The 14th edition of Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition is set to take over the historic Gazometro Ostiense district from October 23 to 25, 2026. Organised by the Rome Chamber of Commerce through its special agency Innova Camera, this year’s massive celebration of technology, craft, and human ingenuity brings together more than 400 exhibition stands, 26 secondary schools, and 27 universities and research centers featuring 145 groundbreaking projects.
Spanning three core pillars—Innovation, Creativity, and Discovery—the annual European showcase offers visitors a deeply tactile experience. Far from a traditional static trade show, Maker Faire Rome centers on working prototypes, live demonstrations, and direct dialogues with researchers, makers, start-ups, and academic leaders. Robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, the circular economy, agritech, aerospace, design, and education anchor the expansive three-day agenda, with select portions of the programming also extending to the nearby Istituto Superiore Antincendi. Tickets for the event are available exclusively online through the official festival portal.
Humanoid Robots Take to the Football Pitch
Among the most anticipated highlights of the 2026 edition is the introduction of Italy’s first International Italian Open RoboCup Humanoid Soccer tournament. Pitting university and research teams against one another in matches featuring five autonomous humanoid robots per side, the competition requires the mechanical athletes to read the playing field and make split-second decisions entirely on their own, free from human intervention.
Among the heavyweight contenders is the SPQR team from the Department of Computer, Control, and Management Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome. Having competed in the RoboCup since 1998, the team led by engineer and researcher Vincenzo Suriani recently secured a spot in the finals of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, standing proudly as the sole non-Chinese team remaining during the competition’s final three days.
Complementing the robotics display on the pitch is the eighth edition of the I-RIM 3D 2026 conference, organised by the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Machines. The scientific tracks delve into assistive and medical robotics, collaborative systems, Embodied Intelligence, and Physical AI. Alongside the academic conference, a new I-RIM 3D DEMO program brings research systems directly to the public through continuous live demonstrations, while the I-RIM 3D Exhibition and RoboPitch events bridge the gap between academic research, investors, and industrial innovators, with insights from CNA Roma highlighting practical implementations for artisans and small businesses.
Italian Craftsmanship Meets Advanced Technology
In a major new thematic addition for 2026, the festival introduces AvantCraft, an exhibition curated by Stefano Micelli, Professor of Business and Management at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and organized by Upskill 4.0. AvantCraft explores the evolving intersection where traditional Italian craftsmanship meets digital fabrication, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
Divided into three distinct zones—covering mobility and precision engineering, contemporary craft such as ceramics, glass, scagliola, and inlay, and fashion, jewelry, and biomaterials—the exhibition uses physical objects to tell the story of modern production. Visitors can examine high-performance cars, titanium bicycles, 3D-printed ceramics, hand-set titanium jewelry, and textiles crafted from waste materials.
Among the standout exhibits is the Dallara Stradale, a vehicle born from an environment where advanced composite engineering seamlessly coexists with manual assembly. The mechanically pure, lightweight sports car purposefully eschews superfluous electronics to focus entirely on tactile feedback and driving enjoyment, both on the road and the track.
Technology Built Around People and Everyday Safety
Moving beyond theoretical innovation, a substantial portion of the 2026 exhibition focuses on practical solutions designed to enhance human safety, well-being, and labor conditions. Inail and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) return to showcase cutting-edge research in workplace safety, wearable devices, and advanced training systems.
Among the featured projects is an eye-tracking system designed to study how human visual attention interacts with potential hazards and influences risk perception. In addition, the SIDE haptic exoskeleton, developed jointly by Inail and Sapienza University of Rome, accurately simulates physical forces within virtual and augmented reality environments, enabling workers to train safely for high-risk scenarios in confined or contaminated spaces.
IIT and Inail are also presenting the XoTrunk and FleXoTrunk wearable prototypes, which provide ergonomic lower-back support during manual material handling. Another prominent safety innovation combines a wearable airbag system with advanced fall-detection algorithms capable of distinguishing standard human movement from an actual fall, deploying within milliseconds to shield the torso, sides, shoulders, and neck.
From Food Design to Farming in Space
The agrifood sector takes center stage at Maker Faire Rome 2026 through a collaborative effort involving CREA, ENEA, CNR, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Tuscia spin-off Value Groovers, and the CMCC Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change.
CREA highlights advancements in food design, software-controlled micromalting systems, and 3D food printing, while ENEA investigates food production in extreme environments, including space agriculture, cellular agriculture, and plant biotechnology. The National Research Council (CNR) contributes its FoodEye technology, which utilizes spectroscopy to evaluate nutritional properties, geographical origin, and potential food contamination or counterfeiting.
Meanwhile, Value Groovers presents digital decision-support software for agricultural treatments, and Sapienza’s MicroBites showcases cutting-edge food microbiology and technology transfer. The agrifood and environmental lineup is further enriched by Terravionics, which merges IoT data with Earth observation analytics for proactive tree management, and Yeastime, which applies proprietary ultrasound technology to accelerate industrial fermentation while lowering energy consumption.
Books Join the Cultural Programme
Recognizing the vital role of literature in scientific literacy and social discourse, the 2026 edition introduces Books@MFR26. This editorial strand features prominent authors discussing topics ranging from education and space colonization to quantum physics and human relationships on the main stage and in dedicated panel sessions.
As part of the initiative, visitors are invited to bring a favored book on science, technology, or innovation, present a two-minute pitch explaining why others should read it, and contribute their volume to the shared BiblioMaker library collection.
Iconic Vehicles, Bionic Hands, and Robotic Chefs
The exhibition floors are also home to several eclectic and eye-catching engineering feats. A genuine DeLorean DMC-12—designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and cemented into pop culture history by Back to the Future—travels to Rome courtesy of Switzerland’s Enter Technikwelt Solothurn museum.
Sapienza Corse presents the Gajarda AWD Hybrid Driverless, a Formula Student race car equipped with onboard cameras and autonomous actuators capable of navigating a track without a human driver. Younger inventors are also well-represented, including a 17-year-old Italian maker displaying a neural headset that translates body signals into digital commands, alongside a 3D-printed bionic hand controlled via computer vision and electromyography.
Other notable displays include the Da-Vinci Bicycle, which merges Leonardo da Vinci’s historical aerial screw concept with virtual reality; the Gran Sasso Science Institute’s dark-matter exhibits featuring microscopy and cloud chambers linked to the DarkSide-20k experiment; and Robby Minichef, a prototype kitchen robot trained by professional chefs to replicate the precise actions and timing required to cook authentic spaghetti cacio e pepe.
From Sardinia comes P3DALO, a five-meter modular inflatable pedal boat whose paddlewheel and structural components were largely fabricated using standard desktop 3D printers, allowing the entire vessel to be dismantled and transported in a compact car.
CNR Opens Up Current Research and Open Science
The National Research Council (CNR) anchors a broad spectrum of exhibits spanning robotics, environmental research, medicine, and open science. Highlights include Babots, an innovative project exploring biological animal robots created from modified C. elegans worms for indoor farming applications, alongside atmospheric water generation systems utilizing 3D printing, Melandetect’s predictive diagnostic app, and RoseBio’s personalized oncology initiatives.
Marking its centenary on October 23, the CNR Central Library Guglielmo Marconi presents the GLAM project, which explores open science and cultural heritage through historical library collections, alongside ongoing demonstrations in sustainable mobility, digital education, and interactive science.
Learning Through Direct Participation
Emphasizing the philosophy that authentic learning begins through hands-on experimentation, the Educational and Gaming area offers immersive activities for all ages. MakerCamp, Italy’s sole Official Minecraft Partner and Minecraft Education Partner, leads coding and problem-solving workshops utilizing Minecraft, complementing robot battles, circuit-printing stations, augmented reality demonstrations, and space exploration activities conducted with the European Space Agency. Notably, the 2026 edition of the STEAM in Minecraft contest has already drawn registered classes from 417 primary and secondary schools across Italy.
Fostering Green Skills and Start-Up Opportunities
Institutional and industrial backing plays a foundational role in the 2026 fair. MAIRE participates through Fondazione MAIRE ETS and the newly established Green Innovation ITS Academy, designed to train specialist technicians for the upcoming energy transition. Founding members include industrial leaders such as Acea, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Orange Branded, regional educational institutions, the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Unindustria Perform, and CNOS-FAP Lazio Salesiani, with the academy’s inaugural two-year Energy Transition Specialist course slated to begin in Rome by November 2026.
Additionally, Unindustria has selected ten member start-ups to exhibit free of charge at the event, while Unione Camere oversees the Top of the PID 2026 awards, recognizing small and medium-sized enterprises successfully integrating Industry 4.0 technologies and artificial intelligence.
Design schools such as NABA present AURORA through graphic design students exploring computer art, while Assoutenti APS hosts the ninth edition of Expo Consumatori to examine how digital security, AI, circular economy principles, and financial education impact modern consumers. IED Rome presents Design for Schools in collaboration with GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori, utilizing physical scale models and co-design workshops to reimagine educational environments. Tecnopolo Roma showcases its Tiburtino and Castel Romano technology hubs, highlighting its ongoing work with the R.O.M.E. Digital Hub and the EU Erasmus+ E.U-Re.C.oV.E project focusing on urban social regeneration and digital transformation.
Competitions, Institutional Partners, and Practical Information
Competitions remain a cornerstone of the fair. MakeITcircular 2026, promoted by consumer associations within the National Council of Consumers and Users (CNCU), offers a top prize of €3,000 for products and services championing durability, repair, reuse, and shared consumption, with winners announced on the main stage on October 23.
Eni returns as the Main Partner for the thirteenth consecutive year, hosting the event within its historic Gazometro Ostiense industrial regeneration site, which forms part of the broader ROAD (Rome Advanced District) initiative. Celebrating the centenary of Agip, Eni presents Pioneers to Makers, an interactive space utilizing projections and virtual reality to trace a century of energy research, alongside the Eni2050 Lab’s exhibits on biofuels, carbon capture, and renewable energy storage.
Regional support is spearheaded by Regione Lazio and Lazio Innova, featuring dedicated spaces for regional start-ups and SMEs alongside the FabLab Lazio network. Additional institutional backing is provided by Roma Capitale through the Casa delle Tecnologie Emergenti, alongside the Italian Trade Agency, which facilitated international delegations of investors, journalists, and industry bloggers.
Maker Faire Rome 2026 is produced with the collaboration of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, Inail, InfoCamere, Dintec – Unioncamere, PID, Tecnopolo Roma, Unindustria, and CNA Roma. Gold Partners include Arduino, DigiKey, MAIRE, STMicroelectronics, and Unidata. RAI serves as the Main Media Partner, alongside Il Messaggero as Main Media Partner for press and digital, and ANSA and Futura Elettronica as Technical Media Partners.
