May is LibreLocal month, and it is fast approaching! The FSF invites
free software supporters like you to organize an in-person community
meetup in your area during May to bring people together to swap
ideas, learn from each other, and celebrate free software. LibreLocal
meetups were organized for the first time in 2025, and your
enthusiastic response to our call was outstanding. Free software
supporters like you organized twenty-nine LibreLocal meetups across
five continents last year.
Meetups were held in Brazil, Canada, the Canary Islands of Spain,
China, Croatia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Germany,
Greece, India, Iran, Kenya, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland,
Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Many of these countries saw organizers hold meetups in multiple
different cities, ranging from informal conversations to multi-day
conferences. Seeing last year’s list of meetups in different
countries is inspiring!
|
Your excitement was so captivating that we had to do it again. This
year, let’s organize even more meetups!
We’re happy to help
Locally organized meetups are a great way for free software community
members to meet each other. if you are not familiar with free
software, it’s also an opportunity for you to learn more. The FSF is
happy to support you in your organizing efforts. Tell us about your
meetup so we can help get the word out about your LibreLocal meetup to
other free software supporters near you. We will also be happy to have
an available FSF staff member join your event virtually, or if
possible, even in person!
The FSF is committing to financially assisting as many meetups as
we can, but please note that the size and amount of our supporting
grants are limited. If you would like to apply for support,
the deadline to apply for funding is March 15, 2026.
The basics
Interested in organizing a meetup? Great! We have a whole range of
resources that can help you with organization. We have a meetup
guide that will give you some ideas, tips, and tricks; a template
for your own safe space policyand accounts of successful
events from last year in two parts.
Your event’s program and format is completely up to you. As we learned
last year, it can range from coffee in a local cafe with like-minded
people to a full-blown multi-day conference! We encourage everyone to
organize events that help spread the free software philosophyand are grounded in freedom. We hope you find a way to
highlight that, as well as all the other benefits of working in and
with free software, in your event.
Looking for fellow activists to organize a meetup with? Add your name
to the organizing page, or email us directly at
campaigns@fsf.org and we will do our best to connect you with
people who are interested in organizing a meetup in your area.
Looking for a meetup to attend this coming May? Check the sign-up
list as organizers list events for an meeting near you.
Let’s make LibreLocal global again this year. To get you going, here’s
a quick checklist for your meetup:
- Start by reserving a table at a bar or space at a venue.
- List your event on the LibrePlanet wiki. Once you announce the
date, time, and location of your free software meetup there, we’ll
start promoting it in our newsletter and on social media. On the
same LibrePlanet wiki page, you’ll notice that you can also
announce if you’re looking for others to help you organize the
meetup. - Study the meetup guide for tips and tricks.
- You can apply for support from us. Please note that the
deadline to apply for funding is March 15, 2026. - Let us know what we can do to support your meetup at
campaigns@fsf.org. - Most important: have fun at the meetup with other free software
enthusiasts!
We can’t wait to see what you all come up with for LibreLocal 2026.
Happy hacking,
“Tech Pizza Monday meeting in honor of FSF40” © 2025 Ryan Futures of TechPizzaMondays. This photo is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Joy for free software in Kinshaha, DRC” © 2026 Narcisse Mbunzama of Free Software DRC. This photo is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
