Design Festa vol.63 will be held May 23-24, 2026 in Tokyo Big Sight. At first glance, this art event may seem unrelated to the AM industry. However, this venue holds crucial indicators for measuring the true maturity of the Consumer 3D Printing Market.
What is Design Festa?
Design Festa is one of the world’s largest international art events. What makes it unique is that professionals, amateurs, corporations, and individuals can all participate on equal terms. The scale is overwhelming:
- Approximately 140,000 visitors over two days
- Approximately 6,500 booths with over 10,000 creators participating
- Numerous exhibitors and visitors from overseas (various Asian countries, Europe, US)
While original works can be exhibited without screening, the reality is that participation is by lottery due to overwhelming popularity. Approximately 6,500 booths fill Tokyo Big Sight’s West and South Halls, occupied by creators who won the competition for a space to express themselves.
Genres are completely open. From paintings, sculptures, and photographs to miscellaneous goods, accessories, fashion, food, and music. Everything from fine art to product design coexists. A major attraction is the ability to purchase works while directly conversing with the creators themselves.
Professionals and amateurs, students and homemakers, regardless of nationality—anyone can express themselves freely. That is Design Festa.
Why Should the AM Industry Pay Attention?
Design Festa provides an ideal venue for observing the Consumer 3D Printing Market. Here, we can see firsthand how 3D printers are being used as “ordinary tools” in their natural state.
“When Technology Truly Spreads, It Becomes Unconscious”
Creators at Design Festa don’t use 3D printers as their goal. Their purpose is “expressing their own work” and “creating their own products.”
- They use 3D printers because they’re cost-efficient
- They use 3D printers because they offer ease of expression
- They use 3D printers because they’re beneficial for creating their work
- Using 3D printers itself is not the goal
And Importantly, It Doesn’t Have to Be 3D Printing Alone
If they can create what they want, they can combine it with other methods. Hand-coloring or processing 3D printed parts, combining 3D printed bases with fabric or metal, using laser cutters and painting alongside 3D printing—3D printers are just one part of the production process. Because the goal isn’t using 3D printers—it’s creating what they want to create. They don’t demand perfection from 3D printers; weaknesses can be supplemented with other methods.
Embodying What Industrial AM Aims For, in a Different Context
The industrial AM industry is also shifting from “selling technology” to “selling solutions.” Traditional approaches focused on “This machine has these specifications,” but advanced companies today propose “This machine can solve this challenge for you.” Specifications are merely elements that realize solutions.
Design Festa creators have complete solution-oriented thinking from the start. Their order is “What do I want to make?” → “What can I use?” → “3D printing is available too”—emphasizing practical problem-solving rather than technological purity.
However, the Weight of Responsibility Differs Fundamentally
Consumer markets and industrial AM require different things. Consumer markets’ miscellaneous goods and accessories have relatively lower demands for quality assurance and certification, while industrial AM’s aerospace parts and medical devices often require strict quality assurance and certification. This is natural as the weight of responsibility changes depending on what’s being made.
A Microcosm of the Consumer 3D Printing Market
Diverse use cases including international creators gather in one place. For them, 3D printers are “one of multiple tools” like brushes, paints, or sewing machines. At Design Festa, various manufacturing methods—3D printers, resin art, laser cutters, handwork, sewing—coexist naturally. It’s a needs-oriented choice, not technology-oriented.
Event Basic Information
Design Festa vol.63
- Dates: May 23 (Sat) – 24 (Sun), 2026
- Hours: Both days 10:00-18:00
- Venue: Tokyo Big Sight West & South Halls
- Exhibitors: Approximately 6,500 booths (per day)
- Visitors: Approximately 140,000 (two-day total)
Details: https://designfesta.com
The Rise of the “3D Printer Native Generation”
The Venue’s Energy and Diversity
Approximately 6,500 booths and over 10,000 creators fill Tokyo Big Sight’s West and South Halls. The Design Festa venue overflows with passion for creation.
As 140,000 visitors move through, completely different worlds unfold at each booth. Hand-drawn paintings, precision sculptures, hand-sewn fabric goods, electronic crafts, student projects, and works utilizing 3D printers.
The Perspective of “How Was This Made?”
Walking through the venue while focusing on manufacturing processes yields even more interesting discoveries. Is this part from a 3D printer? Or resin art? How did they achieve this texture? For AM industry professionals, Design Festa is a “treasure trove of technical observation.” While creators don’t prominently display their methods, if you look carefully, you’ll find 3D printer use cases everywhere.
Specific Examples from vol.62 Coverage
When AMIA editorial staff covered vol.62, we found 3D printer usage at various booths:
What’s Common is That “The Work” is the Main Character
What all these cases share:
- What comes to the forefront is “what they want to realize”
- 3D printers are part of the production process
- “Results” are discussed, not “technology”
- Methods are means, not ends
Whether student technical projects or individual accessory creation, the scale differs but the stance is the same: using 3D printers as tools to achieve goals.
Implications for Understanding the Consumer 3D Printing Market
There’s another market invisible at industrial AM exhibitions. A user base that doesn’t consciously think about “3D printers” judges by usability and results rather than technical specifications, purchasing home-use and small business machines from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen to make “what they want to make.” This market is quietly expanding with logic different from industrial AM.
Summary: May 23-24, 2026—Insights from an “Out-of-Place Location”
What to See at vol.63
The value of AM industry professionals visiting Design Festa:
- Experience the “raw reality” of the Consumer 3D Printing Market
- Observe the state where technology has completely established itself as a “tool”
- Walking with the perspective “How was this made?” reveals 3D printer use cases everywhere
- Understand how next-generation creators use technology
Perspectives Unbound by Fixed Ideas
Design Festa creators aren’t bound by “correct usage” of technology or “industry standards.” They experimentally combine without fear of failure and judge by final results rather than technical specifications. This free thinking offers hints for new applications of existing technology and transitioning from “selling technology” to “selling solutions.”
Precisely Because It’s an “Out-of-Place Location”
Things invisible at industrial AM exhibitions:
- What it looks like when technology becomes “just another option”
- True adoption of “invisible” technology
Design Festa is an “out-of-place location” that seems unrelated to the AM industry at first glance. But precisely because of that, insights exist there that can never be obtained at industrial AM exhibitions.
May 23-24, 2026, at Tokyo Big Sight
At the next Design Festa vol.63, we’ll encounter new expressions, new usage methods, and new creators. Many of them may not even be conscious that they’re “using 3D printers.”
And that is precisely proof that technology has truly spread in the Consumer 3D Printing Market.
AMIA editorial staff plans to conduct on-site coverage. We plan to report on 3D printer use cases and creators’ voices.
