Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.164 | Maker Faire Syracuse

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

Syracuse Maker Fair Preview: eSports, Cosplay, Robotics, and Community Creativity Host Noah Chrysler interviews Pauline Lynch Shostak and Jonathan (John Hur) from Maker Fair Syracuse about the event as a “world’s greatest show-and-tell” where Central New York makers share creations ranging from blacksmithing and retro games to robotics and cosplay. They discuss what defines a “maker,” growth from 80 makers/1,200 attendees in year one to 144 makers this fifth year, and the impact on students who present projects. New this year are an eSports Smash Brothers tournament (17 and under) with free play, a bike-repair co-op exhibit encouraging attendees to ride in, expanded cosplay partnering with NOCO Con, and an indoor “Science Museum on Wheels” physics bus due to a larger venue. They mention exhibits like Lego League and FIRST robotics, a remote-control La-Z-Boy, Harry Potter props, and Star Wars costumers. The fair is May 2 at the New York State Fairgrounds, Center of Progress Building, with tickets at syracuse.makerfair.com/tickets. 00:00 Welcome and Guests 00:33 What Is Maker Fair 01:32 What Makes a Maker 02:34 New This Year 04:04 How Big It’s Gotten 04:33 Kids Showing Their Work 05:59 Wild Past Highlights 07:13 This Year’s Must Sees 11:00 Maker Culture Evolves 14:10 Star Wars Cosplay Buzz 15:08 Tickets and Details 17:14 Closing Thanks

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Good News York. My name is Noah Chrysler. Today, I am sitting with Pauline and Jonathan from the Syracuse Maker Faire. Guys, welcome. Thank you for having us. Thanks for having us. Absolutely. Can you both introduce yourselves?

Yes, I'm Pauline Lynch-Sostak, and I'm the Maker-Fer Syracuse producer. I'm John Hur, and I work in the K-12 Committee, and I'm also in charge of the Cortland County region. Very cool. Beautiful. So for people who do not understand, what is the Syracuse Maker Fair? You want to take this one? So from a maker's perspective, the Syracuse Maker Fair is essentially what they call it the world's greatest show and tell. The idea is that makers from all around the community, in this case from the central New York region, are coming together to show off the things that they've made and have people from around the area come take a look and interact with their creations.

There's everything from high stem, like we're talking battlebots. That was last year we have blacksmiths. We have retro gamecom coming. We have cosplay. Any and all versions of make are going to be represented. Very cool. You had blacksmiths there last year. I think we have a blacksmith coming this year.

Yes, the blacksmith is coming this year. Oh, wow. That's awesome. I think blacksmithing is very cool. Beautiful, what makes somebody a maker? Define a maker for me. What is a maker? Well, I'll tell you, I didn't know I was a maker until a few years ago. I realized I love to design games. I love to paint Mandela's. I love doing all these creative things, but I called them the specific activity they were. Then I attended Maker Fair Rochester several years ago and saw all these activities and they're calling all these folks makers. And I'm like, oh, that's what I am. I'm a maker. And so it's pretty much what you love to.

do and create and innovate and across for us the steam field so we are focused on science technology engineering arts and mathematics very cool mandala with the sand and the thing that i think is wiped away is that what that is uh that's one version of it i like to paint uh with dot paints uh with dots paint mandela patterns very cool yes wonderful well very cool okay cool so this year i've heard this year a little bit different than some of the last years. You've got some new exhibits, some new things going on. Can you tell me about what makes this year different than some of the last years? Well, one of the big things is we're introducing in the sports tournament.

We're partnering with elite gaming right here in Syracuse. Cool. And they're going to be hosting a Smash Brothers tournament for 17 and under. And there'll be free play open all day with some PS5s and some switches as well. Yeah. And another thing we have is we have a group from Marcellus coming And I don't have the name in front of me. I don't know if you want me to check it.

Yeah, go for it. I got you. Oh, no. Here we go. The Alchemical Nursery Projects Bicycle Depot. And they are a fairly new group in Marcellus, New York. And they help folks, their co-op to repair, learn how to repair their bikes, keep their bikes maintained. And so they've signed up for the first time.

So they're going to be outside. helping folks if they want some guidance and tips on their bikes. And so we're encouraging folks to ride the, we're on the Erie Canal, ride your bike to the fair, and we have indoor parking for them. Oh, very cool. So if I have a broken bike that kind of works, but I can ride it there.

You can get it there? I can get it fixed up there. Is that true? They'll help you fix it up there. Wonderful. Very cool. They'll teach me about how to fix it. They will teach you how to do some repair on your bike.

Very cool. Very cool. How big is the Maker Faire? So you guys were talking about how originally it's grown every year, yeah? Yes. So we are in our fifth year. This is our fifth Maker Faire. Our first Maker Faire, we had 80 makers and about 1,200 attendees.

Last year we had 123 makers and about 2,000 attendees. And we just closed maker registration. And we are at 144 this year. Wow. So every year it's grown. Wow. That's exciting. Very cool.

What do you think is the most exciting thing about this, right? Like when you see, I'm assuming you see a bunch of kids who have never really done anything like this before. Can you tell me about that experience? What is that like when you see a child who has made something for the first time and is showing it off? Oh, I can 100% talk about that. So I run the maker space of the Coral and Junior Senior High School and we started going five years ago. We were at the first Syracuse Maker Fair. and the look of panic in their eyes when they're driving on the bus

and they're knowing that the things that they made that they spent all this time building that they've been playing around with, having fun with, and knowing that there's going to be hundreds, if not thousands of people, not only seeing but playing with the stuff that they've made, like sheer absolute panic. And then they get there,

and then they're even more panicked because they're saying it all up and they're like, oh, my gosh, this broke. Oh, no, I need the duct tape. Oh, I need the hot glue. But the second they see that group of, you know, that parent come with the three kids, or the grandparents come by or that class group come by

and they're going and playing and having fun. Most of the students I bring have told me that their favorite part of Maker Faire is not seeing all the exhibits. It's working the table and seeing everyone interact with the games and everything that we bring. So from a maker's perspective, 100%

the joy of Maker Faire is showing your creations and letting them live a life of their own. Cool. When you guys think back to past years to previous years, what are some of the most exciting things that you've seen at the Maker Faire? Things that you're like, oh, this was awesome. This was what this is about. I can't remember if we've had them at Syracuse,

but I know I saw him in Rochester. There's this guy who comes with these giant horns. Massive, massive, like 20 foot, 30 foot tall horns. We did. Okay, so it was the first year, right? Adam Foster is about a few years. So cool. So these giant horns stand outside in the front.

and they shoot fire and play different notes. So you can play music on these, essentially just giant fire trumpets. Got it. These are music horns. I thought you meant like horns on his head. I was like, wow, 20 feet tall, it's amazing. Massive.

It's crazy. Cool. And when it's cold outside, the Rochester Maker Faire is usually held in November, and it's freezing. So you'll just stand next to the flaming trumpets and warm up a bit. Did he machine these himself? Or was it, yes?

Really? Out of like brass and stuff? Yes. He travels, like he travels around to make affairs around the world actually doing this really. Yeah, this is, the stuff you can see is crazy. Wow. And that's going to be at the Syracuse one? I wish.

Gotcha. Okay. That said, there are a lot of really, really cool things coming this year. I'm excited for the lineup. Yeah, so we have a science, a physics bus that comes from Ithaca every year. And they call it a science museum. them on wheels and they are always a very popular stop. And we're excited last year, it rained the entire time. And so they were outside. They still got tons of attendees coming out. But we get to

bring them in the building this year because we've moved into a bigger building. So the bus will actually be inside. But that's always a huge draw. And they're coming back again this year. So that's really exciting. Wonderful. Oh, that's awesome. Cool. Beautiful. Anything else that is happening at this Maker Faire that people should look forward to the battle bots. I wanted to talk about battle bots. So you said last year there was a big battle bots exhibit. Can you tell me about that? How many people

made bots and what was that like? So battlebots have kind of changed a bit. Last year we had the space where we could have an external battlebop group come in and ultimately it did well. It was a little hectic, a little chaotic. So while we did unfortunately not bring them back this year,

we do have some groups that are coming in and showing off other forms of robotics. For example, I'm going to grab the paper again. Yeah, yeah, go for it. Too bad, so sad, viewers. I didn't memorize any of this. So I know for a fact that there's going to be several robotics teams coming in, probably showing off some of their first robotics, which are awesome.

Those are ones that are made by high school students or early college age, like students. So it's kind of crazy. There's a, oh, there's going to be some Lego League robotics coming in, which is awesome because Lego League is, I mean, it's the perfect marriage between Lego Robotics. and like challenge courses. And there's going to be a lot of fun of that. I know my maker space is coming with our little battle cats, which are going to be ones that people can come in and play with.

Like the little lucky cats that you see at the Chinese restaurant, we turn them into battlebots. Oh, cool. Each other around. So, again, there's a lot of versions of battlebots or different robotic competitions that will be present at this Maker Faire. And I think the other thing, we are expanding on cosplay. because we have had cosplay every year.

And every year, if we even mention we're going to have an opportunity for attendees to participate in a show or something, we immediately have several attendees emailing us, signing up, all of that. So this year we're partnering with Noko Khan, which is the North Country Khan for cosplay. And they are going to help us put on a show. And so we've had pre-registration and we've already had folks sign up. And we'll be doing a raffle for anyone who participates in that cosplay show. And the other really cool thing that happens every year and will happen again this year is what the other. There's another school that comes that's called Wellsville School District, which they come from about two hours away.

Yeah, they trip. And their students have built a remote control lazy boy recliner that they give rides on to folks. They go around the event driving that. around and we have another maker who comes who has made many props from movies and one of them is the monster i'm telling me i get this one of monsters monster book of monsters from harry potter yeah and so that will that book will be traveling around oh cool the day it's very neat wonderful uh i went to rIT and so at r it there's uh you know uh the uh imagine r it and so there was you know there was a remote control couch and like you can sit on that and it's a lot of fun yeah that sounds like a blast that's wonderful um have

have you guys seen uh the whole maker you know culture the whole maker community has has it changed a lot recently in the recent years with like new advances in 3D printing and that sort of thing what do you think has kind of changed the game and is it more accessible than ever or you know what are what are your thoughts there honestly that's a really interesting question um with the advent of technology and with it being significantly more accessible, I'd say that it has become a lot more beginner-friendly. It used to be even five years ago, the people who would come with their 3D printers or 3D prints,

they're the ones who did it predominantly for a living or as a massive side hustle. They've really invested a lot of time and money and to learn how to do it, but as things like bamboo labs have gotten more accessible and laser engravers are gotten more accessible, even cosplay has gotten more popular and a lot easier to work with thanks to tutorials on TikTok,

there's a lot more beginner makers entering and showing what they can do. So the growth has been staggering and remarkable. And I mean, our hope with this event is that we draw the community into making and whether that's personally making and finding out like myself that I was a maker all along or I just, there's a maker in each one of us. And bringing all these different groups and individuals together who are doing it in our community, I would hope that maybe something will spark an interest in someone who's attending our fair and maybe they'll explore that option.

And I do think a lot of our, especially our hobby groups and the companies that are coming, they are looking to draw in new members or to get folks interested in their particular field or career. and talk to them about how they could pursue that. So I've always hoped with this event that we would be helping to draw folks in who may not have ever thought about it. There's a million little puddles there, and we're just hoping people get their feet wet and all of them. Oh, I love that.

That's great. I like that, too. That's great. No, I think that that is a very wonderful goal, you know? I mean, because you never know. You never know if there's a child there that's going to, for the first time, interact with, you know, oh, cool, this is a little robot, right? And then they become, you know, the next Steve Jobs of robotics.

And, you know, they start working for Boston Dynamics and make those killer robots that are coming from. Literally, my first year, I had a student who went there and met the people from the Syracuse Astronomical Society. He put in a raffle for one of the telescopes, won it. Oh, my gosh. And I didn't even know this story. Yeah. And he went there as a ninth grader. And, yeah, now he's going to Cornell.

and he's looking to go into astronomy. Oh, my gosh. Like, 100% like he made those connections. And thanks to him, like, it's, there's a lot of things I can come from this. It is, it is an incredible, incredible experience. And the kids who go, they, yeah, they tend to leave feeling really excited about at least something.

Cool. It's fun. It's incredibly fun. Absolutely. So if I'm a parent at home and I'm like, oh, man, how do I get my child to become an engineer and make lots of money? Maybe I'm like, hey, you know, we should go this weekend.

Like, you know, and then you can suck them in by talking about how we're going to have a bunch of like the 501st. You got, you got, all stormtroopers are going to be there. Sick, really? Oh, that's ghost. Wait, hold on. Hold on. Suddenly I'm sold. I want to go so bad.

Oh, my God. Oh, the Star Wars groups are huge. There's times. We've always had the Mandalorian guys coming in because, yeah, and his daughter's gotten so much bigger too. but yeah right right so and they last year i think it was the five of first brought the was it life size because i don't know exactly how big job of the hut is oh yes they brought the giant job of the yes oh cool gabba we had i think was last year do we have kailoren or darth fader walking around well darth fader was definitely walking around yeah i think we i think we had them play chess with

one of our kids oh that's great that's great well cool um guys do me a favor look at that camera really quick and give me a call to action, right? Tell me who should come to the Maker Faire? Tell me when it is and tell me like where you want them to go in order to kind of sign up to go and everything. Syracuse. Everyone should go to this event. It is a life-changing opportunity for some people.

But it's going to be a lot of fun. But truly, truly, you do not know what you're going to see there. And that's what makes it such an exciting event. There is going to be a little bit of everything. And for anyone who has an even passing interest in the acts of making and creating and just tech. It's an experience like no other. It keeps me coming back every year.

It keeps thousands of people coming back every year. It's fun as all hack. If you are looking to come, tickets are available online at Syracuse. com slashticket's slash. Currently, right now, tickets are cheaper. then they will be at the door. So highly recommend getting them earlier. Adults go for $12. Kids are 10. There's a bundle for a family of five for $40. Pauline, give us a heartfelt call out to people who should come to the Maker Faire. Why should they come? I think Maker Faire

Syracuse is an amazing event to learn about what is making that's going on in our community in central New York. And we have found that all a. are interested in this experience because we have groups, community groups, K-12 groups, higher education college folks that attend individual artists. If there's some, if you like making or seeing what's being created out there in our community, you're going to have a great time, we hope, at our event. And many folks have in past years. So we hope you can join us.

And when is it one more time? It's Maker Faire Syracuse is May 2nd, Saturday, May 2nd. at the New York State Fairgrounds and the center of progress building. Wonderful. Well, guys, thank you so much for watching. Good News York. My name is Noah Chrysler,

and we will see you next time.