BELLEFONTE — What do robots, train rides, woodworking, art, craft beer and cider have in common?
You’ll find them all at Maker Faire Happy Valley, returning Oct.3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Oct. 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an expanded weekend of creativity, invention, hands-on experiences and unexpected discoveries at Axemann Brewery and Titan Hollow in Bellefonte.
Following its successful debut in 2025, Maker Faire Happy Valley is growing into a bigger weekend experience designed to draw families, creatives, curious minds and visitors from across Pennsylvania and beyond. The free, family-friendly event brings together makers from near and far, including nationally followed creators alongside local artists, inventors, engineers, hobbyists and tinkerers.
“Maker Faire is a celebration of what happens when people are curious enough to ask ‘what if?’ and brave enough to try,” said Michele Crowl, Executive Director of Discovery Space and The Rivet. “We saw that spirit come to life at our first Faire, and this year we’re bringing even more people together. It’s an opportunity to see incredible things, learn from the people who make them and, we hope, leave inspired to make something of your own.”
MEET FEATURED MAKERS TRAVELING TO HAPPY VALLEY
With support from our generous sponsors, this year’s Faire introduces its featured maker lineup, with influencers and experts making the trip to Bellefonte to share their work in person.
Leah Houghtaling, traveling from upstate New York, is a self-taught woodworker and lifelong tinkerer with hundreds of thousands of followers online. With more than 25 years of woodworking experience, Leah is known for her “Log Hugger” approach to making, her one-of-a-kind creations and her belief in using every bit of wood she can. At Maker Faire, she’ll demonstrate her work and share her popular Comfort Birds.
Becky Stern, traveling from Brooklyn, N.Y., is an independent content creator and STEM influencer known for hundreds of DIY tutorials spanning electronics, microcontrollers, sewing, wearable technology and more. A former director of wearable electronics at Adafruit and senior video producer for MAKE Magazine, Becky has built a huge online audience around her inventive projects and approachable teaching style.
Jay Mankita, traveling from Amherst, Mass., is a teaching artist, musician, lifelong maker and founder of Playful Engineers. Jay creates hands-on programs where kids become the “Playful Engineers,” experimenting with their own ideas and designing and building artful mechanisms that move, communicate and tell stories.
MORE THAN YOU THINK
Maker Faire Happy Valley is the kind of event where you might come for the robots and leave talking about pinball, coffee roasting, glassmaking or a giant community-built marble run.
Highlights include:
- Live project work and demonstrations, including coffee roasting and gravity brewing, glassworking, lapidary and more
- Craig Trader’s Chaos Machine, a massive community-built marble run combining creativity, engineering and a little controlled chaos
- Pinball Joe’s Workshop (Saturday only), where visitors can play, peek inside a pinball machine and learn the basics of repair. The first 500 visitors will receive a free pinball to take home.
- The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society, bringing $5 train rides and free tours to the Faire
- Doing Good with Wood, where visitors can make their own wooden kazoos and more
- A K’NEX toy designer, sharing the creativity and engineering behind one of the world’s best-known toy brands
- A Chomp Shop-sponsored cardboard fortress-building and battle station, led by Discovery Space & The Rivet.
- A special Saturday evening event at Titan Hollow, Maker Faire Happy Valley After Dark, extends the experience beyond the daytime Faire!
MAKE A WEEKEND OF IT
Maker Faire Happy Valley takes place at two distinctive Bellefonte venues, Axemann Brewery and Titan Hollow, connected by a free shuttle throughout the weekend.
Visitors are invited to explore both locations, spend time with makers, grab food and drinks, take part in hands- on experiences and discover everything the expanded Faire has to offer.
Admission to the main Faire is FREE, with free parking available.
There is a special ticketed event at Titan Hollow. Tickets are available online at ecom.roller.app/discoveryspaceofcentralpennsylvania/makerfairehappyvalley/en-
us/product/2093953?date=2026-10-03.
For the full schedule, featured makers, special events and visitor information, visit HappyValley.MakerFaire.com.
