OPEN SAUCE 2026
A Road Trip To Curiosity
Alberta → California
One weekend. Thousands of makers. A community built around curiosity.
The Journey
Alberta, Canada → San Mateo, California
This was my first Open Sauce. I packed up in Alberta and drove all the way to San Mateo, California because I wanted to experience the event I'd been watching online for years. I had no idea what to expect. I left inspired.
2000+ km road trip
First Open Sauce
First time meeting creators
The Weekend
The Journey
Alberta, Canada → San Mateo, California
Wednesday Meetup
Before the doors opened, the community already existed.
Industry Day
Helping exhibitors unload and get set up.
Saturday
The first full day on the show floor.
Sunday
One last day on the floor.
Wednesday
Wednesday Meetup
Before the doors opened, the community already existed.
The Wednesday meetup was my introduction to the Open Sauce community. I had the chance to meet William Osman, Allen Pan, Kevin (The Backyard Scientist), and Cameraman John before the festival officially began. Seeing creators casually talking with attendees set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
William Osman
Founder / Maker
Engineer, inventor, and creator behind Open Sauce. The person who turned online maker culture into a physical community.
Visit channel
Allen Pan
Founder / Engineer
Creative engineering, wild inventions, and an unmistakable sense of humor.
Visit channel
Industry Day
Industry Day
Helping exhibitors unload and get set up.
I spent Industry Day in the parking lot helping smaller exhibitors unload and get set up. It wasn't glamorous, but it was one of the best decisions I made all weekend. While helping out, I met Ali Spagnola and ElectroBOOM, chatted with The Action Lab, and had a great conversation with ThePrimeagen. It reinforced something that became obvious throughout the weekend: Open Sauce is built around approachable people who genuinely enjoy talking with other makers.
Saturday
Saturday
The first full day on the show floor.
Saturday was the first full day on the show floor. Between exhibits, projects, and crowds, I spotted Linus Tech Tips and Reckless Ben while exploring the event.
Linus
Technology Education
Technology, hardware, and a constant curiosity for how things work.
Visit channel
Reckless Ben
Maker / Entertainer
Creative chaos and making things because they should exist.
Visit channelSunday
Sunday
One last day on the floor.
Sunday somehow topped everything that came before it. I had the chance to chat with Code Bullet, Joel Creates, and Colin Furze before wrapping up an unforgettable first Open Sauce.
Code Bullet
AI / Coding Creator
AI experimentation, code, and watching machines learn in real time.
Visit channel
Joel Creates
Inventor
Engineering creativity and the joy of building half-baked prototypes.
Visit channel
Colin Furze
Inventor / Maker
Impossible inventions built because someone has to prove they can work.
Visit channelThe Creator Constellation
Every node is a conversation. Click one to open the memory.
Maker Workbench Gallery
Add your selected photos to public/images/selected/ and run the manifest script.
As Seen at Open Sauce
Add videos to public/videos/ and run the manifest script.
Open Sauce Facts
Maker Culture
Open Sauce is built on the idea that ideas become real when you pick up a soldering iron, a saw, or a keyboard. It is a conference where failure is just data and almost everyone is willing to share their schematics.
The Community
Creators, exhibitors, volunteers, and attendees all show up as participants. Conversations in line are as valuable as anything on stage, and the overlap between builder and fan barely exists.
Exhibits & Robots
The floor is a living workshop. Robots roll, sparks fly, and prototypes that will definitely break are proudly demonstrated anyway. It is the opposite of a polished trade show.
Engineering
Open Sauce celebrates the messy middle of engineering: the late nights, the questionable welds, the code that works for one demo, and the breakthrough that makes it all worth it.
More Than A Convention
The projects are incredible, but they aren't what stayed with me.
What makes Open Sauce different is that it removes the distance between creators, exhibitors, and attendees.
Conversations happen naturally.
Curiosity is rewarded.
Everyone is there because they enjoy making things.
It's difficult to describe until you've experienced it yourself.
Things That Surprised Me
- How approachable the creators were.
- The sheer variety of projects.
- The atmosphere.
- Industry Day.
- The number of young makers.
- The willingness of exhibitors to explain their work.
- The community.
Kilometers driven
Creators met
Days of Open Sauce
Unforgettable weekend
Open Sauce North? 🇨🇦
Driving from Alberta to California was absolutely worth it.
But after experiencing Open Sauce for the first time, it's hard not to imagine what something similar could become in Canada.
Canada has incredible makers, engineers, creators, educators, robotics clubs, universities, and hacker communities.
I would love to see a Canadian Open Sauce one day.
Until then...
I'll happily make the drive south again.
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who made Open Sauce possible:
- William Osman
- the organizing team
- the exhibitors
- the volunteers
- every creator who took a few minutes to talk with attendees
Thank you for building a place where curiosity feels at home.
See you next year.