The tech community in Europe is growing. Okay, sure, we’re still a few years away from having our own Silicon Valley or Bay Area, but some EU hubs are on the rise and have the potential to rival their American counterparts. London has Silicon Roundabout, Berlin has Silicon Allee, and Barcelona has, the beach.
With such a vibrant growing developer community in Europe, you no longer need to look to the United States for your source of community. Regular gatherings are being organised right on your doorstep. We all know how important community is, so let’s talk about some of the best developer conferences in Europe you should be adding to your calendar today.
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1. VueJS Amsterdam
28-29 February 2024 • Amsterdam, The Netherlands • €599
“The largest and most special conference.” Hard to say why it’s so special, but probably something to do with the tight-knit Vuejs community. This is the biggest Vue developer gathering in the world, so if you’re part of the community, you’ve got to be there.
Vuejs Amsterdam is a two-day event with 35 talks on the Vue eco-system and technical deep dives from the Vue core team. The creator of Vue, Evan You, will also be there to share the latest updates and announcements. Also, this conference is conveniently hosted back to back with JSWorld so you can easily attend both and spend the whole week immersed in JavaScript.
2. JSWorld Conference
28 Feb - 1 Mar 2024 • Amsterdam, The Netherlands • €199
On the back of Vuejs Amsterdam, we have JSWorld conference which is the #1 JavaScript conference on the planet. There are 75 talks about the latest topics in TypeScript, Node.js, React, Vue, Angular 15, Qwik, Vite, AuthZ, Demystifying Protocol Buffers and gRPC.
The conference goes for three days, the main day in the convention centre, which is described as a “Disneyland for developers.” And two days which are more focused on meet and greet and exploring the city of Amsterdam with other attendees.
3. QCon London
8-10 April 2024 • London, United Kingdom • £1,990
QCon London is an international software development conference where you can explore emerging trends from some of the early adopters in the tech industry. The conference hosts senior developers from leading companies to who share what they are doing and how it’s been working for them.
At QCon you’ll hear from over 75 software domain experts focused on innovation and change. The talks are focused on patterns and practices, not products and pitches. And I like the fact that they actively discourage marketing and sales pitches. A lot of tech conferences have turned into these massive recruitment funnels for corporations instead of focusing on knowledge sharing.
4. React Summit
14-18 June 2024 • Amsterdam, Netherlands • €660
Instead of going to Amsterdam to smoke weed, why don’t you head there to attend the biggest React conference worldwide? React Summit is for the JavaScript guys. The main event happens on Friday (June 14th) but there are activities and meetups from Wednesday to Tuesday the following week.
React Summit features over 60 speakers, 10+ workshops, food trucks, and a big party to wrap it all up. We encourage you to stay on after the main day and explore the city with fellow attendees on the weekend. The conference is still a ways off, so make sure you check out the website to keep up to date with everything that’s happening.
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5. WeAreDevelopers World Congress
27–28 July 2023 • Berlin, Germany • €299
The World Congress. It sounds impressive, and that’s because it is. There are over 10,000 developers posed to attend this amazing conference in Berlin. With 300+ speakers and 12 stages, you’ll be able to hear from your heroes on the topics that interest you the most.
It’s a two-day event for all developers which means whether you’re front end, back end, or anything in between, you are invited. Not only is this a great opportunity to connect with other devs from around the world, but also a chance to meet with great software companies in the space.
The highlights certainly include the CODE100 challenge which is the ultimate coding competition in Europe where you’ll see some amazing developers competing for a €100,000 prize pool. And there’s the famous after party, featuring some top local and international DJs.
6. Infobip Shift Conference
16-17 September 2024 • Zadar, Croatia • €200
The name Infobip Shift is a bit of a mouthful but the event itself is great! This is a general developer conference — it’s not specific to any language or framework. It’s really about bringing together tech professionals, founders, leaders, disruptors, and dreamers all in one beautiful place.
Infobip is a two-day conference, with multiple stages and a ton of passionate speakers. You can expect multiple tracks, virtual experiences, an exhibition hall, and a lot of opportunities to expand your professional network with social events and afterparties. What’s great about Infobip is that it’s a good mix of work and fun. You’ll be able to enjoy the Mediterranean sea and explore Zadar with other attendees.
That’s all…
Yeah, I know, it’s a short list but there aren’t a whole lot of conferences at this scale in Europe, I’m definitely keeping an eye on this website to see what's out there. That being said, if you do know an event that you think would be a great addition to this list, let me know.
I also wrote another article about the best tech conferences, so check that out if you are interested in the wider technology space, there are some really awesome events in that list happening this year (a bunch happening in Europe too!). Thanks for reading ✌️
