Last call for DjangoCon Europe 2025 organizers
Posted by Thibaud Colas & DjangoCon Europe Support working group on May 5, 2024
Note: This text is an updated and clarified version of the previous call. We have opened up more 2025 event dates; targeting January - April and now also June 2025.
DjangoCon Europe is a major pillar of the Django community, as people from across the world meet and share. This includes many qualities that make it a unique event - unconventional and conventional venues, creative happenings, a feast of talks and a dedication to inclusion and diversity.
Ahead of DjangoCon Europe 2024, we are looking for the next group of organizers to own and lead the 2025 conference. Could your town - or your football stadium, circus tent, private island or city hall - host this wonderful community event?
Hosting a DjangoCon is an ambitious undertaking. It's hard work, but each year it has been successfully run by a team of community volunteers, not all of whom have had previous experience - more important is enthusiasm, organizational skills, the ability to plan and manage budgets, time and people - and plenty of time to invest in the project.
Step 1: Submit your expression of interest
If you’re considering organizing DjangoCon Europe (🙌 great!), fill in our DjangoCon Europe 2025 expression of interest form with your contact details. No need to fill in all the information at this stage, we’ll reach out and help you figure it out.
Express your interest in organizing
Step 2: We’re here to help!
We've set up a DjangoCon Europe support working group of previous organizers that you can reach out to with questions about organizing and running a DjangoCon Europe.
The group will be in touch with everyone submitting the expression of interest form , or you can reach out to them directly: european-organizers-support@djangoproject.com
We'd love to hear from you as soon as possible, so your proposal can be finalized and sent to the DSF board by June 2nd. If time permits, the selected hosts will be publicly announced at this year's DjangoCon Europe by the current organizers.
Step 3: Submitting the proposal
The more detailed and complete your final proposal is, the better. Basic details include:
- Organizing committee members: You won’t have a full team yet, probably, naming just some core team members is enough.
- The legal entity that is intended to run the conference: Even if the entity does not exist yet, please share how you are planning to set it up.
- Dates: We must avoid conflicts with major holidays, EuroPython, DjangoCon US, and PyCon US.
- Venue(s), including size, number of possible attendees, pictures, accessibility concerns, catering, etc. Possible dates for 2025 are January 5th to April 30th, and June 1st to June 30th.
- Transport links and accommodation: Can your venue be reached by international travelers?
- Budgets and ticket prices: Talk to the DjangoCon Europe Support group to get help with this, including information on past event budgets.
We also like to see:
- Timelines
- Pictures
- Draft agreements with providers
- Alternatives you have considered
Submit your completed proposal via our DjangoCon Europe 2025 expression of interest form, this time filling in as many fields as possible. We look forward to reviewing great proposals that continue the excellence the whole community associates with DjangoCon Europe.
Q&A
Can I organize a conference alone?
We strongly recommend that a team of people submit an application.
I/we don’t have a legal entity yet, is that a problem?
Depending on your jurisdiction, this is usually not a problem. But please share your plans about the entity you will use or form in your application.
Do I/we need experience with organizing conferences?
The support group is here to help you succeed. From experience, we know that many core groups of 2-3 people have been able to run a DjangoCon with guidance from previous organizers and help from volunteers.
What is required in order to announce an event?
Ultimately, a contract with the venue confirming the dates is crucial, since announcing a conference makes people book calendars, holidays, buy transportation and accommodation etc. This, however, would only be relevant after the DSF board has concluded the application process. Naturally, the application itself cannot contain any guarantees, but it’s good to check concrete dates with your venues to ensure they are actually open and currently available, before suggesting these dates in the application.
Do we have to do everything ourselves?
No. You will definitely be offered lots of help by the community. Typically, conference organizers will divide responsibilities into different teams, making it possible for more volunteers to join. Local organizers are free to choose which areas they want to invite the community to help out with, and a call will go out through a blog post announcement on djangoproject.com and social media.
What kind of support can we expect from the Django Software Foundation?
The DSF regularly provides grant funding to DjangoCon organizers, to the extent of $6,000 in recent editions. We also offer support via specific working groups:
- The dedicated DjangoCon Europe support working group.
- The social media working group can help you promote the event.
- The Code of Conduct working group works with all event organizers.
In addition, a lot of Individual Members of the DSF regularly volunteer at community events. If your team aren’t Individual Members, we can reach out to them on your behalf to find volunteers.
What dates are possible in 2025?
For 2025, DjangoCon Europe should ideally happen between January 5th and April 30th, or June 1st and June 30th. This is to avoid the following community events’ provisional dates:
- PyCon US 2025: 14 May through 22 May, 2025
- EuroPython 2025: July 2025
- DjangoCon US 2025: September - October 2025
- DjangoCon Africa 2025: August - September 2025
Here are the holidays to avoid:
- New Year's Day: Wednesday 1st January 2025
- Chinese New Year: Wednesday 29th January 2025
- Eid Al-Fitr: Sunday 30th March 2025
- Passover: Saturday 12th - Sunday 20th April 2025
- Easter: Sunday 20th April 2025
- Eid Al-Adha: Friday 6th - Monday 9th June 2025
- Rosh Hashanah : Monday 22nd - Wednesday 24th September 2025
- Yom Kippur: Wednesday 1st - Thursday 2nd October 2025
What cities or countries are possible?
Any city in Europe. This can be a city or country where DjangoCon Europe has happened in the past (Edinburgh, Porto, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, Florence, Budapest, Cardiff, Toulon, Warsaw, Zurich, Amsterdam, Berlin), or a new locale.
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