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

#opensource #hacktoberfest #github

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

Aim for quality over quantity — better fewer meaningful contributions
Choose beginner-friendly issues first
Communicate early — open an issue or comment before heavy work
Always read the project’s CONTRIBUTING.md / code of conduct
Write clear PR descriptions: what you changed, why, link to related issue
Be responsive to maintainer feedback & revise your code
Track your PRs and deadlines — maintainers often leave reviews near the end of October
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:

Hacktoberfest Official Website — Participation guide, FAQs, and events.
Good First Issues — Curated beginner-friendly open source issues.

Beginner-Friendly Contribution Platforms

First Contributions — Beginner-friendly repo to learn contribution workflow.
Public APIs — Large collection of free APIs for developers.
Awesome for Beginners — Curated list of repositories with “good first issues.”
FreeCodeCamp — Large open-source learning platform, issues labeled for beginners.
EddieHubCommunity — Welcoming open-source community for first-time contributors.
Mozilla’s Good First Bugs — Issues labeled “good first bug” across Mozilla repos.