The flagship edition of the global Devoxx developer conference brand, held over five days at Kinepolis Antwerpen in Belgium. Organised by BeJUG (Belgian Java User Group) and led by Stephan Janssen, the event covers Java, JVM languages, AI, cloud, software architecture, DevOps, and security. October 5–9, 2026.
Devoxx Belgium is the original edition of the Devoxx conference brand, a series of developer-focused technology conferences held across multiple countries. "Devoxx" is a portmanteau derived from "Developers Vox" (voice of developers). The Belgium edition is organised by BeJUG (Belgian Java User Group) and has been held annually in Antwerp for over two decades. It is widely regarded within the Java and JVM developer community as one of the highest-quality practitioner conferences in Europe.
The conference uses an unusual venue: Kinepolis Antwerpen, a large multiplex cinema in Antwerp, where cinema screens serve as auditoriums. This format allows for professional projection and audio in every session room.
The Devoxx brand includes editions in France, the UK, Poland, Morocco, Greece, and others. A related series, VoxxedDays, operates in additional locations globally including CERN. According to the organiser, Devoxx events collectively welcome "over 20,000 passionate developers" per year.
The 2026 edition runs for five days at Kinepolis Antwerpen. The theme announced by the organiser is "FROM DEVELOPER TO BUILDER," reflecting the organiser's framing of an era in which AI agents, autonomous workflows, agentic engineering, and AI-assisted development are reshaping how software is designed and maintained.
Key thematic areas highlighted in the organiser's 2026 description:
Sponsors confirmed at the time of verification include JetBrains (Platinum), Google Cloud (Platinum), Oracle (Platinum), ING Belgium (Platinum), Belfius (Platinum), Red Hat (Gold), Clever Cloud (Hosting Partner), Swicket (Registration Partner), Bell SW, Sopra Steria Belgium, Cegeka, Vaadin, Inetum Belgium, Webswing, TuxCare, ASML, and Apryse, among others. The sponsor tier list reflects a mix of Java ecosystem vendors, cloud providers, Belgian financial institutions, and European technology companies.
Devoxx Belgium is one of the landmark events in the European Java/JVM developer calendar, typically placed in the first week of October. It occupies a distinct position from JavaOne (now part of Oracle CloudWorld, US), SpringOne (US), and from general software conferences. Its five-day format, community organisation, and long history give it strong brand recognition and repeat attendance among the European Java developer community.
In the October 2026 calendar, it runs the same week as droidCon Berlin / next.app devcon (7–9 October) and overlaps slightly with those events. Devoxx Belgium is the larger standalone event by duration; its five-day format and cinema-based multi-track structure are rare among developer conferences of its scale.
Devoxx Belgium draws: Java, Kotlin, and JVM language developers at all levels from junior to principal; software architects designing distributed systems, microservices, and cloud-native platforms; DevOps and platform engineers; security engineers with a Java/JVM background; engineering managers and CTOs at Java-oriented companies; and developer advocates working in the Java ecosystem.
The organiser describes the attendee mix as "thousands of passionate developers, speakers, sponsors, and technology leaders." The pan-European character of the event means a significant share of attendees travel from outside Belgium, particularly from the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the UK.
The five-day format at Kinepolis Antwerpen encompasses:
The cinema seating model means most sessions are recorded and published after the event; Devoxx sessions on YouTube have accumulated significant viewership within the Java developer community. Session recordings are one of Devoxx Belgium's most significant outputs for the broader developer community beyond attendees.
The Devoxx Belgium programme consistently covers:
For 2026, the "FROM DEVELOPER TO BUILDER" theme adds specific coverage of: agentic engineering patterns; MCP (Model Context Protocol) tooling; local LLM operation; AI-powered code review and generation; and the impact of AI coding assistants on software development workflows. Java 27 features are expected to be prominent given the expected release timing.
No, though Java and the JVM are the central focus. The programme includes sessions on adjacent technologies (cloud platforms, DevOps tooling, security practices, AI frameworks) that are relevant to engineers from a broader background. Speakers from non-Java companies (Google, Netflix, ASML, etc.) present on topics applicable across the industry. However, the event identity and community are firmly rooted in the Java/JVM world, and attendees without a JVM background may find the majority of content less relevant.
The event is not designed for:
Yes. Devoxx Belgium has a long-standing practice of recording sessions and publishing them on YouTube. This makes the event's content accessible beyond attendees and has contributed significantly to the brand's global reach in the developer community.
Kinepolis Antwerpen is a large multiplex cinema located at Groenendaallaan 394 in Antwerp, Belgium. During Devoxx Belgium, the cinema screens serve as session rooms, with professional projection and audio quality in each auditorium. The venue's multiplex structure allows for simultaneous multi-track programming across many screens. Kinepolis Antwerpen is located in the Merksem district of Antwerp, approximately 6 kilometres from Antwerp Central Station, accessible by public transport (bus connections from the city centre).
The cinema venue is a defining characteristic of the Devoxx Belgium experience; attendees frequently note the quality of the audiovisual setup compared to standard conference centres.
BeJUG (Belgian Java User Group) is the non-profit community organisation that has organised Devoxx Belgium since its founding. The event is closely associated with Stephan Janssen, BeJUG's primary organiser, who is also credited as the creator of the Parleys.com developer video platform (which predates the current Devoxx YouTube channel). BeJUG is a community-driven organisation without a commercial parent company in the traditional sense; the event is sustained through sponsorship, ticket sales, and the efforts of the community. The Devoxx brand has been extended to other countries through partnerships with local Java user groups and communities.
Devoxx Belgium is the original and most established edition of the global Devoxx conference brand, running for over two decades in Antwerp at a multiplex cinema venue, with a reputation for practitioner-driven technical content and a loyal pan-European Java developer community. The conference's long-standing practice of publishing all session recordings on YouTube has extended its influence well beyond the 3,500 annual in-person attendees.
Registration is handled by Swicket, the event's registration partner, at devoxx.be. The organiser does not publish a separate registration URL on the main Devoxx Belgium homepage as of the verification date; registration links are accessed through the official site. Ticket pricing was not disclosed on the live website at the time of verification. Historically, Devoxx Belgium has used early-bird and standard pricing tiers; check devoxx.be for current pricing.
Sessions at Devoxx Belgium are delivered primarily in English, with occasional sessions in French or Dutch. The event is internationally attended and English is the working language.
Kinepolis Antwerpen is located in the Merksem district of Antwerp. It is accessible by bus from Antwerp Central Station and from the city centre. Antwerp is easily reached by Thalys or Intercity train from Brussels (approximately 35 minutes from Brussels Central), Amsterdam, and Paris. Brussels Airport (BRU) is the nearest major international airport (approximately 40–50 minutes by train to Antwerp).
Yes. Devoxx Belgium has a well-established practice of publishing session recordings on YouTube. The Devoxx YouTube channel has accumulated extensive archives from previous editions.
| Official website | https://devoxx.be/ |
| Register | https://devoxx.be/ (Swicket registration partner) |
| Programme | Not disclosed at time of verification |
| YouTube (session recordings) | Search "Devoxx" on YouTube for archived sessions |
| Global Devoxx brand | Multiple country editions; see devoxx.be for links |