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Software Freedom Day 2026 — Wellington

Status: Venue confirmed — organising programme and speakers
Date: Saturday 19 September 2026, 10:00–16:00
Venue: Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka, Murphy Building, Room MY501
Contact: John Billings, john@opsdev.nz

Software Freedom Day is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software.

This year we are bringing it back to Wellington!

Register now: free entry, with lunch and treats provided, but spaces are limited to 50:

Register via Humanitix!

Venue

Thanks to the Victoria Engineering Club, we have a room at Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka:

  • Building: Murphy (MY)
  • Room: MY501
  • Capacity: 50 people
  • Time: 10:00–16:00

The Murphy Building is on the Kelburn campus, easily accessible by cable car or bus.

Programme

Cathedral in the morning, bazaar in the afternoon.

Morning — talks

  • Opening Karakia — we are looking for someone to open the event with a Karakia. If you can help, get in touch.
  • Michael Tiemann — a career in Open Source technology, and why you should too. Michael has been a pioneer in the open-source world and has a story worth hearing.

We are still looking for another presenter or two. If you have something to share about Free and Open Source Software, email john@opsdev.nz.

Afternoon — bazaar

The afternoon becomes a space for the community to organise itself. Bring a topic, a project, a question, a demonstration, or an idea to share.

We will have facilitators on hand to lead some icebreaker activities, and space for workshops, breakout discussions, group-hosted tables, and demonstrations. Participants can form groups around topics that interest them, share knowledge, and explore ideas together. Groups may also have the opportunity to share a short summary of their discussions with everyone at the end of the day.

There will also be a GPG key signing session running in the afternoon. Bring photo ID and your key fingerprint. We'll follow the Debian Keysigning approach: submit your key ahead of time, verify identities on the day, and sign afterward at your own pace. If you want to participate, email john@opsdev.nz with your key fingerprint before the event.

The bazaar is intentionally open-ended. The goal is to create a space where Free and Open Source Software enthusiasts, students, developers, users, and curious newcomers can connect, collaborate, and learn from each other.

Food and drinks

Coffee, tea and juice will be provided in the morning, with sandwiches for lunch, catered by Canapé. Each attendee will also receive some special cookie treats in the shape of Tux, thanks to Cookie And Me!

If you have any dietary requirements, email john@opsdev.nz and we'll make sure there's something for you.

Get involved

If you want to help organise, sponsor, speak, or host a table: email john@opsdev.nz.

Support the event

Donations for Software Freedom Day Wellington 2026 are managed through the OpsDev.nz OpenCollective project:

Donate via Open Collective!

The space

MY501, Murphy Building, Victoria University of Wellington

Sponsors and Affiliates

Lunch, coffee and tea, and treats are provided for all attendees. If you would like to help feed some hungry penguins, you can donate at the link above. We're aiming to raise around $300 to cover the catering.

The Digital Freedom Foundation organises the global event:

There is also an event happening in Christchurch if you would rather travel South to celebrate SFD2026:

And remember that SFD coincides with International Talk Like a Pirate Day:

If R is your favourite statistical programming language, this event is for you!