Inside the 2026 Fabricator Olympics

The skilled trades festival at the Kempton Fairgrounds closed out the Welding Business Owners Summit weekend, and we photographed the competition, the metal art, the rig show, the awards and portraits of the competitors.

By Tony Ellis Martinez · TM Productions

A packed crowd standing under the wooden roof of the main pavilion at the Kempton Fairgrounds while a man in a cap speaks to them — A packed crowd under the main pavilion at the Kempton Fairgrounds.

The Fabricator Olympics is a full day of timed fabrication challenges, a welding rig show, a metal art competition and a vendor expo at the Kempton Fairgrounds in Kempton, PA. This year it was the second day of the Welding Business Owners Summit, which spent Friday, September 11, on business workshops for welding and fabrication shop owners and then moved out to the fairgrounds on Saturday, September 12, for the competition.

We've been photographing and filming the Fabricator Olympics since 2023, and this year Kevin Johnson also brought us in to make the ads for the summit, so we'd already spent part of the summer shooting and editing a cinematic spot and a set of short skits before we ever pulled into Kempton. On the day itself we photographed the whole event, 239 edited photos in all, including 125 portrait frames of the competitors.

239EDITED PHOTOS

125COMPETITOR PORTRAITS

$5,000+IN PRIZES

4thANNUAL FABRICATOR OLYMPICS

The summit ads

Kevin brought us in back in June to make the ads that promoted the summit. We shot the first one in the shop at JMW Specialty Welding and Fabrication with a cinema camera and a light we kept moving around the room, and in July we came back with nothing but an iPhone and filmed a set of short skits, which is where the Squeaky Hammer ad came from.

The cinematic ad for the 2026 Welding Business Owners Summit.

The Squeaky Hammer skit, shot on an iPhone in July.

Friday at the summit

The summit itself ran all day Friday in the hall at the fairgrounds, with speakers taking shop owners through leadership, financials, sales and systems, and we had a 30-second recap of the day cut and uploaded that same night.

The Friday recap, cut the same night.

Check-in and the main stage

Check-in had its own tables for summit attendees, pre-bought tickets and competitors, and the main stage under the pavilion was wrapped in sponsor banners with Lincoln Electric across the top and Milwaukee, Hypertherm, CN-Seamless, FFJournal and a long list of others underneath. We made sure those banners showed up behind whoever had the microphone, because that's the photo sponsors ask for after an event like this.

A man in a black cap and black work shirt speaking into a microphone in front of a Lincoln Electric sponsor banner — On the mic in front of the Lincoln Electric banner on the main stage.

Check-in tents under the pavilion with signs for Welding Business Summit attendee check-in, pre-bought tickets and competitor check-in — The check-in tables for summit attendees, tickets and competitors.

A man in a Welded Metal Art shirt with his arms out, talking to a crowd gathered under the pavilion — Talking to the crowd under the pavilion.

The competition and the work booths

The competition is a run of short fabrication challenges judged on speed and accuracy, things like cutting, drilling, coping and layout, and every tool is provided so nobody shows up with an advantage from their own shop. Most of the action happens inside welding booths behind colored curtains with sparks flying, so most of our competition frames are shot right at the edge of the booths.

A man in an orange shirt, safety glasses and leather gloves cutting a piece of steel with a torch in front of a red curtain — Cutting steel with a torch inside one of the booths.

A man grinding steel inside a booth with a stream of sparks falling toward a bucket on the ground — Grinding inside a booth behind the curtains.

A man in a bandana and respirator shaping steel at a pink anvil in a work booth — Shaping steel at an anvil in one of the work booths.

The metal art and the rig show

The metal art entries lined a table in front of the Fabricator Olympics backdrop, each one with a card naming the artist, and since the event landed the day after September 11, one of the biggest pieces on the grounds was a 9/11 memorial with an American flag and the words Strength, Sacrifice, Unity and Never Forget around its base. Out on the grass, welders parked their rigs for the rig show, and we photographed the first place winner holding his trophy in front of his truck.

A large metal 9/11 memorial sculpture with a steel American flag and the words Strength, Sacrifice, Unity and Never Forget around the base, with a bearded man standing beside it between yellow welding curtains — A 9/11 memorial piece standing between the yellow welding curtains.

A welded steel sculpture of a flower inside a steel frame on a table, with an artist card reading Gabriel Harrison — Gabriel Harrison's entry in the metal art competition.

A man in a gray RHF Welding and Fabrication shirt holding a first place 2026 Fabricator Olympics rig show trophy in front of a welding rig — The first place rig show trophy, in front of the winning rig.

The awards

The awards ran on the main stage at the end of the day, where the top finishers got gold chains and new Lincoln Electric welders, and after that a group pulled out a full-size American flag in front of the grandstand for one more photo.

Four men on the main stage, three of them wearing gold chains, standing behind Lincoln Electric welders with the sponsor banner overhead — Finalists on stage with their gold chains and Lincoln Electric welders.

A group of people holding a large American flag between yellow welding curtains, with the red-roofed grandstand of the Kempton Fairgrounds behind them — Holding up the American flag in front of the grandstand.

Competitor portraits

Competitors stopped at the Fabricator Olympics backdrop for portraits all day, and we shot 125 frames there. For anyone who runs a shop, a clean portrait from the day is something they can actually put on their website or their social pages, which beats another selfie in a welding hood.

A bearded competitor in a black cap and a bright rubber duck print shirt in front of the Fabricator Olympics backdrop — Competitor portraits at the Fabricator Olympics backdrop.

A competitor holding a welding helmet under his arm in front of the Fabricator Olympics backdrop

A young bearded competitor in a black shirt and lanyard in front of the Fabricator Olympics backdrop

A competitor in a red Safety Third shirt with his arms at his sides in front of the Fabricator Olympics backdrop

Covering the Fabricator Olympics since 2023

We photographed the 2023 Fabricator Olympics and have cut highlight and social videos from the event since then, so by now we know where the good light is in that pavilion and which booths to hang around when the sparks start. Making the summit ads first meant we already knew the people running the weekend before the gates opened.

Thanks to Kevin Johnson and everyone who ran the summit and the Fabricator Olympics, and congratulations to every competitor who put their work in front of that crowd.

Event details via fabricatorolympics.com and weldingbusinesssummit.com. Photos by TM Productions.