ICCS Hacktoberfest 2026 Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone that is part of the climate science community or has an interest in improving their codebase can take part.

Please register your interest here by Monday 14 September 2026. We will then get in touch with further details on how to sign up for Hacktoberfest, with instructions on how to tag your Github or Gitlab hosted project and /or to participate as a user. If you are a project maintainer who would like some advice in making your repository "Hacktoberfest ready” please sign up to one of our ICCS code clinics here. 

No, if you would prefer to only work on other teams codes then you can participate as a user. 

We would like Hacktoberfest users to submit at least 6 pull/merge requests between 1- 31 October, with project maintainers accepting your pull / merge requests.

Hacktoberfest runs from 1 - 31 October. We will also be running a kick off virtual meet up event on Wed 30 September (16:00 - 17:00 GMT) where participants can find out how the hackathon will run over the month, ask any questions and find out more about the projects that you can contribute to.

The kick off meeting will take place on Wed 30 September from 16:00 - 17:00 GMT. It will involve a short welcome and introduction to how the event works. We will also ask each team or person  that has contributed code to give an informal presentation on their project. 

The networking events that will be scheduled by ICCS during the event are: 

• 30 September, 16:00 - 17:00 GMT - ICCS Hacktoberfest kick off event

• 7 October, 16:00 - 17:00 GMT- Coffee catch up online networking session

• 14 October, 9:00 - 10:00 GMT - Coffee catch up online networking session

• 21 October, 16:00 - 17:00 GMT- Coffee catch up online networking session

• 30 October, 16:00 - 17:00 GMT- wrap up celebration

You are also welcome to join the global Hacktoberfest kick off event (organised by Digital Ocean) which will be on 1 October (details tbc).

No, it is not mandatory to attend all the online events, however we would encourage you to join the kick-off event so that you can get a chance to find out more details on how the hackathon will run and the projects that you can contribute to.

To take part as a maintainer we will ask you to add the Hacktoberfest topic and other identifiers to your repository to indicate that you are looking for contributions. We will also ask you to apply the appropriate label to issues you want contributors to help with in your github or gitlab project, and add a contributing.md file with contribution guidelines. We recommend that you ensure you choose issues that have a well defined scope and are self-contained. All contributors (users and maintainers) will be invited to join the online events (kick off,wrap up and coffee catch ups) hosted by ICCS during Hacktoberfest. We encourage maintainers to provide issues about documentation and graphics.

To take part as a user we will send you information on signing up to the main Hacktoberfest platform and how to search for and start working on ICCS Hacktoberfest tagged projects. We would like users to submit at least 6 pull/merge requests over the month. All contributors (users and maintainers) will be invited to join the online events (kick off, wrap up and coffee catch ups) hosted by ICCS during Hacktoberfest.

Yes, we welcome any contributions that will help with open source projects - these could include copy editing, adding to technical documentations, user experience testing, creating digital content or graphic design. You can still track these contributions by creating a pull / merge request. 

Please don’t use AI. As this is a learning opportunity we encourage you to participate without using these tools. 

Yes, we welcome contributions from across our networks.