A hackathon is an event where people build something in a fixed time, then show what they made. You don’t need to be an expert, arrive with an idea or bring a team.
Can beginners do hackathons?
Yes. Plenty of people go to their first one on their own and with little coding experience. Projects need more than code: someone has to understand the problem, design the screens, test what works and explain it in the demo. If you’re learning to code, it’s a good place to practise with people who can help.
Which hackathons are best for beginners?
Look for events that say beginners or students are welcome, or that offer workshops, mentors or a team-forming session.
We found 135 London hackathons between October 2025 and October 2026. A few patterns help when choosing:
- Most are short. About three in four finished the same day, and about a third started at 5pm or later. A hack night or one-day event is a low-risk start.
- Saturday is the busiest day. Two in five started on a Saturday.
- Many hide the address. About a third only share the venue after you register.
Read the whole event page. Check who it’s for, whether the organiser approves each registration, whether there’s a ticket price, and the rules on teams and who owns what you build.
How to prepare
- Set up your laptop. Install the tools you expect to use and check you can sign in to GitHub and any services the event names. Venue wifi gets busy.
- Bring a rough idea or two, but be ready to drop yours for a better one.
- Pack your laptop and charger, a phone charger, headphones, a water bottle and an extra layer.
- Plan your journey, including how you’ll get home after an evening event.
What happens on the day
Most hackathons follow the same pattern: a kick-off with the theme and rules, time to build, then demos where each person or team shows what they made, often in a few minutes. Some events have judges and prizes.
You can build on your own or join a team. Some events ask for teams and run a team-forming session; others are happy for you to go solo. If you join a team, three or four people is a comfortable size.
Whatever you build, keep it small. Pick one problem and one main feature, use sample data for the rest, and stop early enough to rehearse your demo once.
Simple hackathon ideas for beginners
If the theme is open, try one of these:
- Fix something that annoys you every week.
- Build a new way to explore London’s open data from TfL or the London Datastore.
- Make something useful for a club, group or charity you know.
Find your first one
Browse upcoming hackathons in London, updated every morning, and pick a hack night or one-day event to start.
Charlie Ward runs Ramen Club and Ramen Space, a founder coworking space in Dalston that runs hackathons.