KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025 in London was nothing short of historic. As the biggest KubeCon to date — with 12,418 attendees, including 46% first-timers — it was a moment of celebration, reflection, and connection for the cloud native community. As we now look ahead to the next gathering in Atlanta this November, we’re taking a moment to look back on the energy and impact of London — and look forward with excitement and an opportunity to always build on our learnings.
Reflecting on KubeCon London
Just the numbers for the London event speak volumes:
- 12,418 attendees
- 2,947 CFP submissions (with an acceptance rate of just 8%)
- 36% of accepted talks were from end users
- 24 keynote sessions, 241 breakout sessions
- 26% gender minority speakers
- 96 projects represented in the Project Pavilion
Beyond the scale, it was the quality of the content and the diversity of voices that stood out.
Faseela K, a co-chair in London, shared her excitement for the response from attendees:
“Overall, the attendees’ feedback on the sessions was great. Looking at the ratings for each talk, we had an average score of almost 9 (excluding unrated sessions).”
Based on previous feedback, the keynotes in London were structured in a different way than past events. Rather than thematic days, each day hosted a mix of talks that gave everyone a reason to stay engaged every day.
In particular, Kasper noticed the hard work the co-chairs and program committees had put into building a more diverse lineup across not only speakers but also topics. “It was also exciting to see how the increased focus on end user talks and observability resonated. OpenTelemetry was everywhere!”
Joseph Sandoval, another co-chair, saw a pattern beyond the topics at this year’s flagship European event:
“KubeCon London reminded me how powerful our shared experiences are. Talks that resonated most weren’t just about wins — they shared real struggles, lessons, and unknowns. That authenticity is what creates real value.”
While the community looks forward to the next North American event this autumn, Kasper looks back on his experience as a co-chair coming to close after the London event:
“It’s been an amazing experience serving the community. Reviewing nearly 3,000 CFPs is no small task, but we strive for fairness, diversity, and balance. I’ve learned so much from this role — especially from our incredible program committee and track chairs. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye, but finishing my co-chair journey in London, with my family by my side, was the perfect end. I’m incredibly excited for Abby Bangser to step in. She’s going to be fantastic.”
Looking Forward to KubeCon Atlanta
As the community turns its eyes to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America from November 10–13, 2025 in Atlanta it is important to continue the trend of always striving to community feedback.
Joseph sees Atlanta as an opportunity to continue the trend towards deeper learning through not only successes, but also challenges:
“One of our big learnings is to keep evolving how we connect with the audience. We’ll continue to look for talks that aren’t just technical deep-dives, but also highlight the hard parts—what’s been learned, what’s still unknown.”
Improving the CFP Process
One common point of confusion in London was track alignment in the CFP process. Abby explains how the co-chairs are addressing this for Atlanta:
“We saw many great proposals submitted under the wrong tracks. To help with this, we’re suggesting example projects or TAGs to help speakers self-select more appropriate tracks. And for those that continue to be misplaced we will encourage reviewers to recommend better-fit tracks. This will allow speaker stories to truly shine in the right space.”
But regardless of the track, Abby emphasizes that all talk proposals should strive to connect with the community:
“As potential speakers, you need to think about the full story. Real-world experiences including both the wins and the ongoing unknowns. You don’t need to have a perfect ending — honesty and lessons learned are powerful.”
Behind the Scenes: CFP and Selection Transparency
With an event of this scale it is important to lean on experts around the world to help identify the best topics for the event. As Faseela explains:
“As co-chairs we often get questions about how to get a talk accepted or how the program committee is formed. It’s important to highlight that the co-chairs do not decide talk acceptance alone.”
In fact, there is a large, dedicated program committee, made up of community members who help review, score, and shape the schedule. The process is collective, thorough, and fair — but also competitive. Not getting accepted doesn’t mean your talk wasn’t great and you can reach out to the CNCF for feedback from the review process to learn how to improve for the next event.
Helpful reading:
- Inside the Numbers: KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Selection Process (NA 2024)
- A Look Inside the KubeCon Schedule Selection Process (2021)
- Get your KubeCon Talk Accepted (2018)
Finally, a CFP doesn’t need to be only used for a single event! If your talk doesn’t make it in, consider submitting to KubeCrash or other community-led events. Also, we have the Day 0 – KubeCon co-located events and we encourage you to take a look at CNCF-hosted Co-located Events Overview | LF Events and see if your talk proposal fits for one of these events. We highly recommend submitting the talk for both KubeCon and any of the co-located events and the CNCF events team will make sure the talk is accepted for the right event.
Anticipated Trends for Atlanta
As for what topics might stand out in November, Joseph had this to say:
“AI, platform engineering, and observability continue to be strong themes. We expect even more innovation and insight around these areas.”
Final Thoughts: See You in Atlanta!
The KubeCon community is growing, evolving, and becoming more inclusive and insightful with every event. The success of London was built on years of learning and iteration — and Atlanta will be no different.
If you’ve ever thought about submitting a talk, now is the time. Whether you’re a first-time speaker, a seasoned contributor, or someone in between, your story matters.
📣 CFP for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America in Atlanta closes Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Submit your talk, share your experience, and help shape the future of cloud native.
We can’t wait to see you in Atlanta, November 10–13!