Introduction
Kolkata has plenty of developer meetups, but it has never had a full-day conference devoted entirely to open source. OpenSourceCon India 2026 changes that. On Saturday 5 December 2026, the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Alipore hosts what the organisers call Bengal's first dedicated open source conference: a day of talks, workshops and community sessions for developers, maintainers, students and founders, running from 8 in the morning to 6:30 in the evening.
The early response has been strong. The call for papers drew more than 200 submissions, and the organisers expect over 500 attendees. For a first edition put together by a community team, those numbers suggest the demand was already there, waiting for someone to organise around it.
Event Overview
OpenSourceCon India is a single-day, in-person conference. The format mixes keynote talks, technical sessions, hands-on workshops and community booths, with the day built around four ideas the organisers keep repeating: learn, build, share and impact. The tagline is “Where Kolkata Meets Open Source”, and the tone is community-first rather than corporate.
The conference is supported by FOSS United through its event grants programme, and community partners include React Kolkata, Global Azure Kolkata, from-dev-to-ops and Kolkata IT Hub. That backing matters for a first edition: it connects the event to the wider Indian open source ecosystem rather than leaving it as a one-off local gathering.
What to Expect
A full day, genuinely full. The schedule runs from 8 AM to 6:30 PM, with talks across the main stage, workshops where you write code rather than watch slides, and community and sponsor booths to walk between sessions. Lunch and coffee breaks are included in every ticket tier, which is when most of the useful conversations at a community conference actually happen.
The topic list is broad, which is typical for open source events. Sessions cover cloud native systems, Linux and systems programming, AI and open source, AI agents and LLMs, DevOps and automation, security and privacy, web performance, sustainability in tech, open source careers and community building. The Hello World pass includes access to all sessions, regular seating, lunch and coffee, booth access and minimal swag. Premium Class adds first-row seating and event merchandise, and the Professional Special sits between the two.
Who Should Attend
Developers who use open source tools every day and want to meet the people who maintain them are the obvious audience. Students are well served too: the Hello World pass at Rs 449 is priced for students, and the careers and community sessions are aimed at people getting started.
Maintainers, DevOps engineers, cloud practitioners and anyone curious about contributing to open source for the first time will find relevant sessions. Founders building on open source infrastructure should come for the community contacts alone. If you have never been to an open source event, this is a friendly first one.
Key Highlights
- Bengal's first dedicated open source conference, in a single full day
- 500-plus attendees expected, with 200-plus talk proposals submitted
- Talks and hands-on workshops across cloud native, Linux, AI, DevOps, security and web performance
- Community partners include React Kolkata, Global Azure Kolkata, from-dev-to-ops and Kolkata IT Hub
- Supported by FOSS United through its event grants programme
- Tickets from Rs 449, with lunch and coffee included in every tier
- Venue is the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, a 550-seat hall in Alipore
Agenda and Speakers
The day runs 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM, with keynotes, technical talks and workshops through the day. The speaker lineup is still being finalised: the organisers say they are curating maintainers, engineers and community leaders, with announcements coming soon. The call for papers closed on 30 September 2026, and the programme is being built from the 200-plus submissions received.
Check the official site or the KonfHub page closer to December for the final schedule and speaker names. One note: the official site's event listing shows 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM, while the KonfHub ticket page shows 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. We have used the KonfHub times here, since that is the ticketing source, but confirm the final timings before you travel.
Registration Information
Tickets are on sale through KonfHub. The Hello World Pass costs Rs 449 and includes all sessions, regular seating, lunch and coffee breaks, booth access and minimal swag. The Professional Special costs Rs 1,000 and adds event merchandise. The Premium Class pass costs Rs 1,600 and adds first-row seating plus T-shirts and goodies.
Ticket availability differs by tier. The Premium Class pass is on sale until 3 December 2026, the Professional Special until 4 December 2026, and the Hello World Pass until 6:30 PM on 5 December 2026, the day of the event itself. T-shirts can be purchased separately as add-ons.
Venue and Location
The venue is the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, at 1 Thackeray Road, Alipore Police Line, Alipore, Kolkata 700027. It is a modern 550-seat auditorium with a distinctive domed roof, and it is well suited to a single-track conference day.
Getting there is straightforward. The nearest metro stations are Netaji Bhavan and Kalighat, about 2.5 km away. Sealdah station is around 7 km away and Howrah around 8.5 km. Kolkata Airport is roughly 22 km away. Alipore is a central, well-connected part of the city, so cabs and buses are easy to find.
Why This Event Matters
Open source runs most of the software the world depends on, but the people who build it rarely get a stage in eastern India. The big Indian open source gatherings tend to happen in Bengaluru. A dedicated conference in Kolkata gives the city's developers a local anchor: a place to meet maintainers, find projects to contribute to, and see that the open source community is bigger than any one city's meetup scene.
It also matters for the organisers' longer game. A first edition that draws 500 people and 200 talk proposals is a foundation. If it works, Kolkata gets a recurring event on the national open source calendar, and that is worth supporting in year one.
Event Details
- Date: 5 December 2026
- Time: 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
- Venue: Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, 1 Thackeray Road, Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700027
- City: Kolkata
- Format: In-person
- Organizer: OpenSourceCon India
- Price: Hello World Pass Rs 449; Professional Special Rs 1,000; Premium Class Rs 1,600
- Registration deadline: 5 December 2026
Last verified: 14 November 2026.
