DrupalCon Chicago 2026

DrupalCon Chicago 2026 is finally here! Alongside DrupalCon Europe, this is the biggest Drupal event that happens yearly in a different city in North America. And this long-awaited edition is even more special because it marks the 25th anniversary of Drupal, hence the Drupal 25th Anniversary Gala event will happen to celebrate this milestone. Between sessions, presentations and discussions, DrupalCon is an opportunity for Drupal community members to get together, share experiences, collaborate, and create meaningful connections that would most likely not happen otherwise. As someone who has attended the event before, I know how important this event is to keep the Drupal community strong and integrated, and I'm really sorry that I can't make it this year.

It's (almost) everything about AI

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Drupal AI logo, Drupal.org events

As one could expect, the hot topic of this year's edition is AI, and how it can be integrated and used within the Drupal ecosystem to enhance marketers' and content creators' experience. Between all the great summits that happened on the first day of the event, I'd definitely expect the one on AI to be the busiest. Also, if you check the detailed schedule, you'll notice that AI is the most popular topic among sessions. And as expected, it was also the main topic during Driesnote. But I'll get there in a minute.

Some numbers and announcements first

During the Drupal Association presentation, that preceded Driesnotes, some very important information was shared. I took a screenshot of the slide below, which I think represents well what I said before about sharing experiences and creating connections within the community.

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Slide containing numbers and data of DrupalCon Chicago 2026

Attendees from five continents, being 28% of them first time attendees, and 10% beginners clearly show that, despite the concerns and anxiety about AI and how CMS's as a whole (not just Drupal) have been expecting usage decline, Drupal is still thriving and engaging new people within the community.

In terms of upcoming event, it was announced that DrupalCon Europe 2026 will take place in Rotterdam (Netherlands) between September 28th and October 1st. Also, and this is even more exciting for folks in Canada, the new DrupalCan Conference will be happening for the first time in the Summer of 2027. The location and dates are still to be announced, although the event site says the tentative is July 29-31, 2027. If, like myself, you're interested in this event, sign up to the DrupalCamp Ottawa newsletter.

The other highly anticipated announcement is always where DrupalCon North America is going next, and the 2027 edition will happen in Orlando, in March 22-25, 2027. I really hope to see you all there next year!

Last but definitely not the least, it was announced the winner of the 2026 Aaron Winborn Award. This award is presented annually to an individual who demonstrates personal integrity, kindness, and above-and-beyond commitment to the Drupal community. The well-deserved winner was April Sides (weekbeforenext), organizer of DrupalCamp Asheville, and a consistent community member, who does "the kind of work that often goes unnoticed, not because it isn't important, but because it's rooted in trust, discretion, and kindness." Congratulations, April!

Driesnotes and the rebuilding of Chicago

During his keynotes, Dries used an interesting analogy of how Chicago was rebuilt during early 1800 due to innumerous floods with how we, as a community, need to look into rebuilding Drupal's foundation in the new AI era. "Despite disruption, business continues" is the idea brought by him, making it clear that, even that we acknowledge AI is imperfect and brings many risks, this is here to stay, and we need to embrace the change. The three pillars (or legs) of Drupal (Platform, Agencies, and Community) seem in jeopardy now due to AI, but Dries said that he believes using AI is the way to make them strong and thrive.

Dries presented the Drupal CMS Marketplace, where multiple themes are available (most of them for free) and ready to use to speed up Drupal CMS experience. He also announced the launch of the Drupal CMS 2.1, a new version with lots of features and enhancements implemented in Drupal Core 11.3.

The final message of Driesnotes is that AI amplifies expertise, which developers, marketers, content creators, and all members of Drupal community have. AI alone creates average content, and nowadays, average is cheap. But expertise is priceless, more than ever. Particularly for developers, the message is clear: don't submit code you don't understand. Even though you can contribute more using AI, the code quality is still paramount in Drupal, and we can't accept AI slop.

Dries finishes his keynote with a message to all community members: in this era of uncertainty and fear surrounding AI, "are you out or are you in to be part of the Drupal rebuilding?"

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Dries' final message to Drupal community members: Are you out or are you in?

You can watch here the Driesnotes from DrupalCon Chicago 2026. There are still a few more days of DrupalCon, and I'm quite excited to see what comes from that. This is the type of event that shapes not just the CMS, but the whole community.