Festival Activities

Whether you’re looking to network, learn new skills, or challenge yourself, we’ve got something for you! Check out our line up of extracurricular fun and after hours entertainment. 

🏓 Game Room 

Our extremely fun friends at Diagram are the official Game Room sponsors for the 2026 Umbraco US Festival, and this year they’re bringing us Narly’s Clubhouse. 

If you’ve been to an Umbraco event before, you know it’s just as much about the people you meet as the speakers and sessions. Narly’s Clubhouse is the perfect spot to hang out, play a game, get a little too competitive, and make some new connections.

Expect pool, ping pong, giant Jenga, Connect 4, classic board games, fortune-telling Narly, and other surprises.

💡 Workshop

Gather with other Umbracians Wednesday afternoon for a workshop where creativity and problem-solving take center stage. Sponsored by our friends at Marcel Digital, this year's workshop is entitled Beyond the Chatbot: Building Extensible AI Workflows in Umbraco 

In this hands-on workshop, developers will go under the hood of Umbraco AI and Umbraco Automate to build event-driven, agentic workflows.

You’ll learn how to write custom C# Context Providers, expose external services, manage long-running AI tasks asynchronously, and wire everything into backoffice event handlers without locking up the UI. 

interior of a cozy bar with lots of wood, Haymarket Pub & Brewery

🎉 Official Opening Party

When: Tuesday, September 29 7-10pm
Where: Haymarket Pub & Brewery

Kick off Umbraco US Festival 2026 Tuesday evening at Haymarket Pub & Brewery, just two blocks from the conference venue. This West Loop staple brews its own beer on site and serves up great pub bites in a big, laid-back space built for good conversation.

It's the perfect low-key kickoff: grab a pint, meet some fellow Umbracians, and get ready for a great week ahead.

Festival party room at Carnivale restaurant in Chicago

🎊 Umbraco Awards Dinner

When: Wednesday, September 30th 6-10pm
Where: Carnivale Chicago 

New this year, join us Wednesday night at Carnivale Chicago for an Umbraco-hosted dinner. 

Expect an evening of great food, a little entertainment, and plenty to celebrate together. Connect with the Umbraco community, catch up with familiar faces, meet some new ones, and enjoy the night together.
We’ll also be celebrating the first-ever US Umbraco Awards, recognizing the people, projects, and teams making an impact across the Umbraco community.

🥳 Official Closing Party

When: Thursday, October 1st 5-8pm
Where: The Bandit

Cap off Umbraco US Fest the right way, with good drinks, good people, and zero agenda except having fun. Join us Thursday evening for the official closing party, hosted by Blend at Bandit in Chicago's West Loop.

We've got the whole party to ourselves on Bandit's private second floor, built for exactly this kind of night.

Oh, and we're celebrating Narly's 3rd birthday too, so come help us send our favorite narwhal into another year!

Great drinks, easy conversation, and one last chance to hang out with your fellow Umbracians before everyone heads home. You've earned it, see you there!