BIG news folks. We’ve officially upgraded our hardware, so to speak, since we saw you last. It comes with more bells, all of the whistles, additional lasers, an extra thruster in our jetpack, LED care-bear tummy signals and 100% more capes. Here’s the deal:

It’s a pleasure to introduce Maker Festival – Toronto’s very own week-long celebration of all things Maker!

After hosting two mega-successful Mini Maker Faires (which were a blast!), we’ve realized that the maker community in Toronto is ready for its very own identity and platform for engaging the public in the miracle of makeryness. Yes, we just made that word up.

Maker Festival aims to lasercut the lid off the Maker movement that thrives just under the surface of this fine city, and shine a thousand watts of light on the creative people, projects and spaces that make it magic.

So what makes the Festival so awesome?

You mean other than 100% more capes? Well, just like last year, we’ll be bringing the makers to the people at the Toronto Reference Library over the weekend in a big interactive Maker Extravaganza that’s free to the public.

We’ll ALSO be bringing the people to the makers, by programming a week-long lead up of satellite events hosted at creative spaces throughout the city. Expect workshops, tours, maker-jams, skill-shares and more. There’ll be something from everyone, whether you’re a “I-spent-my-morning-3D- printing-a-space-bot” expert, or a “What-even-is-a-maker?” beginner. Sound amazing? Sign up to our mailing list if you want to stay in the loop!

ALSO! This year the Festival is going to be in SUMMER. So mark your calendars now – we’re kicking off on July 24th and culminating at the library Extravaganza over the long weekend of August 1st-2nd.

So strap on your imaginations people, tighten your safety goggles, and set your dials to curious, because the biggest Maker event in Canada is about to drop this summer, and you’re gonna wanna be there.

Here are all the ways you can join in the frivolity:

• Follow us on Twitter & Facebook, sign up for our very infrequent yet uber-informative newsletter, register your attendance (July is around the corner!), or sign up to be one of our badass volunteers.

• For Makers, Creatives, Tinkerers & the Curious – here’s the official Call for Contributors, here’s the application form, here’s the link to sign up for our mailing list, and here’s Eric’s contact details if you have any questions (he’s real nice).

• For those looking to support, sponsor or partner, here’s some info to get the ball rolling, here’s the link to sign up to be a VIP, and here’s where you can find Jen’s contact details to get in touch.