FAB26 Boston

July 27–31

FAB26 Boston

July 27–31

reimagine the future

July 27–31, 2026
Cambridge, Massachusetts

FAB26 is the 22nd edition of the annual Fab Lab Conference & Symposium, an immersive technosocial conference. Spanning six days, the program thoughtfully balances practical and theoretical content for a diverse group of individuals united by a passion for digital fabrication, technology, and innovation. After a 10-year world tour, the event returns to the Greater Boston Area in July 2026.

This annual event embodies the unique spirit if the fab lab movement, gathering Fab Lab members, makers, educators, artists, academics, industry experts and policymakers. It is far more than just another conference; it is an event where attendees discover, discuss, envision, and build community around digital fabrication, Fab Labs, technology, and innovation. This year, we are celebrating 25 years of the Fab Lab Network and re-imagining the next 25.

1000+

Attendees

Countries

Days

Distributed Festival Aug 1, 2025

FAB26 brings the international Fab Lab community back to its birthplace in Cambridge and Boston. With events across both cities, participants will cross the Charles River's banks to explore all that this historic region has to offer. Daily conference activities center on the MIT campus and Fab Hub Kendall in the Kendall Square innovation district.

Explore more

Program Tracks

Origins & Futures

Embark on a reflective journey: the story of Fab past, present and future. Explore the origins of the Fab Lab movement at CBA and its global impact through tales of personal growth and community transformation—as well as future visions—from across the network.

Tools & Tech

Dive into the emerging tools and technologies that are transforming digital fabrication and reshaping society. From open-source machines to AI, quantum to space tech—what’s next is being made right now.

Education & Learning

Discover how digital fabrication is changing the way we learn, where we learn, learning models, and credentialing systems. From Academany to K-12 school programs, a new global education paradigm is on the horizon.

People & Planet

How can Fab Labs contribute to resilience, regeneration, and global social justice? We will explore how Fab City moves beyond individual projects to rethink how we produce, share, and sustain resources within our own bioregions.

Systems & Scaling

What will it take to grow and sustain the Fab ecosystem and the impact we make in our communities for the next 25 years? From policy to funding, standards to governance, we will look at big-picture systems and strategies to scale for global impact.

Schedule

July 2026

Afternoon Hands-on workshops

Distributed Festival Around Massachusetts and the New England area

Full schedule will be published a few months before the event

Participate

OPEN CALL SEASON CLOSED! We're excited to share that we received an incredible response of more than 250 from across the global community. We are currently in the application review phase, carefully shaping the program with workshops, talks, research, and projects submitted from around the world.

The first edition of the schedule will be going live soon, so stay tuned to see how this year's program comes together. Thank you to everyone who applied.