Recap: KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe, 2026

It took a few days for me to reflect, but finally it’s time to recap the very full, very exciting days at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe in Amsterdam this week.

This year’s event was my very first KubeCon ever. I had heard so many great things about it beforehand, so expectations were definitely high. And what shall I say - they were definitely met :)

I spent five days in Amsterdam in total, including one day for co-located events, where I also sneaked into Platform Engineering Day a bit. And this first KubeCon was not “just” attending for me either. I got to contribute with two sessions myself: my talk on Kubernetes Operators and a panel moderation around SRE onboarding. So this trip came with a fair amount of excitement, and honestly also quite a lot of nervousness.

Beautiful Amsterdam

First and foremost: Amsterdam was such a nice place to spend the week. I stayed in Willemspark, which meant I got to walk around a really beautiful part of the city with typical Amsterdam townhouses, lovely streets, and that kind of architecture I could (and did ;)) stare at for way too long.

Of course I also did some of the classic tourist things. I strolled along the canals, wandered through the museum quarter, passed the flower market, and just generally enjoyed being there. And yes, I also brought home a very reasonable amount of Stroopwafels and cheese. Sadly, beloved Vla did not make it into the luggage logistics this time 😢

Big stage, big conference, big feelings

And then there was the conference itself. First impression: it’s huge. Really huge. More than 12,000 people, endless corridors (and yes, I got lost not just once 🙈), endless options, endless everything. Events at that size can easily feel exhausting or anonymous, but KubeCon somehow still managed to feel exciting and full of energy instead of just overwhelming.

My own talk was definitely one of the biggest emotional moments of the week. It was the first time I gave this Kubernetes Operators talk, and walking into a packed room with more than 1,000 people in it was… a lot. I was super nervous beforehand. Like, really super nervous. But once I got started, it actually felt surprisingly good. The audience was amazing, people were very engaged, and I had a lot of nice questions and conversations afterwards. For a first run of that talk, I honestly could not have wished for a better experience.

Moderating the panel discussion was a very different kind of stage experience and much more in my comfort zone. It was great to be on stage together with Melody, Peter, Patrick, and David, and I really enjoyed that session as well. I just love formats where different perspectives come together and you can build on each other.

Apart from my own sessions, I also spent some time in the showcase area, chatted with companies, talked to CNCF project maintainers, and generally leaned quite heavily into the hallway track. That had been my plan from the beginning anyway. Looking back, that absolutely was the right decision. It also means I did not really see all that many talks tbh, but I do not regret that at all.

One of my personal highlights was actually not even a technical talk, but the sign language crash course by the Merge Forward Deaf and Hard of Hearing working group . That session had such a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and I loved how approachable it felt. I can now introduce myself, spell my name, and even know the signs for Kubernetes, Containers, and ArgoCD. :)

The side-event plan that did not happen

There were a few side events and parties on the schedule that I had really wanted to go to. In theory, at least. In practice, I did not make it to a single one.

The days were simply long, and especially on Tuesday I was so focused on my talk and so full of nervous energy that by the evening I was completely done. I was genuinely sad about missing things, especially Kuberoke , because I had really looked forward to that. But well, sometimes the realistic conference version of yourself and the optimistic planning version of yourself are just two different people. Speaking of people …

The best part: the people

What made the week special more than anything else, though, was the community. 💜

I got to meet conference friends again (still surprised by how many familiar faces you ran into just walking around in the middle of 12,000 people), spent time with my reher*sal & panel buddy Melody, and finally met several people in person that I had only known online before. And of course there were also new wonderful people I got to know along the way. That mix of reconnecting with people and meeting new ones is still one of my favorite things about conferences in general, and KubeCon gave me a lot of that.

It is also one of the reasons why I enjoyed this week so much despite the size of the event. Yes, KubeCon is huge. But it still felt full of kind, approachable, super smart, interesting people, and that made a massive difference for me.

If you want a few moving impressions from the week, I captured some Amsterdam & KubeCon moments here:

Final thoughts

So yes, my first KubeCon was a lot: big, busy, slightly overwhelming at times, but also incredibly exciting, inspiring, and fun.

I am super grateful to the CNCF and all the people involved for putting this event together. And I am even more grateful for all the lovely conversations, the warm encounters, the great audience during my talk, and the overall feeling of being part of such a wonderful community for a couple of days.

Safe to say: I absolutely get the hype now. See you next year in Barcelona :)