on learning, and community art-making. Both events will feature musical performances and food will be available for purchase.
This collaborative one-day festival and community of makers seeks to achieve Southwest Maker Fest’s vision of a connected community, empowered by creativity. SWMF’s mission is to celebrate, engage, and inspire the maker in each of us. The fifth annual festival is easily reachable from the Center Street or Country Club stops on Valley Metro Light Rail, and there is plenty of free parking nearby. Last year’s Southwest Maker Fest welcomed approximately 5,000 visitors.
Southwest Maker Fest celebrates the uniquely human power of creativity and invention, and the entrepreneurial spirit. Visit the combined SWMF and Downtown Festival of the Arts to experience, learn, play and shop. SWMF exhibitors in 2018 include fiber arts, a tiny house in a bus, opportunities to make ice cream out of nitrogen and to build and race mini race cars, LEGO Activities, community art-making, tear apart electronics and more.
Location:Â The festival takes place on Pepper Place in downtown Mesa, from S Robson to S MacDonald. The street is barricaded – only pedestrian traffic allowed.
Date and Time:Â Saturday, February 17, 10 am – 4 pm
Parking:Â In addition to parking on un-barricated streets surrounding the festivals, free parking is available in the Pepper Street Parking Garage on 30 W. Pepper Pl.
The i.d.e.a. Museum is open, for free, during festival hours!
For Event information visit SouthwestMakerFest.com.
Laurel Way is a writer for film, television, websites, and blogs. She is based in Phoenix, Arizona in the U.S., and has two fat cats and a loving husband. Laurel is a geek to her core and loves all things within horror, sci-fi/fantasy, and more. When she is not writing films, she is watching them, and her go-to movie snack is popcorn and Milkduds.
