Third annual Makers Fair ‘biggest and best yet’ 

From knitters and woodworkers to painters and graphic artists, the University of Washington Bothell campus community is filled with creatives, whose work was on full display at the third annual Makers Fair on Feb. 11. The event attracted nearly 1,100 participants and more than 80 student, faculty, staff, alumni and community vendors. 

“This year’s UW Bothell Makers Fair went wonderfully, well beyond our wildest dreams,” said Pauline Tolentino, assistant director for Student Engagement & Activities. “It truly feels like this third fair has been the biggest and best yet!” 

Launched in 2024 by Tolentino and Jireh Reduque, SEA program manager, the UW Bothell Makers Fair was inspired by a similar annual event at the UW’s Seattle campus. 

Aware of how widespread the maker culture is, the pair hoped the fair could be an accessible and inclusive way to highlight the many talents and creative interests of makers across the Bothell campus. 

Making participation a priority 

“As makers and innovators ourselves,” Tolentino said, “this year’s planning team was committed to ensuring that this event served as both space and opportunity for our makers to showcase their talents, jumpstart or continue their entrepreneurship journeys, and feel seen and celebrated. 

“Feedback from many involved indicates that we met those goals. I’m proud of how the Makers Fair brought our Bothell community together.” 

Using feedback from the previous two years, the planning team — which also included Jesus Govela, manager of the campus Makerspace — waived vending fees and provided free parking to ensure greater access and inclusion. The team also aimed to improve the vendor experience, check-in processes, food options and community-focused marketing to create a smoother event experience. 

The more than 80 vendors who turned out to sell their wares featured many familiar faces from prior events — as well as newcomers encouraged to sell their work for the first time. 

“As a volunteer at the Makers Fair last year, I was able to appreciate all the small details from the schedule to the event space to the alumni booths,” said Ashley Tsang, a senior majoring in Business Administration. “Seeing other students’ creativity fueled my ambition to become a vendor this year.” 

For Tsang, the fair presented another opportunity for her childhood dream of having a “lemonade stand” to come to fruition. 

Helping dreams come to fruition 

At this year’s fair, Tsang created fruit keychains, charms and rings out of pipe cleaners, as well as stickers of her original paintings. 

She grew up in Los Angeles in a predominantly Asian and Latino community, Tsang said, and often walked past Mexican street vendors who sold shaved ice snow cones, sparking in her a desire to have her own lemonade stand. 

Relying on her vivid imagination, Tsang used a supply of cardboard, paint and scratch-and-sniff stickers to create “lemonade” to sell, pouring ice cubes made from squares of white paper into cups painted yellow. “Within a few hours,” she recalled, “I had become a business owner, builder, mixologist and painter — all at the age of seven.” 

This early entrepreneurial spirit continues to drive her academic, creative and career ambitions. 

“As a senior, I am incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity,” Tsang said. “Seeing my peers and even professors curious and interested in my art was extremely rewarding, and I truly value the conversations I had at my booth. 

“It was much more than selling or making money — and more about the sense of community that the event fostered.” 

The fourth annual UW Bothell Makers Fair will take place Feb. 10, 2027. 

The Makers Fair is made possible by sponsors and partners including the UW Bothell Makerspace, Student Engagement & Activities, UW Bothell Alumni & Stakeholder Engagement, the UW Alumni Association, donors Nancy and Benjamin Remak, and PepsiCo.