ORLANDO, Fla. – The Central Florida Fairgrounds & Expo Halls were loud, colorful and packed this weekend as Maker Faire Orlando returned for November 7 and 8. Billed as the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth, the event gave hundreds of makers a place to show off what they build and teach what they know. Parents with strollers, kids in costume and teenagers in team shirts crowded the aisles from the 10 a.m. opening, and almost every table had a hands-on activity worth stopping for.
Families set the mood early. Near the entrance, the Donnie Dynamo paint and take table had a line of kids and adults hunched over miniatures. A posted sign explained that every attendee got one free mini, and that anyone under fourteen needed a participating adult. Painters in teal aprons wandered the table helping beginners .
Not far away, the Renaissance LEGO User Group built a castle scene that stopped people mid-stride. Two brick towers stood in front of a black backdrop with a glowing dragon, and display stands held pages from a castle cross-section book so visitors could compare the real illustrations to the models. Rope barriers kept small hands back, and members in matching shirts answered questions.
Few things drew a crowd like the 1/3-scale Sherman tank. Built entirely from 3D-printed parts and radio controlled, it sat in the aisle with working headlights and a gun barrel pointing at the crowd. Its owner held the controller and laughed along with a group of delighted onlookers.
Craft lovers had plenty to see too. An origami vendor covered a royal blue table with tiny folded paper characters, from superheroes and Mario to Pikachu and a pale Baymax, plus huge dragons and flower spheres priced at ten, twenty and twenty-five dollars. 
Collectors found their corner at J2C Props & Printing. A black table showcased large resin statues, including a glossy Alien xenomorph, Captain America with his shield, a 2B figure from Nier: Automata, Ash from Evil Dead and a flaming Balrog. The orange glow from that last piece drew visitors back for second looks.
The fun reached into the retro aisles as well. A booth styled like a Fallout trading post, with a large Red Rocket sign and vines, sat behind a mid-century tablecloth covered in diamonds and starbursts. Kids in green shirts and princess dresses lined up at the front, and dads in backpacks leaned over to see the props, which included cereal boxes, a rotary phone and Vault Boy figures.
Young authors found an audience, too. Brothers Maxwell and Gavin Johnson sat behind a table lined with copies of Be Smart and Gavin the Kid Explorer: My Big Trip to Washington, D.C., along with wristbands that read “I Can Do It.” Their mother stood nearby and a tall banner announced them as Amazon best-selling authors. Visitors stopped to chat and pick up bookmarks.
A few steps on, FIRST Robotics teams filled several tables. Members of Team 386 in bright yellow shirts bent over parts bins and shared a table with a Sparky Circuits activity where little kids built blinking circuits with help from teen mentors. A banner nearby read that the team uses robots to build students.
The Southern R2 Builders Club brought a whole fleet of droids. R2-D2 units in blue and white stood next to an orange-topped Chopper, a BB-8 and a handful of others in different states of weathering. Members in matching blue shirts worked the table while visitors lined up for photos.
For many families, the craft table run by orange-shirted FIRST Hall of Fame students was the highlight. Feathers, pom-poms, pipe cleaners and tape covered the long table while teens helped small kids turn the supplies into creations.
Vendors brought charm, too. Little World Creations by Patti Smith had a lace-covered table of teacups turned into miniature fairy gardens, each with tiny figures, flowers and mushrooms.
Another hands-on station let guests paint white cat masks. A table with a pink cloth held paint plates, cups of brushes and a finished yellow mask. 
Music had a prominent spot. A girl in a knit blue hat with ears gasped with delight as she tried an Arturia keyboard wired into a Korg MS2000 and a wall of modular synthesizer gear. 
The Orlando Math Circle turned math into a physical game. Using colorful interlocking cubes, a student in a blue shirt carefully stacked a tall tower beside a Math Kangaroo Competition banner. A volunteer in a yellow STEM shirt helped nearby, and a scattered pile of blocks on the floor showed that not every tower had survived.
The learning side of the Faire was easy to see at the soldering station. Camo-uniformed volunteers, taught kids how to solder while parents leaned over their shoulders. Small fume extractors in blue sat on the table, and children held tiny irons as they worked on blinking projects.
The Orlando Ghostbusters filled one aisle in full uniform. A member in a khaki jumpsuit raised a glowing wand up to a young woman who grinned as she joined in. Detailed proton packs sat on the table, and a sign invited kids to play Mini-Puft Hunt by finding hidden marshmallow characters across the fairgrounds.
Over on the stage, a panel of four guests sat beneath a colorful Maker Faire robot mural, microphones in front of them.
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NocedoPhoto Media Group is an innovative and creative consortium that unites photographers, writers, cosplayers, event promoters, vendors, costume and prop makers, and other creatives under one roof to use their collective skills to maximize their distribution and presence on digital media platforms. Their goal is to create a well-rounded and successful network for all involved.
