When Kubernetes was first released as open source in 2014, few could have predicted the tidal wave it would unleash across enterprise IT. What began as an experimental container orchestrator inside Google quickly became the standard for cloud-native infrastructure.
And with it came a need for community, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing. That’s where KubeCon was born.
2015: The First Gathering
The inaugural KubeCon took place in San Francisco in November 2015. It wasn’t yet backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). Instead, it was organized by the community itself.
About 500 early adopters came together, buzzing with the sense that they were part of something transformative. Kubernetes 1.0 had just been donated to CNCF that summer, and the project’s trajectory was already steep.
2016: CNCF Steps In
By late 2016, CNCF had taken stewardship of Kubernetes and made KubeCon its flagship event. That year, the community hosted its first European meetup in London and the first official CNCF-run KubeCon + CloudNativeCon in Seattle.
Attendance doubled year over year, signaling that cloud-native wasn’t just a passing trend—it was becoming the backbone of modern infrastructure.
2017–2019: Explosive Growth
The years that followed turned KubeCon from a scrappy gathering into a global series. Berlin 2017 marked the establishment of a standing European event, bringing together 1,500 people. By the end of the year, more than 4,000 showed up in Austin, Texas.
2018 was the year of expansion. Copenhagen set new records in Europe, Shanghai brought the first KubeCon to China, and Seattle saw 8,000 attendees pack into the Washington State Convention Center.
A year later in 2019, Barcelona hosted 7,700 in Europe, and San Diego set an all-time high with nearly 12,000 participants. Plus the inclusion of hundreds of vendors filling an expo floor. This began to look more like a tradeshow than just a community meetup.
2020–2021: Virtual Resilience
Then came the pandemic. Like every global conference, KubeCon had to adapt fast. In 2020, Amsterdam’s planned in-person event became CNCF’s first fully virtual KubeCon. The gamble paid off, luckily. Registrations soared to nearly 19,000, with thousands more tuning in from places that had never before sent attendees.
2021 marked a cautious return. Los Angeles hosted the first hybrid KubeCon, with 3,500 people on-site and nearly 20,000 joining virtually. Even under restrictions, the appetite for connection was obvious.
2022–2023: The Big Comeback
By 2022, KubeCon was roaring back. Valencia and Detroit each drew nearly 18,000 participants in hybrid formats, with more than 60% attending for the first time. The sense of renewal was refreshing as new contributors, new projects, and new enterprises were flooding into the CNCF ecosystem.
In 2023, Amsterdam and Chicago continued the rebound. Chicago in particular stood out, with around 14,000 attendees and a focus on the long-term sustainability of open source.
2024–2025: Record-Breaking and Expanding Horizons
If 2019 set the pre-pandemic peak, 2024 and 2025 showed that KubeCon had reached a new level entirely. We are undoubtedly on an upward trajectory.
- Paris 2024 broke every record, welcoming over 12,000 people on-site and firmly establishing Europe as just as central to Kubernetes as North America. AI workloads on Kubernetes and platform engineering dominated the headlines.
- Salt Lake City 2024 brought 9,000+ people to Utah, keeping the North American events steady at near-record scale.
- London 2025 set a new global high with nearly 13,000 attendees.
- India 2025 marked a milestone expansion, with Hyderabad hosting the second annual KubeCon India. CNCF noted that India is now one of the top contributing regions to Kubernetes projects.
And now, the cycle returns to North America. In November 2025, KubeCon + CloudNativeCon comes to Atlanta, expected to draw over 10,000 practitioners, maintainers, and enterprise leaders.
It’s not just a conference; it’s a celebration of a decade of Kubernetes, and a showcase of what comes next for containers, AI, edge, and cloud-native innovation.
Why the History Matters
Looking back, KubeCon’s growth mirrors the rise of Kubernetes itself. From 500 people in a San Francisco hotel ballroom to tens of thousands spread across continents, the story is one of adoption, resilience, and relentless innovation.
For practitioners, it’s a chance to learn from the best. For vendors, it’s a place to meet a global audience. For the community, it’s home. We get a yearly reminder of the collective power that open source can bring when it solves real problems at scale.
And as TechForward joins as an official media partner for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2025 in Atlanta, we’re excited to tell that story in real time, capturing the conversations, breakthroughs, and voices that will define the next decade of cloud-native.
Here’s a little bonus for fun too…
Year-by-Year KubeCon Highlights
To see just how dramatic the growth has been, here’s a quick snapshot of KubeCon’s evolution:
| Year | Event (Location) | Dates | Attendance (approx.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | KubeCon NA – San Francisco, USA | Nov 9–12, 2015 | ~500 | First-ever KubeCon; community-organized before CNCF involvement |
| 2016 | KubeCon EU – London, UK | Feb 2016 | ~500 | First European meetup (community-driven) |
| 2016 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Seattle, USA | Nov 8–9, 2016 | 1,000+ | CNCF’s first KubeCon; 108 sessions, 38 sponsors, sold out |
| 2017 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Berlin, DE | Mar 29–30, 2017 | 1,500+ | Tripled from EU 2016; 115+ sessions |
| 2017 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Austin, USA | Dec 6–8, 2017 | 4,100+ | Quadrupled from 2016 NA; 289 sessions |
| 2018 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Copenhagen, DK | May 2–4, 2018 | 4,300+ | Largest CNCF event to date; massive end-user growth |
| 2018 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China – Shanghai, CN | Nov 2018 | ~2,500 | First KubeCon in China; sold-out debut in Asia |
| 2018 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Seattle, USA | Dec 10–13, 2018 | 8,000 | Sold out (1,000+ waitlist); 73% first-timers |
| 2019 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Barcelona, ES | May 20–23, 2019 | 7,700+ | Record European turnout pre-pandemic |
| 2019 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – San Diego, USA | Nov 18–21, 2019 | ~12,000 | Biggest KubeCon ever pre-COVID; 300 sponsors |
| 2020 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Virtual | Aug 17–20, 2020 | 18,700+ registrants | First virtual KubeCon (COVID-19) |
| 2020 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Virtual | Nov 17–20, 2020 | Tens of thousands | Fully virtual; global reach |
| 2021 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Virtual | May 4–7, 2021 | 26,648+ registrants | Record-breaking virtual event |
| 2021 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Los Angeles, USA (Hybrid) | Oct 13–15, 2021 | 23,000+ (3,531 in-person + ~19,600 virtual) | First hybrid KubeCon |
| 2022 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Valencia, ES (Hybrid) | May 16–20, 2022 | 18,000+ (7,084 in-person; 11k virtual) | Huge comeback; 65% first-timers |
| 2022 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Detroit, USA (Hybrid) | Oct 24–28, 2022 | ~17,000 (~7,500 in-person) | First-time in Detroit; strong NA rebound |
| 2023 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Amsterdam, NL (Hybrid) | Apr 17–21, 2023 | ~10,000 in-person (est.) | Nearly back to 2019 levels |
| 2023 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Chicago, USA (Hybrid) | Nov 6–9, 2023 | ~14,000 (9,000 in-person; 5,000 virtual) | Largest post-pandemic NA |
| 2024 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – Paris, FR | May 21–23, 2024 | 12,000+ in-person | Record-breaking KubeCon; 331 sessions |
| 2024 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Salt Lake City, USA | Nov 12–15, 2024 | 9,000+ in-person | High energy despite winter weather |
| 2025 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU – London, UK | Spring 2025 | ~13,000 | New all-time high attendance |
| 2025 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon India – Hyderabad, IN | Aug 6–7, 2025 | TBD (thousands expected) | Expanding footprint in India |
| 2025 | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA – Atlanta, USA | Nov 10–13, 2025 | TBD (projected 10k+ in-person) | Marks 10 years since first KubeCon |
