Maker Faire Salzburg 2025 - Meshtastic, Drawing Machines and Plenty of Inspiration

Some events end up in your calendar long before you’re really sure you’ll actually go. The Maker Faire Salzburg was one of those - entered at some point, and then I set off with a certain amount of anticipation. Alone, by car, a relaxed drive on the Westautobahn to Salzburg. I parked in the underground garage across from TriBühne Lehen - doesn’t get more practical than that.

Arriving at TriBühne Lehen

TriBühne Lehen is a good place for something like this. An event venue in the Salzburg district of Lehen that offers plenty of space - or at least almost enough. Because on that Saturday, November 8, 2025, it was noticeably crowded. Around 1,400 visitors and over 120 makers from home and abroad in a manageable area, you definitely notice it. Families with children, tech enthusiasts, hobbyists, students - a colorful mix pushing through the booths.

My honest first impression: good, but I would have expected the whole thing to be set up on a somewhat larger scale. Not that anything was missing - the density of interesting projects was quite impressive.

Meshtastic - the highlight of the day

I spent most of my time at the Meshtastic booth, and rightly so. I already knew Meshtastic by name - picked up somewhere on the internet as a way to communicate over longer distances without cell phone coverage. More range than WiFi, without being dependent on commercial infrastructure.

What I took away from the booth made the concept tangible for me: Meshtastic uses LoRa radio (Long Range) to build a decentralized mesh network. Each device is simultaneously transmitter, receiver, and relay station. Messages hop from node to node - no servers, no SIM card, no internet. That makes it interesting for outdoor activities, placing sensors and actuators on your property for various tasks without WiFi everywhere, for people who like to tinker at the limits of what’s possible.

The conversations there were technically sound and the people at the booth had real practical experience and some cool examples of devices and practical applications. Which boards are suitable (Lilygo T-Beam, Heltec, various ESP32 variants), how far connections realistically reach, what you can do with the sensor extensions - there’s a lot of potential. Will I soon build a node myself? I’m still undecided, but it’s definitely on my mental radar.

The DIY drawing machine at MakerAustria

An optical highlight was the booth from MakerAustria: mounted on a flipchart stand was a homemade drawing machine that, controlled by stepper motors, paints artworks on paper. Not a finished product, not a kit - real DIY, you could see it in the construction. And that’s exactly what makes it interesting.

Such machines fascinate me because they sit at the intersection of code, mechanics, and creativity. The algorithm decides, the motor moves, the paper receives. What emerges has its own aesthetic.

Shop talk, browsing, getting inspired

At the CCC Salzburg booth, I had a chance to chat about current topics - always pleasant when you meet like-minded people in such an environment.

At the booths from iFixit, Lilygo, and OpenELAB, I got an overview of current products and gathered inspiration for upcoming projects. Not with the plan to buy something right away - but with my head full of ideas about what you could do with them.

The interactive areas - good, but crowded

The interactive stations were well-curated thematically. Anyone who wanted could work their way through a broad spectrum of maker topics practically. Definitely an absolute highlight for kids and beginners.

For me personally, these areas were simply too crowded to participate in a relaxed way. That’s not a criticism of the event - with that kind of traffic, it’s unavoidable - but I’m easily overwhelmed by that sort of thing anyway.

Conclusion

Maker Faire Salzburg 2025 was a good day. Meshtastic introduced me to a topic I previously only knew superficially. The DIY drawing machine reminded me once again what’s possible when someone simply starts building.

If you’re in the area and find maker topics even remotely interesting: the visit is worth it. Admission is free, parking garage across the street, and you come home with more project ideas than you had before.

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Practical Information

Event	6th Maker Faire Salzburg
Date	Saturday, November 8, 2025, 10am-6pm
Location	TriBühne Lehen, Salzburg
Admission	Free
Parking	Underground garage across from TriBühne Lehen
Website	makerdays.at