Hacktoberfest Hack Day Bethesda x Code & Coffee - Montgomery County, MD Chapter
Hacktoberfest 2026
4825 Cordell Avenue 200 Bethesda, MD 20814 United States
Event Description
Join MoCo Code & Coffee for an afternoon hackathon as part of MLH's Hacktoberfest 2026! This year's theme is "AI Belongs to Everyone". Whether you've shipped models to production or have never touched one, you'll leave knowing more about open source AI and you'll have time to hack on your own project or collaborate with others.
Come solo, bring a team, or find one when you arrive. Beginners are very welcome. We'll have a short intro workshop, mentors on hand, and plenty of coffee and snacks to keep you going.
Space is limited, so please RSVP early.
Before You Arrive
Build time is short, so a little homework goes a long way:
Check out MLH resources for how to get started with open source models and APIs.
Join the Code & Coffee Discord to brainstorm ideas and find teammates ahead of time. Please follow the welcome instructions to add the DC/MD/VA role, and post questions to the #moco-general channel: https://discord.gg/JbGyY3bKTS
Need inspiration? We'll share a list of beginner-friendly project ideas on the resource page (coming soon!).
What to Bring
A laptop and charger
Any accounts or API keys you plan to use, already set up
Your development environment ready to go (if you want to run a model locally, consider downloading it at home.)
An idea, or just curiosity
Location
We will be at Bethesda Green. This location is on the second floor of the Capital One Building. Enter the main building as if you are headed to Capital One, then go up the stairs to your right.
PLEASE NOTE: There is no working elevator at this time, stairs only.
4825 Cordell Avenue, Suite 200
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
More details about finding the space here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bCMFlDXsPerKpshNFZa6b7AsOveYw-ol4cjT5brEadw/edit?usp=
The event will be held in the conference room and shared workspaces of Bethesda Green. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Parking
Participants may park on the street or in nearby parking garages.
Public transit
Located near near the Bethesda metro station (Red Line).
Presenting Your Project
Sign up for a time slot at the event. The amount of time you'll have to present and time for Q&A will depend on the number of sign-ups we have. Your presentation should be to-the-point and cover three things:
What was your idea?
What did you accomplish?
What are your next steps?
Slides and a live demo are welcome but not required.
We encourage you to publish your code openly. That's what Hacktoberfest is about!
Prizes and Swag
MLH is providing prizes for the challenge categories, plus swag for participants. T-shirts and some other items are limited.
Keep the Momentum Going
About an hour and a half isn't much build time, so treat this as a starting point! Bring your project to future Code & Coffee meetups to keep working on it with the community. For the rest of October, check out DEV Challenges, MLH livestreams, and Global Hack Week online.
Want to help out? We're looking for volunteers to staff check-in and mentor participants. Please consider signing up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D49AFA82DA5FB6-66417791-moco
Reach out with any questions on the Code & Coffee Discord in the #moco-general channel.
Who can attend?
Locations have different requirements for who can attend. This location is open to the following:
Schedule
2:00 PM: Check-in. Sign in and grab a name tag. Please make sure you're registered here beforehand.
2:15 PM: Kickoff. Meet the organizers and mentors. We'll go over the MLH Code of Conduct and logistics, then announce this year's challenges.
2:30 PM: Team-matching circle and Open Source AI 101 (both optional). We'll go around and share who we are, what skills we bring, and whether we have a project idea or are looking for a team. After that, a short demo will show you how to get started with an open-weight model, whether you run a small model locally or call one through a hosted endpoint. If you already have a team and a plan, feel free to start hacking.
2:50 PM: Build time!
4:15 PM: Pencils down. Submit your project name, a one-line description, and a link to your repo.
4:20 PM: Demos.
4:45 PM: Judging, prizes, and swag. Winners are chosen by group vote.
4:55 PM: Closing and group photo.
5:00 PM and beyond: Clean up and optional grab-your-own-dinner with the group at California Tortilla
Links & Resources
Agent Skills Explained: What They Are, What They Aren't, and How to Use Them
Overview of the Agent Skill Open Standard and SKILL.md authoring.
Open link →A Developer's Guide to Open-Weight LLM API Integration
Guide to deploying and integrating large open-weight LLMs.
Open link →How to Run Google's Gemma 4 Locally with Ollama
Local setup and edge execution for models under 10B parameters.
Open link →Hermes Agent: A Practical Guide
Setting up and orchestrating workflows using open-source agent harnesses.
Open link →Hosted by
Code & Coffee is the largest community-led developer meetup in 40 cities across 80,000+ devs and growing. We are the chapter in Montgomery County, MD, and we meet monthly.