Hacktoberfest Hack Day Berlin 2026
Hacktoberfest 2026
Dunckerstr. 65/66 Berlin, Berlin 10439 Germany
Event Description
Hacktoberfest Hack Day Berlin 2026 x Code Club Berlin x Hoobit
Join us for a full day of building with open-source AI. This Hacktoberfest 2026 Hack Day brings students, developers, and open-source enthusiasts together to explore open-weight models, open-source tools, and hands-on hacking.
Whether you're writing your first line of code or you're an experienced developer, there's a place for you here. No prior AI experience needed.
What to expect:
- Hands-on hacking with open-source AI tools and open-weight models
- Mentors available throughout the day for support and guidance
- A structured schedule with dedicated time for building, lunch, and presentations
- Live project presentations and judging at the end of the day
- Prizes, swag, and a great community vibe
What to bring:
Your laptop, charger, and a GitHub account. Bring your curiosity too, you don't need to be an AI expert to take part.
Come build, learn, and celebrate open source with us. Happy hacking!
Sponsors
Proudly supported by CodeCrafters. Winning teams receive CodeCrafters VIP memberships (1st place: 2-year VIP, 2nd place: 1-year VIP, 3rd place: 6-month VIP), giving full access to all CodeCrafters challenges including Git, Redis, and SQLite.
Also supported by n8n, the open-source workflow automation tool. Every participant gets a voucher for one month of n8n, redeemable until one week after the event. The team that wins the "Best Use of n8n" challenge receives one year of n8n Cloud Pro for every team member.
Please Note: This event is only open to participants aged 13 to 23.
Who can attend?
Locations have different requirements for who can attend. This location is open to the following:
Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 11:15 | Check-In |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Welcome & Orientation |
| 12:00 | Hacking starts! |
| 13:30 – 14:00 | Lunch break |
| 16:45 | Hacking ends |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Final submission |
| 17:00 | Presentations start |
| 18:00 | Judging time |
| 18:30 | Prize ceremony |
| 19:00 | End of event |
Links & Resources
Open Weights Are Good. Open Source Is Better
A simple introduction to the difference between closed AI, open-weight models, and genuinely open-source AI.
Open Source AI Definition 1.0
The official Open Source Initiative definition of what an AI system needs to provide to qualify as open source.
On the Societal Impact of Open Foundation Models
An overview of the benefits, risks, and broader implications of releasing powerful AI models openly.
Open link →Ollama Quickstart
The easiest way to download and run open-weight language models locally on your own computer.
Open link →Hugging Face Transformers Quickstart
A practical introduction to using pretrained open models for text, vision, audio, and other AI tasks with Python.
Open link →llama.cpp
A popular open-source project for efficiently running LLMs locally, including on consumer laptops and CPUs.
Open link →Hugging Face PEFT / LoRA Quicktour
Learn how to customize and fine-tune large models efficiently without retraining the entire model.
Open link →Hugging Face Model Cards
A guide to documenting a model's purpose, training, limitations, datasets, and evaluation results.
Open link →Hugging Face Model & Repository Licenses
Explains how AI model licenses work and why downloadable weights do not automatically mean unrestricted use.
Open link →Foundation Model Transparency Index
Research measuring how transparent major AI developers are about training data, models, evaluation, and deployment.
Open link →n8n Cloud Pro License
Follow the guide given below Redeem code: 2026-COMMUNITY-HACKATHON-BERLIN-5E53612B
STARTER PROJECT
START HERE IF NEW! An example project using python to get you started with Ollama and a local gemma4.
Open link →Hosted by
