Unleash your creativity at Maker Faire Lake County

Creative minds are invited to wow the crowd with their talents at the 5th annual Maker Faire Lake County Saturday, April 12 at College of Lake County’s (CLC) Grayslake Campus.

To apply to be a maker, register for free here.

Maker Faire celebrates the multifaceted fields of making—from engineers to scientists to crafters. The event also showcases CLC’s home for makers, the Baxter Innovation Lab, which opened in 2018. The event is free and open to the public. More than 1,200 people attended the free event in 2024.

Innovations can be hobbies, experiments or projects, ranging from human-powered machines and drones to wearables and e-textiles. Showcase items from your organization, after-school program, club, scout group or start up. The attendees will delight in seeing technology such as 3D printing, computerized numerical control programming, and laser cutting. Or consider items where the attendees can become makers too with projects including interactive art and technology; kites; puppets; robotics; rockets; or sustainability.

“By showcasing your work, you might inspire others to start making things themselves, especially younger generations who are just beginning to explore their creative potential,” said Engineering Instructor Jan Edwards.

The final for the Lake County Robotics season, for students grade 7-12, will also take place at Maker Faire Lake County. Visit here for more information, and to register, contact Rob Twardock at rtwardock@clcillinois.edu

Maker Faire applications will be accepted until March 15. For more information, including how to answer the Call for Makers, visit here or email clc.makerfaire@clcillinois.edu

On the same day, CLC is hosting open houses from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at all three campuses, the Advanced Technology Center and the Prairie Restaurant at Brae Loch.