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Hacktoberfest 2026: How to Participate, Earn Rewards, and Join a Local Fest

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Hacktoberfest 2026: a practical guide to taking part, online and in person

Hacktoberfest changed in 2026. Pull requests no longer count toward rewards. The month is now about building with open-weight models and open-source AI, online and at local events. This guide explains how to take part, whether you join online, at a Fest near you, or both. It works for anyone, anywhere.

I host a Hack Day in Baku, Azerbaijan, and I wrote this first for the people who registered. Everything here applies to any Fest and to the online activities. The last section covers our event.

This guide is not an official MLH or DEV page. Facts checked on 11 October 2026. Dates and rules can change, so check hacktoberfest.com before you plan.

Key dates

  • 9 to 15 October: Global Hack Week, online and free. It starts on 9 October at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC, 20:00 Baku time) and ends on 15 October at 13:00 EDT (17:00 UTC, 21:00 Baku time).
  • 12 to 18 October: DEV Challenge, Week 2
  • 19 to 25 October: DEV Challenge, Week 3
  • 26 to 31 October: DEV Challenge, Week 4
  • All October: livestreams, and Fests in cities around the world
  • 17 October: Hack Day Baku (see the last section)

The Weekend Challenge (2 to 5 October) and Week 1 (5 to 11 October) have ended.

What Hacktoberfest is in 2026

Hacktoberfest 2026 runs all of October. This year's theme is "AI belongs to everyone".

  • Who runs it: Major League Hacking (MLH) and DEV, presented by DigitalOcean, which started Hacktoberfest in 2014.
  • Cost: free.
  • Age: 13 or older, subject to country eligibility rules. Individual Fests can set their own audience and age limits. DEV Challenges have their own eligibility rules.
  • Formats: online, in person at a Fest, or both. Hundreds of Fests take place around the world.

Pull requests no longer count. The organizers say low-effort and spam pull requests burden maintainers, and AI tools make them easier to produce. Contributing to open source is still encouraged. If you are new to it, start with this beginner guide: https://dev.to/opensauced/open-source-101-a-beginners-guide-to-getting-started-37fb

Set up once, in 10 minutes

Do these steps first.

  1. Sign in to My Hacktoberfest at hacktoberfest.com with a free MyMLH account.
  2. Add your shipping address to your MyMLH account. Steps 1 and 2 are required for any reward.
  3. Connect your DEV account. This is optional, but it gives you a DEV badge and credit for DEV Challenges.
  4. Join the MLH Community Discord. It earns you a sticker.

Some other sticker activities ask you to connect tools such as DevRelay or a DigitalOcean account. These are optional. Read what each tool asks for before you connect it.

How the sticker book works

The sticker book has 24 virtual stickers. Collect them to earn rewards.

  • Required for any reward: sign in and add your address.
  • 3 stickers: a mailed pack of real stickers.
  • 10 stickers: a bonus holographic sticker in your pack.
  • 15 stickers (Completionist): automatic entry in a raffle for a Hacktoberfest 2026 T-shirt or an Arduino Uno Q board.

Ways to earn stickers:

  • Check in to livestreams with the code shown on screen. There are stickers for 1, 3 and 5 livestreams, and for the launch livestream.
  • Submit to DEV Challenges after you connect your DEV account.
  • Join Global Hack Week: finish the registration challenges, check in to a livestream and reach points milestones.
  • Connect the optional tools, and complete the pre-event and post-event surveys.
  • Attend a Fest in person.

Real stickers are mailed after Hacktoberfest ends. It can take a few weeks to a couple of months. See the full list of activities: https://hacktoberfest.com/activities/

What you can join online

You can join from anywhere, all month.

Livestreams. Sessions on open-weight models, agents and tools. Check in with the code on screen to earn a sticker. See the schedule: https://hacktoberfest.com/online/

Global Hack Week: Hacktoberfest. A free, week-long online festival run by MLH.

  • Dates: 9 October 12:00 EDT to 15 October 13:00 EDT (see Key dates for UTC and Baku time).
  • Daily workshops on Twitch, with recordings on YouTube.
  • Mini-events in the MLH Community Discord.
  • Challenges that earn points.
  • Details: https://ghw.mlh.com/events/open-source

DEV Challenges. Five challenges with cash prizes. The themes are revealed at launch.

  • Weekend Challenge: 2 to 5 October
  • Week 1: 5 to 11 October
  • Week 2: 12 to 18 October
  • Week 3: 19 to 25 October
  • Week 4: 26 to 31 October

You need a DEV account. You can make one submission per challenge. Build a new project during the challenge window with open-source AI at its core, and write about it on DEV. Winners are announced the week after each challenge closes.

Check the exact deadlines and rules on the challenge page: https://dev.to/challenges. Week 1, for example, closed on 11 October at 11:59 PM PDT (06:59 UTC on 12 October). Convert deadlines to your own time zone before you plan.

What happens at a Fest

A Fest is a free, one-day, in-person event. Find one near you by city, country or name: https://hacktoberfest.com/fests/

There are two formats:

  • Hack Day: a mini-hackathon. You build a project and demo it.
  • Meetup: talks, workshops or social time. There is no project to ship.

How it works:

  • Every Fest has its own page with the date, the venue and a register button. Register there with your MyMLH account. Each Fest has separate registration.
  • Read the Fest's page before you go. It lists the schedule, venue, food, accessibility, check-in instructions and what to bring.
  • If you are building, bring a laptop and a charger. If not, just bring yourself.
  • Check in in person on the day.
  • At a Hack Day, every team member must register and check in.
  • Come solo or in a team of any size. Prizes cover up to four team members, so larger teams share.
  • To submit a project, one teammate opens Challenges on the Fest's event page, selects Add Submission, enters the project details, selects the challenges and submits before the host's deadline.
  • The host chooses the winners.

What you can get:

  • An official participation certificate in My Hacktoberfest.
  • A DEV badge, if you connected your DEV account.
  • T-shirts and event swag while supplies last. They are not guaranteed, and the host decides how to hand them out.
  • Arduinos at select Hack Days, while supplies last.
  • A common Hack Day prize is a swag bag with MLH and DEV merch. If a prize is missing because of shipping delays, MLH says it will send a prize of equal or greater value within 60 days after the Fest ends.

Pick your level

Pick what fits your time this month.

  • 15 minutes: sign in, add your address, connect DEV and join the Discord.
  • 1 hour: check in to a livestream. Global Hack Week runs until 15 October.
  • A weekend: submit a project to a DEV Challenge. Weeks 2 to 4 are still ahead.
  • One day: join a Fest near you. In Baku, that can be our Hack Day on 17 October.

You can do all four.

Quick answers

Do pull requests count? No. Contributing to open source is still encouraged, but pull requests do not count toward rewards this year.

Is it free? Global Hack Week is free, and almost all Fests are free. A few pop-up Fests take place inside ticketed conferences, so check each event page.

How old do I need to be? 13 or older, subject to country rules. Individual Fests can set their own limits. DEV Challenges have separate rules.

Do I need to build an AI project? A Hack Day is about building a project, and this year's focus is open-source AI. Check your Fest's requirements. DEV Challenges need open-source AI at the core. For a Meetup or a livestream, you do not need to build anything, and beginners are welcome.

Can I come alone? Yes. You can enter a Hack Day alone or in a team of any size.

How do I find a Fest near me? Search the Fests directory by city, country or name: https://hacktoberfest.com/fests/

Who do I ask for help? Use Contact Host on the Fest's event page for questions about that Fest. Email hacktoberfest@mlh.io for swag, prizes and general questions. For harassment or safety concerns, email incidents@mlh.io.

If you are in Baku: Hack Day on 17 October

Hacktoberfest Hack Day Baku x Tea && Compile is hosted by Tea && Compile, a new open-source and Linux community in Baku. It is one example of how a Hack Day works.

  • When: Saturday, 17 October 2026, 10:00 to 15:00
  • Where: Coffee Moffie, Baku
  • Cost: free
  • Age: 18 and over only
  • Teams: solo or any team size. We help people find teammates on the spot.
  • Seats: limited. The host approves registrations.
  • Register: every person registers separately on the MLH event page and checks in on the day: https://events.mlh.com/events/15529-hacktoberfest-hack-day-baku-x-tea-compile
  • Bring: a laptop, a charger and a GitHub account.

The day:

  • 10:00 Check-in
  • 10:20 Welcome
  • 10:30 Quick start
  • 10:45 Idea round and teams
  • About 11:05 Hacking starts
  • 14:00 Wrap-up and project submission on the event's Challenges page
  • 14:15 Demos, 2 minutes each
  • 14:45 Vote and winners
  • 15:00 End

What to expect: there are no cash prizes from the host. The participation certificate is included. Swag, Arduinos and winners' bags are not guaranteed, because the event pack had not arrived when we wrote this.

Before the day, connect your DEV account to My Hacktoberfest so you can receive the DEV badge. Follow us for updates: Telegram https://t.me/teacompile and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/teacompile.baku/

To prepare, read our hack day guide: https://dev.to/whaiman/zero-to-demo-in-5-hours-a-survival-guide-for-your-first-ai-hack-day-3h4d

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