Django on the Med 🏖️

Django Development Sprints. Three days to get together and work on Django.

Twice a year, in Pescara, Italy, and Palafrugell, Spain. Spring and Autumn.

The first one will be 7th-9th October 2025, in Palafrugell Spain. Hope to see you there!

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Django on the Med 🏖️ will be free to attend. You'll need to get there, and there's food and accommodation to think about. We'll try to help folks organise shares.

It's a Django community event. The Django Code of Conduct will apply throughout

What are we going to achieve?

The Django on the Med 🏖️ name (and the emoji) is a bit of fun — it's a holiday theme based on the location — but we have serious goals.

• We want to gather the community. Be it Fellows, members of the Steering Council and DSF Board, DSF Individual Members, experienced contributors, and new ones just starting out. We want to give folks time and a shared space to work on pushing Django forwards.

• Hold a Roadmap Workshop to take ideas from the New Features repo, Steering Council, and Community and determine a good story for the target areas we want to focus on during the 6.x cycle.

  Some ideas to get you going…

  Here are a few thoughts that are top of my list. What are yours?

  • Modernising contrib.auth. This is a big one — that was identified in the last roadmap session. How can we add two-factor authentication to Django? Can we add an API, and then perhaps a TOTP backend? What about passkeys? Could that be in a simple (recommended) third-party package? As a quick win, could we survey the existing landscape, so users were clear on what's already possible?
  • Improving the REST/JSON API story. It's already possible with DRF and Django Ninja (and more), but at the least do we need a How-To in the docs about building an API in Django? Can we promote what we have better on the new Ecosystem page? Are there actual changes we need in core here?
  • Completing the async story. We're very nearly there. Async cursors for the ORM are the last major technical step. So can we put that in an third-party backend so folks can get experimenting? But people still think Django's async story is not as far along as it is. Again, do we need a How-To in the docs about using async in Django. Same as with APIs, we don't want folks wrongly thinking that Django isn't a viable solution for them in this space when it more than likely is.
  • Typing. There's a lot of desire for this, especially from our more heavyweight users. It's 2025. What's the state of play? What are the concerns? Is there a path forward, on which we can enable (or boost) the typing story in Django for people who want it?

• Break down ideas into actionable steps. What does a solution look like? Often things are already possible, so do we need How-To documentation? How can we experiment in third-party packages? Which bits should remain there vs which bits need to make it into core? How can we promote all this to help uptake?

• Give experienced contributors the space to collaborate and focus on the difficult issues they're working on.
• Mentor new contributors that attend, allowing them to join work and get up to speed quickly.

What does success look like?

• You came. We did it! First and foremost we'll show that a dedicated sprint event for Django's contributor community is feasible. If we can do it once, we can do it many times.
• We'll have advanced Django's Roadmap for the 6.x development cycle, and beyond. We can take this back to the wider community for input and buy-in.
• They'll be breakdowns of the target feature areas we want to focus on, that give guidance and opportunities for contributors (new and old) who want to do the work.
• Experienced contributors will have had time to push forward the projects that they're working on.
• New contributors will have been onboarded to the process of contributing to Django.
• We'll have reinforced the social bonds that underpin Django's biggest strength — You! — its community.

Getting to Palafrugell

This is the first draft about travel. If in doubt reach out. I'm happy to advise if I can. I'll fill in more details

Summary: You're either going to come in via Girona or Barcelona. The train is an option.

The official Visit Palafrugell site has a guide on How to Get to Palafrugell. It's right, but doesn't mention the train to Girona. Read on…

Train 🚂

If you're coming internationally, the high-speed line goes to Girona.

At Girona you can step off the train, come up from the platform, and the bus station is directly there. Buses to Palafrugell take a hour.

Total aside: This is my favourite route. I can leave home in the morning, and be in Paris in time for tea.

As per the Visit Palafrugell site, if you're coming from Barcelona, the nearest station is at Flaçà, from where you can get a bus.

Plane ✈️

The nearest airports are Girona Costa Brava and then Barcelona El Prat.

If you can fly to Girona, it is much closer.

Either way, you can either hire a car or get the bus

Bus 🚌

The bus from Barcelona takes about 2.5 hours. It's fine. Worth reserving a seat, even if only an hour or so before, as it can fill up at the last minute.

Buses from Girona take an hour and are quite regular.

Accommodation 🛌

There's masses of accommodation in the area.

As we get a bit closer, we'll try and sort out shares

Venue

With thanks to the Adjuntament de Palafrugell, the first Django on the Med will be at Can Genis, just a two minute walk from the very center of Palafrugell.

• Google Maps
• Apple Maps

Accessibility

If you have accessibility needs that may determine whether you can attend, please reach out and let me know, so we can work out what the situation is.

Disclosure: I think the building has good accessibility (with ramps, lifts, etc) but I need to get down there and confirm that fully.

As I say, reach out if you need more information to be able to plan your trip!

FAQ

Who's doing this?

Paolo (DSF Board) and Carlton (6.x Steering Council)

What's with the timing?

Pescara and Palafrugell are both nice places. They're touristy, so there's lots to do, lots of accommodation, and plenty of places to eat.

But you can't do anything in the summer. It's too hot, too busy, and too expensive.

Spring and Autumn are a bit cooler. Still nice — if we're going to work on Django nicer even — but less crowded, and a lot easier on the wallet.

What do the days look like?

We're going to work on Django in the mornings, until early afternoon.

The rest of the day and evenings are for exploring, socialising or not, and having fun.

Can I stay a bit longer?

Of course! There's plenty to see and do around. Come early. Stay for longer. Bring the family. All up to you.

Can I sponsor?

Absolutely! The main thing we need is a Breakfast Sponsor. (Could that be you? Reach out!) If we can get more than that, we can try to do opportunity grants, and such.