Join me in an imaginary drum roll as I reveal the date and location of the next Ubuntu Summit.

This year Riga in Lativa will host this distro’s next in-person soirée, from November 3rd to November 5th at the The Radisson Blu Latvija Hotel.

Interestingly, the Ubuntu Summit 2023 is not the only is FOSS-focused event Latvia’s capital accommodates this year as GNOME’s annual GUADEC event rolls into town during July. Not sure if this is a coincidence or planned .

“Ubuntu Summit is an event focused on the Linux and Open Source ecosystem, beyond Ubuntu itself. Representatives of outstanding projects will demonstrate how their work is changing the future of technology as we know it,” says the event blurb.

In reviving a physical Ubuntu “conference” — I know the “summit” is technically not a conference but the word is more evocative shorthand for ‘big meet-up of people around a specific topic’ — Canonical wants to reignite the spark, verve, and enthusiasm the original UDS fostered each year.

Last year’s summit went well from what little I saw online. Unlike the UDS of old, the new summit is more of a social ‘show and tell’ event to celebrate Ubuntu rather than a forum where community folks can shape the next stages of development. That’s not a bad thing; everything changes and evolves.

If the (free to attend) Ubuntu Summit sounds like the sort of think you want to experience make sure you nab a place when registration opens in the coming weeks as, like last year, spaces are limited.