The following is a guest post from DrupalCon Vienna 2025 Marketing & Outreach Committee member Iwantha Lekamge.
As the countdown continues for DrupalCon Vienna 2025, the global Drupal community is buzzing. This conference isn’t just another gathering, it’s shaping up to be one of the most technically rich, collaborative, and forward-looking Drupal events to date. Whether you build, design, strategize, or contribute, there are new incentives this year to make sure you’re part of it.
When & Where
DrupalCon Vienna 2025 runs from 14-17 October 2025, hosted at the Austria Center Vienna. This modern facility is well-equipped for large technical sessions, labs, workshops, and contributions, and Vienna’s efficient transit and infrastructure make it easy to get around and stay connected.
Vienna
Vienna is more than a beautiful and historic European capital. It’s also an international hub for tech innovation, design, standards, and open source culture. Attendees will be inspired not just by the sessions, but by the surroundings: cafés, museums, architectural landmarks, and a city layout that promotes walking, meeting, and exploring. There’s an energy in Vienna that pairs well with deep technical work quiet in the sessions, vibrant in the coffee-break ideas. The cosmopolitan and safe nature of the city also means it’s comfortable for international visitors.
Why You Should Attend
Beyond staying current, here are more detailed reasons to be at Vienna, with specific takeaways:
- Expanded InfoSec & DevOps track: New this year is a full track dedicated to security, site reliability, performance optimization, automation, and DevOps best practices. If your infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, or platform uptime matter (they do), sessions here are essential.
- Real world case studies in the Clients & Industry track: See practical examples of how organizations are using Drupal to solve industry-specific challenges whether scaling multisite setups, improving SEO, boosting customer engagement, or streamlining digital transformation. These sessions show measurable results and trade-offs.
- Tools & Workflow improvements for developers & site builders: From sessions like “Secure by Design: Integrating Security into Drupal Development”, “TCP Fast Open & HTTP/3: Network-Level Optimizations”, to custom PHPStan rules and version control workflows, there’s content to make your code more robust, efficient, and maintainable.
- Contribution, mentoring & learning by doing: More than 100 sessions are paired with hands-on workshops, labs, and dedicated contribution slots (including first-time contributor workshops). If you want to leave not just informed but skilled, these are invaluable.
- Forward-looking keynotes & community vision: The lineup includes the “Driesnote” (platform roadmap), a panel “The Web in 2035” to examine emerging trends (PHP, standards, AI, open web), and “Neurodiversity: An Underrated Superpower in Business”, among others. These talks offer both inspiration and strategic insight.
Event Highlights
Here are some of the standout parts of the program that make DrupalCon Vienna 2025 not just worth attending, but potentially transformative:
- Four Keynotes of Broad Impact
- Driesnote: Drupal's founder providing updates and vision.
- Neurodiversity: An Underrated Superpower in Business exploring how diverse cognitive styles contribute to innovation.
- The Web in 2035: Panel of experts discussing trends in open source, web standards, and where platforms like Drupal will need to evolve.
- Drupal CMS Spotlights: Spotlighting next-gen tools, site building, and integration pathways.
- Session Tracks That Actually Matter
There are seven tracks, each tailored for different technical and strategic needs: InfoSec & DevOps; Drupal CMS; Coding & Site Building; Clients & Industry Experiences; Agency & Business; Community Health; and Open Web. Each track is built to provide relevant skills, case studies, and tools. - Highlighted Sessions to Watch
- Secure by Design: Integrating Security into Drupal Development learn how to bake security practices into your architecture.
- TCP Fast Open & HTTP/3: Network-Level Optimizations for Lightning-Fast Drupal for those optimizing performance and network overhead.
- Nestlé Nutrition Scalable Multibrand Design System on Drupal — how big brands manage design system consistency across many sites.
- Writing Custom PHPStan Rules for Drupal Projects — statistical code analysis to enforce code quality.
- Community & Networking Moments
BoFs (Birds of a Feather), first-time contributor workshops, mentoring, and contribution rooms are built into the schedule. These are often where you build relationships, get unstuck on technical challenges, and even find collaborators. - International Splash Awards
These awards celebrate outstanding Drupal projects globally. They provide inspiration, showcase excellence in design, performance, innovation, and community impact. Being part of or witnessing this can broaden your view of what’s possible with Drupal.
DrupalCon Vienna 2025 is shaping up to be more than just another tech conference, it’s a rare convening of strategy, craftsmanship, community, and future vision. For anyone serious about making an impact in open source, scaling Drupal projects, improving security and performance, or simply staying ahead in a fast-moving web ecosystem, this is one event that could change your trajectory.
Stay Tuned!
So bookmark this space, and get ready to experience DrupalCon Vienna 2025 like never before.
Are you coming? Let’s connect!
