A toast with code! A Hacktoberfest experience from Toronto

Hello! This is Miranda.
Recently, the number of days in Toronto where the temperature exceeds 20 degrees has been increasing, and I'm excited that summer will soon be upon us.
Speaking of summer in Toronto, it's all about patios! Patios refer to terrace seating at restaurants and rooftop areas like beer gardens. Drinking alcohol outdoors is generally prohibited in Toronto, so I can't wait to enjoy a beer on a patio on a hot day.
Speaking of beer, many people may think of Oktoberfest, the famous beer festival that originated in Germany.

But this time I'm going to introduce...

Hacktoberfest

The names may be similar, but the events are completely different. We're here to tell you about an event where the focus is on code, not beer!

Introduction: What is Hacktoberfest?

Hacktoberfest is a global event held every October to support open source development.
It was started by DigitalOcean in 2014 and is now run with the support of many tech companies, including GitHub and GitLab.

Official website 👉 https://hacktoberfest.com

The process to participate is very simple!

Participants can contribute to the open source community by sending pull requests (PRs for short) to open source projects on GitHub or GitLab.
Until 2023, if four PRs were merged, participants would receive commemorative T-shirts, stickers, etc.
The official 2024 website does not specify what commemorative items will be available, but
if you search for "Hacktoberfest 2025 swag list," for example, you will find that various companies are distributing limited edition goods such as hoodies and backpacks (note that rules and benefits change depending on the year).
An example of the 2024 Swag List: 🔗 https://hacktoberfestswag.vercel.app/

It's okay if you can't write code!

A major attraction of Hacktoberfest is that you can participate in ways other than just contributing code.
Even small tasks like correcting typos in a README, translating documentation, or improving the UI are considered significant contributions to open source.
This creates an atmosphere that makes the event welcoming and welcoming to anyone, from beginners to veteran developers.

Why participate? The appeal and benefits of Hacktoberfest

The appeal of Hacktoberfest is that it allows you to contribute to open source projects together with developers from all over the world. You
can participate at your own pace, hone your practical skills, and connect with a global developer community.

Benefits include:

✅ Practical Skill Development
By participating in an ongoing open source project, you will acquire tech skills needed in the real world, such as team development flow, the ability to read other people's code, and experience in receiving reviews and making improvements.
In particular, a major point is that you will naturally acquire the ability to work independently, such as "how to read issues" and "where and how to fix things."

✅You can use it as a portfolio.
The pull requests (PRs) you make will remain on GitHub.
This can be used as a portfolio when looking for a job or changing jobs, and it also serves as a record of your growth as an engineer.

✅Meeting with the community
Hacktoberfest provides opportunities to connect with participants from all over the world through dedicated Slack, Discord, and event-specific forums. You can
ask questions about code, learn from other people's PRs, and experience the excitement and connections you wouldn't get on your own.

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🌎 "Achievements" are important when looking for a job in North America!
"Work experience" is highly valued when job hunting in the IT industry in Canada, especially in Toronto.
Resumes and LinkedIn require specific details about the projects you've worked on and how you've been involved, so activities like Hacktoberfest are a valuable asset.

I myself had a hard time finding a job in Canada when I started my career as an infrastructure engineer with no prior experience.
I remember feeling anxious because I had very little experience to include on my resume and felt the need to "create some achievements that I could use to appeal to others."

Even if you feel anxious at first, "taking a step forward can lead to experience."
This is exactly what Hacktoberfest taught me. Small successes that make you think, "I could do it too!" can also lead to self-confidence.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Toronto has many active tech events and meetups, such as TorontoJS, HackerNest, and DevTO.
You can often find Hacktoberfest participants in these local communities, and it's a great opportunity to make connections based on common topics.

🔗What is a Hackathon? Introducing recommended tech events you can attend in Toronto

How to participate? The process from registration to PR

The process for participating in Hacktoberfest is very simple, but it may feel a bit intimidating for first-time participants. Here, we will introduce specific steps to help you proceed without getting lost, even if it's your first time participating

① Enter on the official website

First, register to participate on the official Hacktoberfest website.
Log in with your GitHub or GitLab account and click a button such as "Start Hacking" to complete your registration.
*PRs will not be counted unless you register, so be sure to register in advance!
→ Official website: 🔗 https://hacktoberfest.com

➁ Find the issue in the target repository

Next, find the issue you want to work on.
Repositories participating in Hacktoberfest will have labels for beginners such as "hacktoberfest" and "good first issue."

A useful search site for finding such issues is this one: 🔗 https://goodfirstissue.dev/.
You can also narrow down your search by language, so you can quickly find issues that you can write in your preferred language!

③ Fork and develop locally → Create a Pull Request

Once you find a repository you want to work on, you can "fork" it on GitHub and copy it to your account.
Clone the repository locally and code the parts you want to modify or add.

Once you've finished your work, submit a "Pull Request"!
The basic requirement for Hacktoberfest is to submit a total of four or more valid PRs during October.

④ Review and make corrections as necessary

When you submit a PR, you may receive a review from the project administrator (maintainer).
If you receive a comment such as "I'd like you to fix this a little," simply respond politely and resubmit.
Don't be disheartened if your PR is rejected along the way! That's also a learning experience. In fact, it's "proof that you're growing." One of the things
you can learn at Hacktoberfest is that you can experience the "actual development flow in the field" through the review exchanges.

Try participating in real life

The first time I participated in Hacktoberfest was when I was studying programming at Seneca College in Canada. At the time, I was taking a class called "OSD600 (Open Source Development)," and participating in Hacktoberfest was required as part of the class.
I was able to get my code merged even though I had no knowledge of what open source was, but I remember it was very difficult.

Having actually participated, the following points were particularly memorable:

✅ It's surprisingly difficult to find beginner-friendly issues.
Even when an issue is labeled "good first issue," I often find that it requires more specialized background knowledge than I expected, or that the issue explanation is difficult to understand in English.
In such cases, relatively simple tasks like document revision and translation proved useful. By working on such issues first, I was able to get used to the project flow and review culture, which gradually gave me the confidence that "I could do it too."

✅I realized how important the ability to read other people's code is.
In order to send a PR, you first need to have a solid understanding of existing code. This took longer than I expected.
I spent far more time reading existing code than writing new code myself - this was a big difference from school assignments.
However, I later strongly realized that this "ability to read code" is actually a skill that is truly needed in the real world.

✅Even the smallest contribution can boost your confidence.
The joy I felt when my PR was successfully merged was indescribable.
Even correcting a small spelling mistake means I've contributed to developers all over the world.
The experience of having my first PR merged also motivated me to study programming!

✍️ My PR Experience
I actually recorded my first PR in this blog post:
🔗 Hacktoberfest 2021! My first contribution

Summary: Cheers to code this fall!

Autumn is the season for reading, appetite, and code!
While toasting with beer is great, why not try something a little different this autumn and toast with code?

Hacktoberfest is an entry point into open source that even beginners can take on with confidence. Those who normally find it difficult to take the first step should take advantage of the power of such a global event and take the first step. Even a small contribution will surely lead to great confidence!

It's a good idea to get familiar with GitHub now in preparation for the event in October.
If you start practicing how to search for issues and send PRs little by little, you'll be able to participate smoothly during the actual event!

🍁Let's celebrate this fall with code! Cheers to your first contribution.🍁

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