Hacktoberfest 2021 is Here 🎃
Tags: hacktoberfest, opensource, meta, contributorswanted
Published: 2021-10-01 14:01:24

---
title: Hacktoberfest 2021 is Here 🎃 
published: true
description: Here’s how we’re celebrating open source this month and how you can join us!
tags: hacktoberfest, opensource, meta, contributorswanted 
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/298337dvay0yoqbl4m9i.png
---

_Heads up: @nickytonline and I are kicking off Hacktoberfest with a celebration on the DEV Community Twitch stream TODAY! Join us at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET/ 4 PM UTC [here](twitch.tv/thepracticaldev)_

---

The worldwide celebration of open source projects and contributions is back – and for the eighth year in a row, it’s hosted by our friends over at [@DigitalOcean](https://dev.to/digitalocean). 

**We’re excited to follow your journey from Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 31, 2021 right here on DEV.** But before we share exactly how you can participate in the DEV Hacktoberfest celebration in 2021, please let us know if you plan to participate by leaving a comment in [this thread](https://dev.to/devteam/who-s-participating-in-hacktoberfest-2021-4pgf). If you’re an open source project _maintainer_ seeking contributions for Hacktoberfest this year, the community would love to hear all about your project [here](https://dev.to/devteam/hacktoberfest-2021-who-s-looking-for-contributors-32k). 


## Let's talk about how you can participate in Hacktoberfest 2021…

### 1. Review Open Source Etiquette Guidelines

To ensure you’re making valuable contributions to open source projects this month, we encourage you to check out this open source etiquette guide from last year that will help inform you before making your pull requests. It always helps to review this information – even if you’ve contributed to open source projects before 😊

{% link https://dev.to/devteam/hacktoberfest-etiquette-for-contributors-ec6 %}


### 2. Sign Up
- [Sign up](https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/) for Hacktoberfest 2021 to participate

### 3. Make 4 Hacktoberfest Pull Requests 
- Make at least four pull requests (PRs) by October 31 in any [participating](https://github.com/topics/hacktoberfest) GitHub-hosted repository/project 
- Your PRs will count toward your participation if they are in a repo with the `hacktoberfest` topic and once they have been merged, approved by a maintainer, or labeled as `hacktoberfest-accepted`.
- Maintainers can opt-in to participate by classifying their projects with the `hacktoberfest` topic (find a list of opted-in projects [here](https://github.com/topics/hacktoberfest) )
- Any PR with the `hacktoberfest-accepted` label, submitted to any public GitHub repository, with or without the `hacktoberfest` topic, will be considered valid.


### 3. Earn Cool Prizes, Plant Trees

By participating in Hacktoberfest 2021, you'll gain more open source experience and get the chance to earn some Hacktoberfest prizes. For the second year in a row, DigitalOcean is offering an alternative to their traditional Hacktoberfest t-shirt prize: a [plant-a-tree alternative](https://tree-nation.com/profile/digitalocean)! While those Hacktoberfest t-shirts are coveted and amazing, it always feels good to help the planet and reduce waste 🌲

### **4. Share your Hacktoberfest 2021 Story on DEV**

We encourage all participants of Hacktoberfest to share their journeys with us on DEV by using the [#hacktoberfest](dev.to/t/hacktoberfest) tag. Why? The community always benefits from reading stories about other open source contributions so they can improve their own participation in the ecosystem. <mark>Oh, and we’ll also be offering anyone who shares a #hacktoberfest post on DEV (who is _also_ a registered Hacktoberfest participant) a limited edition Hacktoberfest 2021 profile badge.<mark> To receive your badge at the end of the month, just keep your eyes out for a post by @thepracticaldev where you'll submit your email and a bit of information about your participation. Don’t miss these badges – once Hacktoberfest 2021 is over, we’ll never be awarding them again. If you'd like a badge on your [CodeNewbie Community](https://community.codenewbie.org/) profile, too, just cross-post your DEV article there this month.

Be sure to follow the tag, as the DEV/Forem team will be publishing our own helpful Hacktoberfest content all month long!

Not sure about what kind of Hacktoberfest post you should share with us? **[Click here](https://dev.to/new/hacktoberfest) for a Hacktoberfest post template where you can choose between a few ideas — or write your own Hacktoberfest post from scratch.**

We can't wait to read your Hacktoberfest story ❤️


### 5. Join DEV/Forem on Twitch

Throughout the month, @nickytonline and I will be livestreaming about Hacktoberfest! Follow us on Twitch at [twitch.tv/thepracticaldev](twitch.tv/thepracticaldev) to be notified when a stream begins. 👾

<mark>Join us for the first Hacktoberfest stream today at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET/ 4 PM UTC on [Twitch](twitch.tv/thepracticaldev)<mark>

{% listing https://dev.to/listings/events/dev-hacktoberfest-kick-off-twitch-stream-567e %}




### 6. Share your Hacktoberfest progress, discuss, and get help

* Ask a question about Hacktoberfest by using the tags #hacktoberfest and #help (– hint: use [this](https://dev.to/new/help) template if you’ve never published a help thread on DEV. Don’t forget to include the #hacktoberfest tag, too!)
* Discuss your Hacktoberfest journey in this [thread](https://dev.to/devteam/hacktoberfest-2021-discussion-thread-3o48)
* Tell us when you've completed all PRs in [this thread](https://dev.to/devteam/hacktoberfest-2021-completion-thread-5cnb)

### **7. Contribute to Forem!** 

For the second year in a row, Forem (the open source software that powers DEV) is actively seeking Hacktoberfest contributions! We would be honored to be amongst your four PRs this month. 

### [>> Check out all the Hacktoberfest-eligible bugs in the Forem codebase](https://github.com/forem/forem/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3AHacktoberfest)



We hope you have a blast contributing to/celebrating open source this month. Tell us all about it here on DEV when you get the chance! 

## Happy Hacktoberfest 2021 🎃