When I heard that Flock was the most awaited event every year for the Fedora community, and that I was going to be a part of it, I was genuinely excited. Gradually, I found myself involved right in the middle of Flock 2026 planning. Months of planning. Dozens of meetings. Meeting notes referenced and re-referenced every single week. New ideas, new proposals, sponsor packages, food logistics, team gifts, a candy swap, a games night, a Foundations Wall made of sticky notes and community feelings all of it building toward one event. Three days in Prague. That’s what Flock to Fedora is. And this year, Flock 2026 delivered.
This article is a brief summary and recap of what happened at Flock 2026 this year in Prague, Czechia. It covers my perspective as an intern in the Fedora community, working in the middle of all the action. Read on to know more about what happened at this year’s annual contributor conference!
Why this one stood out
Flock to Fedora 2026 ran from June 14–16 in Prague, Czechia, in the same city for the second time in a row. Sponsorship hit record numbers this year, with more unique sponsors committing to Flock than any past edition. A huge thank you to AlmaLinux, Arm, AWS, CentOS, Fleet, Framework Computers, Meta, Microsoft Azure, openSUSE, Red Hat, Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, and Zabbix for making it possible.
The schedule this year was planned starting with “Day 0” (Sunday, June 14) with workshops and team meetups. Day 1 and Day 2 were about keynotes and streamed sessions built around Flock’s four themes:
- Freedom(open hardware, AI, and open standards)
- Friends(mentorship, onboarding, and community stories)
- Features(packaging, infrastructure, and engineering excellence)
- First(the road to Fedora Linux 45 and 46, which lay the groundwork for CentOS Stream 11 and EPEL 11)
Behind the execution of Flock, there was an incredible organizing team which handled everything from CfP logistics and on-site execution to design, travel coordination, website improvements, and a Matrix virtual experience that brought the conference to people who couldn’t make it to Prague in person (one like me). Planning kicked off months before the event, with weekly meet-ups, shared meeting notes, and sprint-by-sprint coordination across time zones and contributors. Flock doesn’t happen without these people.
Two community-driven additions gave Flock 2026 its own identity. The #CommitHistory interview campaign brought eight Flock speakers to Fedora Magazine, before the event even started, to share their first commit stories, contributor journeys, the very human reasons people keep showing up for this project, and why it really matters in this community. Also the Foundations Wall, a new interactive installation at the registration desk, asked attendees to share what Fedora’s Four Foundations mean to them on a whiteboard.
What the community said
The post-event survey closed on 8th July with 117 responses and a 57.35% response rate. The results told a clear story. Nearly every single respondent said they felt more connected to the Fedora community after attending Flock in-person. In a community that does most of its work asynchronously across time zones, mailing lists, and Matrix channels, that response is everything.
The hallway track rated highest of all. Above the keynotes, above the workshops, above the sessions. The informal conversations, that’s what people came for. One respondent put it perfectly:
“Flock is starting to feel like a family gathering, but a good one.”
Sessions were rated valuable or extremely valuable by 92% of respondents. The venue and organization scored Excellent or Good from 97% of respondents. The reception night, the candy swap, the games night on Day 0, all of it landed warmly in the open responses.
The constructive feedback? Noise levels made hallway conversations harder than they needed to be. People wanted more unstructured hacking space. Virtual attendees wanted clearer navigation instructions for the online experience. As the organizing team begins to review the data and compare against our own feedback, we hope to take these ideas for improvements into the next edition of Flock.
What happened after Prague
The real measure of Flock is never the event alone. Another big part is what contributors do once they get home.
In the 30 days since Prague, the conversations that started in corridors have continued in Fedora Discussion threads. A fuller picture of survey responses and feedback will be part of a future Fedora Council town hall video meeting later this summer.
See you in 2027!
Survey respondents have spoken on what comes next. The organizing team is processing the feedback as we begin setting our sights on the next edition.
Flock 2027 is coming. And honestly? This time I’m hoping to be there in person. Fingers crossed.