Hacktoberfest 2024: Celebrate All Things Open Source!

Hacktoberfest 2024 is just around the corner

October’s coming up and you know what that means… Hacktoberfest is coming! Our month-long celebration of all things open source kicks off on October 1! Each year maintainers and contributors come together for Hacktoberfest to contribute to the open-source projects that many companies, including DigitalOcean, and builders of every skill level rely on. In the 11 years since its inception, Hacktoberfest has exploded from a group of just 676 contributors to a global open-source phenomenon, with 98,855 participants last year across 184 countries. That’s a lot of love for open source!

How to participate in Hacktoberfest 2024

Hacktoberfest challenges you to support open-source projects by creating 4 pull/merge requests that are accepted by project maintainers during the month of October. Participants will earn a digital badge—brought to you with love by Holopin!—depicting Hacktoberfest 2024’s mascot, Sloan. The pin is customizable and evolves as your pull/merge requests are accepted. WARNING: Sloan the Sloth is a treasure and you will fall in love with them.

Starting today, visit Hacktoberfest.com to get amped about making your contributions, or prepare your project to receive some—then mark your calendar for September 23 when registration opens. The Hacktoberfest website is the place for newcomers and seasoned experts to come explore contributor resources that will help you complete the Hacktoberfest challenge in no time, and there’s also guidance for project maintainers looking to join Hacktoberfest and grab the attention of contributors.

Contributing to open-source projects can take many forms. Here are a few ways you can contribute to a project during Hacktoberfest:

• Prepare and share an open-source project for collaboration

• Contribute to the betterment of a project via technical code contributions

• Use your non-technical skills and experience such as writing, graphic design, and advocacy to support a project

• Organize an event

• Mentor others about open-source

• Donate money directly to open-source projects

Hacktoberfest and Major League Hacking ✨

One of our most consistent partners-in-open-source Major League Hacking is back again this year, cheerleading open-source maintainers and contributors as ever!

We’re partnering with MLH again this year for Global Hack Week, a monthly event series where you can learn new skills, build your portfolio, attend fun sessions, and connect with developers from around the world. Join us for a special Open Source edition of Global Hack Week (timing details to come), complete with live streams, mini-events, and special challenges. Register for free today to join in on the fun with thousands of other developers!

Learn more about organizing your own Hacktoberfest events, visit hacktoberfest.com/events.

Share your love of open source during Hacktoberfest 🩷

Share your appreciation of Hacktoberfest with the broader community with photos, videos, or a blog post. Whether you’re a contributor, maintainer, event organizer, sponsor, or partner we would love to see your open-source passion hitting the digital airwaves and getting more people pumped for Hacktoberfest!

VIDEO: Create a video and share it on your favorite platform. TikTok; Twitterrr… we mean, X cough; Instagram, wherever your open-source folks are, share your Hacktoberfest successes with them! Be sure to tag us @hacktoberfest and use #hacktoberfest to join the broader conversation.

BLOG POST: Write about your experience participating in Hacktoberfest in a blog post! Some ideas to get you started: Share how you first heard about Hacktoberfest, how being part of the community has impacted your personal or professional development, and your favorite or most useful hack. If you’re a project maintainer, share how Hacktoberfest contributions have improved your project. Once your post is live, let us know by sharing on your social channels and tagging or hashtagging Hacktoberfest so we can help give it some reach.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Share your Hacktoberfest experience on social media! Tag us @hacktoberfest and use the official hashtag #hacktoberfest to tell others about your favorite contributions or a particularly memorable hack.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing how you’ve been part of the Hacktoberfest community!

Gratitude for our sponsors and partners

The Hacktoberfest you know and love wouldn’t be possible without support from our sponsors. Hacktoberfest is brought to developers all over the world by Hacktoberfest’s founding sponsor, DigitalOcean, and advocate sponsor Cloudflare, and sustainer sponsor Quira. Big thanks for their passionate and ongoing commitment to the open-source community.

The celebration begins October 1, 2024! Let’s get hacking, friends.