Riverside, California October 23 and 24, 2027 Target date

CRRF, the California RepRap Festival

Two days. A 3D printing show for the West Coast

Two days of printers running, filament sold by the pallet, companies showing their newest machines, and table after table of things people made that will stop you in your tracks. The Midwest has a show like this. So does the East Coast. So do the Rockies. California has 39 million people and nothing at all. We want to change that. First we need to know you would show up.

I'm Interested See why we need this
  • 39.4MPeople in California
  • 0Shows out here
  • 1,050miTo the closest one
  • 24minFrom ONT airport

The gap

Three RepRap Festivals. None of them out west.

This kind of show has been running for over ten years and the formula works. A hall full of printers, the people who built them standing behind the tables, and nobody trying to sell you a subscription. Three of them exist. Look where they are.

Pins are placed from real coordinates.

How far a Californian has to drive

    Approximate driving distance from Riverside. Getting to Goshen and back is about 60 hours in the car, or a flight, a rental car and two nights in a hotel before you have printed anything.

    California has more people living in it than Canada. It builds more of the world's hardware, film props, prototypes and prosthetics than most countries. And if you want to spend a weekend around other people who print, you have to cross most of the country to do it.

    By the numbers

    The math is not subtle

    0%

    of everyone in the United States lives in California.

    0

    colleges and universities sit within 90 minutes of Riverside, full of students who print.

    0

    people live in the Inland Empire, the two counties around the venue.

    Population figures come from U.S. Census Bureau 2024 state and county estimates. Distances are approximate driving distances from Riverside. The college figure is an estimate of two and four year institutions across the Los Angeles, Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego areas.

    What it is

    Not a trade show. More like a very large garage.

    A RepRap Festival is what happens when the people who build 3D printers bring them to one room and switch them on. No badge scanning, no sales pitch. You walk up to a machine and the person who built it is standing behind it, happy to tell you how it works.

    The name comes from RepRap, the open source project that started desktop 3D printing by designing a printer that could print its own parts. Almost every printer you can buy today traces back to it. These shows keep that spirit: open, hands on, and run by the people who use the machines.

    • Show and tell, not a sales floor. People exhibit because they want to, not to hit a booth quota.
    • Bring your printer. Tables are for hobbyists first. Yes, including a stock machine you bought last year.
    • Kept cheap on purpose. We want entry to be free or close to it, paid for by sponsors and vendors.
    • Beginners welcome. We will have people there all day whose job is to help you if you are new.

    On the floor

    It is a lot more than machines in a row

    People do not drive six hours to look at printers. They come to buy things, to see what other people made, and to spend a weekend around a few thousand people who care about the same stuff. Here is what a floor like this actually holds.

    1. 01

      Filament, sold by the pallet

      Vendors bring their stock and sell it at show prices you will not get online. Recycled, glow in the dark, silk, wood fill, carbon fill, colours your local shop has never carried. People turn up with an empty suitcase on Saturday and struggle to close it on Sunday.

    2. 02

      Printer companies, with their engineers

      Manufacturers bring their newest machines, and the people who designed them come along too. You get to stand in front of a printer, watch it run, and ask a hard question before you spend eight hundred dollars on one from a web page.

    3. 03

      The things people made

      This is the part that has grown the most. Costumes, props, instruments, furniture, giant models, prosthetics, art. Whole tables of work that make you stop and ask how on earth it was printed, and the person who did it is standing right there, happy to explain.

    4. 04

      Racing, robots and general silliness

      These shows have a daft streak and it is honestly the best part. Printed car derbies, drag racers, tiny bike parades, and combat robots knocking lumps out of each other in a back room. Bring the kids for this bit.

    5. 05

      Creators you already watch

      The people whose videos taught you to level a bed tend to show up at these. Sometimes with a table and a queue, sometimes just wandering the hall like everybody else.

    6. 06

      Talks, swaps and a lot of stickers

      Short practical sessions from people who build things, a print swap where you leave one and take one, merch tables, free samples, and more stickers than your laptop can hold.

    This is drawn from what actually happens at the shows that already exist. MRRF in Goshen, Indiana draws well over a thousand people and hundreds of printers and is free to attend. 3DPrintopia in Philadelphia fills more than 100,000 square feet. We are aiming for the same kind of floor, at whatever size the response to the form supports.

    The location

    Why Riverside

    Not because it is glamorous. Because it is the one place you can put a hall and have twenty million people able to drive there and back in a day.

    Approximate off peak drive times. This is Southern California, so your mileage genuinely varies.

    Twenty million people in the middle of it

    Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire all sit inside a two hour radius. Nowhere else on the West Coast puts that many people within a day trip.

    24 minutes from ONT airport

    Ontario International is a 24 minute drive away, and it is a far easier airport to fly into than LAX. If you are coming from out of state, fly to ONT.

    Four freeways meet here

    The 91, the 60, the 215 and the 10 all come together in Riverside. Whichever direction you are driving from, there is a straight shot in.

    Halls you can actually afford

    Venue and hotel costs here are a fraction of Los Angeles or Orange County. That difference is what keeps entry free or cheap instead of $45 a head.

    VenueTo be confirmed
    DateOctober 23 and 24, 2027
    Countdown-
    Tell us you're coming

    While you are here

    Make a weekend of it

    If you are flying in or driving a long way, there is a lot worth seeing within an hour or two of Riverside. Beaches, mountains, desert and a national park, all in different directions.

      Drive times are rough and assume you are not sitting in traffic. Check before you go.

      Get involved

      Four ways to be part of it

      All four start with the same form. Just tell us which one is you.

      Attend

      The most useful thing you can do right now. How big a hall we book, and whether this happens at all, comes straight off this number.

      Count me in

      Exhibit

      Got a printer, a modification, a print farm or a strange project? Tables are for hobbyists first and we plan to keep them free.

      I'd bring something

      Speak or teach

      Twenty minutes on something you know well, or a hands on workshop. You do not need to have spoken at a conference before.

      I've got a talk

      Sponsor

      Brands, shops and manufacturers: get in front of the West Coast 3D printing community on day one.

      Prices come once we know how big the room is. Register now and you get first call.

      Talk sponsorship

      Questions

      Straight answers

      Is this actually happening, or is it just an idea?

      Right now it is a serious plan with no venue booked. That is the honest answer. The interest form is what turns it into a real event. Venues, sponsors and vendors all want a head count before they commit, and so do we. If enough people say yes, we book. If they do not, we will tell you that too.

      What is the date?

      We are aiming for October 23 and 24, 2027. October gives us time to organise it properly, and it avoids the summer heat that makes an Inland Empire hall miserable. It also stays clear of when the other festivals usually run. Nothing is locked yet, and the form asks what works for you.

      How much will it cost to get in?

      We want it free, or as close to free as we can get, paid for by sponsors and vendor tables rather than a gate fee. We are not going to promise a number before we have a quote from a venue, but keeping it cheap is the whole point.

      Is CRRF connected to MRRF, ECRRF or RMRRF?

      No. CRRF is independent. Those shows invented the format and we are following it because it works, but we have no relationship with their organisers and we do not speak for them.

      Can I bring my printer? It's nothing special.

      Yes, and that is the whole point. These shows run on hobbyist tables, not corporate booths. A well used machine with a story behind it is more interesting to most people than a vendor display. Tick the exhibitor box on the form.

      I'm brand new to 3D printing. Is this for me?

      Especially for you. We will have a help desk running all day with experienced people on it, so you can ask anything: which printer to buy, why your prints keep failing, how to get started. Walking around and watching machines run teaches you more in an afternoon than a month of reading forums.

      Is it good for kids?

      Yes. We want a supervised area where kids can design something and print it. The show floor itself is a good time for anyone who likes watching machines make things. The form asks whether you would bring family, which helps us size that area properly.

      How far is it from the airport?

      Ontario International (ONT) is a 24 minute drive. It is much easier than LAX and it is the one we would tell you to book. LAX is about an hour and a half, and San Diego is about an hour and forty five, both depending on traffic.

      Who is organising this?

      A small group of Southern California makers who got tired of watching other people's recap videos. There is no company and no investor behind it. If you want to help organise, say so on the form. We need people.

      When will I hear back?

      We will send the response totals and a yes or no update to everyone who signs up. If it is a yes, you get the venue and date first, before we announce anything publicly.

      Still have a question?

      Email us