In-Depth

Why I Need to Attend KubeCon Europe 2026 this Year

• By Tom Fenton
• 02/26/2026

Key Takeaways:

• KubeCon Europe 2026 features unique Euro-centric themes including Sovereign Cloud, GDPR compliance, and public-private collaboration models that distinguish it from the North American conference.
• The hallway track and Project Pavilion provide valuable opportunities to connect with European-based Kubernetes contributors and maintainers who may not travel to North America, offering crucial roadmap insights and technical discussions.
• The conference runs March 23-26, 2026 at RAI Amsterdam with over 200 sessions across 10+ tracks emphasizing AI and machine learning, plus co-located events including the newly introduced Agentics Day focused on MCP and Agents.

This year, KubeCon Europe 2026 will be held in Amsterdam from March 23-26, 2026, at the RAI Amsterdam.

Although I attended KubeCon North America just a few months ago, I will be attending the Europe event as well this year, although, well, to be honest, I would rather be skiing.

Attending both KubeCon in North America and Europe in the same year is usually something power users, maintainers, platform engineers, vendors, and occasionally, media and analysts do. While the core Kubernetes (K8) content is consistent between the two events, there are enough distinctions that I felt attending KubeCon Europe this March would be worthwhile, even though I just attended the North America conference.

Euro-centric Themes
Due to Europe's unique security concerns and requirements, the EU conference places much greater emphasis on Sovereign Cloud and data privacy (GDPR). Although many of the K8 companies are US-based, they are still required to adhere to these requirements and standards.

To address these concerns, this conference will feature sessions on building open-source AI stacks for EU sovereign clouds (e.g., collaborations between SAP and NVIDIA) and on 5G/6G networking on Kubernetes (Swisscom and Telstra).

Furthermore, Europe has unique public-private collaboration models for tech innovation. Amsterdam, for instance, is a hub for "responsible innovation" and hosts projects like Weaviate and AppSignal, which will have a strong local presence at the EU event.

Hallway Track & Regional Community
A significant portion of the Kubernetes contributors and maintainers, who are the lifeblood of K8s, are based in Europe. This will be an opportunity to meet project maintainers who couldn't travel to North America but will be in Amsterdam. This will be my chance to discuss and receive 1:1 roadmap insights, as many European-based projects will be at the Project Pavilion.

The last time I attended KubeCon Europe (Barcelona, 2019), I found the EU hallway track more technically dense and slightly more relaxed than the vendor-heavy North American event. I also expect to see a different set of startups and regional partners in the Solutions Showcase.

One of the highlights of KubeCon NA this year was the co-located events on Monday, before KubeCon officially kicked off. Amsterdam will also have a day of co-located events the day before the event; however, it has a different lineup and, I suspect, a different energy and vibe.

The co-located event that I am most excited about is the one dedicated to Agentics (MCP + Agents), but the ones on Open Sovereign Cloud and Cloud Native AI + Kubeflow also look very interesting.

I am also looking forward to BackstageCon & KeycloakCon. I suspect that these community events will have a stronger "home turf" feel in Europe, where these projects have their roots.

Fresh Content & Post-NA Momentum
Because KubeCon EU happens earlier in the year (March) than KubeCon NA (November), it often serves as the launchpad for the year's CNCF roadmaps. In coordination with this, many CNCF projects time major announcements and releases around the Spring (EU) KubeCon events for maximum exposure.

Americas KubeCon was very, very AI-focused, with good reason, as 41% of AI developers are now cloud-native. The Amsterdam event will feature Vision Talks focused on Generative AI integration and ML pipelines. Yes, these topics were discussed at the American event, but the incredible speed of AI's evolution means that new information about the innovation around these topics will be presented at the European conference.

Schedule
As with all other KubeCons, the schedule is laid out to maximize deep-dive learning and community interaction.

For those arriving early on Sunday, March 22, the CNCF will host the Maintainer Summit, an exclusive gathering for the core contributors behind CNCF projects to collaborate face-to-face.

On Monday, March 23, there will be a dedicated pre-event programming and CNCF-hosted co-located events. These focused sessions do require an All-Access Pass but will cover specialized topics like BackstageCon, Observability Day, and the newly introduced Agentics Day.

The main conference runs from Tuesday, March 24, through Thursday, March 26. Each day will kick off with a high-level keynote followed by breakout sessions, including lightning talks (5-10 minutes), standard breakouts (30 minutes), and intensive tutorials (75 minutes). The daily program typically starts at 9:00 CET, and the Solutions Showcase will be open for much of this time, allowing attendees to interact with vendors and explore the Project Pavilion. Highlights like the KubeCrawl + CloudNativeFest are scheduled for Tuesday evening to facilitate networking in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The 2026 content catalog includes some duplicate content for the North America event and some different content. It has over 200 sessions organized into 10+ distinct tracks. This year's curriculum places a massive emphasis on AI + Machine Learning, with tracks dedicated to deploying LLMs on Kubernetes and building open-source AI reference stacks.

Other key tracks include Platform Engineering, Security (focusing on multi-tenancy and confidential computing), and Observability.

For newbies, the Cloud Native Novice track provides foundational guidance on networking and storage.

The Maintainer Track and ContribFest offer advanced users the chance to work directly with project leads.

Logistics
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026 will be held at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center from March 23--26, 2026. The venue is highly accessible, located just 300 meters from the Amsterdam RAI railway station, with direct connections via Metro 52 (North-South line) and various tram and bus lines. For those staying in the city center, the commute is approximately 10-15 minutes by public transport.

The event has a tiered registration structure, so it is best to book your pass early. Standard pricing is available until February 4, 2026 ($1,798 for Corporate and $978 for Individual passes); after that, late pricing will apply.

Accommodation options are plentiful but are spread out and tend to book quickly, with official room blocks available at hotels like the Avani Museum Quarter and several NH Hotels (City Centre, Flower Market, and Leidseplein). These blocks typically offer discount rates starting around €245 per night and often include breakfast.

On-site logistics are designed for a seamless experience, providing attendees with lunch, snacks, and coffee daily, as well as access to the Solutions Showcase and Project Pavilion.

Schiphol Airport is one of the busiest in the world and, as such, offers flights from all over the world.

The venue is roughly 15 minutes from Schiphol Airport by train, making it one of the most conveniently located major conference centers in Europe.

If you live in Europe, Amsterdam is very accessible via rail.

I look forward to seeing you there!

You can find more information and register for the event here