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Avinash Singh
Avinash Singh

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Hacktoberfest 2025: Ultimate Guide to Open-Source Contributions & Rewards

What Is Hacktoberfest?

Hacktoberfest is a month-long celebration of open source, organized annually by DigitalOcean (in partnership with community sponsors) to encourage people (developers, designers, writers, and non-coders too) to get involved in open-source projects.

Since its inception, the mission remains simple:

  • Encourage contributions to open projects
  • Bring in new contributors
  • Celebrate open source communities and maintainers
  • Provide incentives (digital badges, T-shirts, recognition) Over the years, Hacktoberfest has grown from just hundreds of participants to tens of thousands.

Timeline: When & How It Runs

Phase What Happens Notes
Pre-September (“Preptember”) Get ready: find projects, add hacktoberfest topic, brush up on Git The official site encourages prep in September.
October 1 – October 31 Main event: submit pull/merge requests, community events Your PRs must be accepted/merged/approved during this window (or within the review window).
Review window / wrap-up Some PRs may be accepted within a grace window; organizers finalize awards Maintainers may label PRs or merge them within a few days after October.
Afterwards Prize distribution, badges, reflection, stories T-shirts, digital badges, contributor features, etc.

Key Dates in 2025

  • Hacktoberfest 2025 is officially open.
  • The global kickoff “From Code to Community” is on October 1st, virtual gathering.
  • Events (satellite sessions, workshops, meetups) are held throughout October.

How to Participate: Step by Step

Here’s how you can get involved and make the most of Hacktoberfest:

1. Register / Sign Up

Go to Hacktoberfest.com and connect your GitHub account. This links your contributions to your profile.
Once you register, you’ll get a digital badge (or “pin”) that upgrades as you complete accepted PRs.

2. Find Suitable Projects

  • Only repositories that have opted in (i.e. have the hacktoberfest topic) count as eligible.
  • Many projects label beginner-friendly issues as “good first issue” or “help wanted”. These are great for newcomers.
  • You can contribute to non-code areas as well: docs, translation, design, writing, tutorials, etc.
  • Keep your eyes on Hacktoberfest’s official event listings and community shared project lists.

3. Make Pull or Merge Requests

  • Fork or clone the repo
  • Create a new branch
  • Make your changes or additions
  • Submit a PR (or merge request)
  • Be sure to follow the project’s contribution guidelines
  • Maintain good PR hygiene: clear commit messages, description of what you did, link to issue (if any)
  • Engage with maintainers: respond to feedback and revise if needed

4. Ensure PRs Are Accepted / Approved

For a PR to count:

  • The repository must be eligible (have hacktoberfest topic)
  • The PR must be merged, or labeled hacktoberfest-accepted by a maintainer
  • Some PRs may be accepted after the October window within a review grace period
  • The total needed for “completion” is currently 6 accepted PRs in many Hacktoberfest editions.

5. 🎁 Hacktoberfest 2025 Rewards

  • 🪪 Holopin — Earn a digital Hacktoberfest badge + unique Holopin sticker for socials.
  • 👕 Swag (T-Shirt) — Exclusive T-shirt for Super Contributors (6 accepted PRs/MRs, first 10,000 only).
  • 🌱 TreeNation — With the T-shirt reward, a tree is planted to support a greener planet.

👉 Even if you don’t hit the T-shirt tier, every contributor gets digital recognition and a chance to showcase their journey!

Why You Should Join Hacktoberfest

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, Hacktoberfest offers many benefits:

  • Skill growth & learning — working on real projects improves your coding, collaboration, and review skills
  • Portfolio & visibility — your GitHub contributions are public and can be shown to employers
  • Community & networking — meet contributors, maintainers, and mentors worldwide
  • Giving back — open-source projects power much of the tech stack we rely on
  • Fun & motivation — friendly challenge, rewards, and shared energy through October
  • Non-code opportunities — docs, design, translation, writing, testing are also valid ways to contribute.

Pitfalls & Best Practices (Don’t Become “Spamtoberfest”)

Over the years, maintaining event integrity and quality has been a challenge. Here are things to watch out for:

Common Pitfalls

  • Submitting many trivial PRs (e.g. white-space fixes) just to hit count
  • PRs to ineligible repos (without the hacktoberfest topic)
  • Not responding to maintainer feedback, resulting in PR rejections
  • Working on mega complex issues without understanding the project
  • Ignoring contribution guidelines
  • Assuming every PR will be accepted — some valid ones might still be rejected or need revisions

Best Practices & Tips

  1. Aim for quality over quantity — better fewer meaningful contributions
  2. Choose beginner-friendly issues first
  3. Communicate early — open an issue or comment before heavy work
  4. Always read the project’s CONTRIBUTING.md / code of conduct
  5. Write clear PR descriptions: what you changed, why, link to related issue
  6. Be responsive to maintainer feedback & revise your code
  7. Track your PRs and deadlines — maintainers often leave reviews near the end of October
  8. Don’t be discouraged by rejections — learn and try again

Example Projects & Organizations Participating (2025 Highlights)

  • Jenkins — They encourage PRs in Jenkins repositories with hacktoberfest topic.
  • Interledger — showing examples of non-code contributions (documentation, issues) in their repos.
  • Defold — flagged some repos for “good first issue” contribution during Hacktoberfest.
  • ServiceNow — their community is active in Hacktoberfest, with advocacy and blogs.

Additionally, many local and global events will run alongside Hacktoberfest (workshops, meetups, hackathons) — check the Hacktoberfest Events page.

Useful Resources & Repositories

Here are essential resources and repositories to kickstart your Hacktoberfest journey:

Beginner-Friendly Contribution Platforms

Other Beginner Contribution Platforms

Join Telegram group for more resources & discussions!

🧰 Useful Resources for Your Placement Prep

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