KCD Kochi 2026 - Kerala's First Official Kubernetes Community Day

I'm co-organising KCD Kochi 2026 - an official CNCF-sanctioned Kubernetes Community Day on April 18, 2026 at Holiday Inn, Kochi. CFP is closed with 175 proposals from 136 speakers. Tickets are live.

March 15, 2026

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KCD Kochi 2026 - Kerala's First Official Kubernetes Community Day

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Kerala Is Ready for This

I've been part of the cloud-native community in Kerala for a while now — co-founding DevOps Malayalam, leading the CNCG Trivandrum chapter, and watching this ecosystem quietly grow into something real. So when the opportunity came to co-organise KCD Kochi 2026, it didn't feel like a big leap. It felt like the obvious next step. Kubernetes Community Days (KCDs) are official, CNCF-sanctioned events — not side projects, not informal meetups. They're regional conferences built and run entirely by community volunteers, held to the same standards as KubeCon. KCD Kochi is bringing that format to Kerala for the first time. The CFP is closed. The numbers are in And honestly — I didn't expect this level of response for a first edition.

The CFP Numbers Are In

We received 175 total proposals from 136 unique speakers. For a first-time KCD in Kerala, that's not just encouraging — it's a signal that the community was ready for this. A few things that stood out:

29 women speakers (21%) submitted proposals — meaningful for a community event of this scale
37 co-speaker sessions — a lot of people chose to present together, which tells you something about how collaborative this community is
Kubernetes/K8s dominated the submissions by a wide margin, followed by AI/ML, Security, and Platform Engineering

We're now in the hard part — selecting from 175 proposals. The programme is going to be good.

What the Event Looks Like

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026
Venue: Holiday Inn, Kochi
Website: kcd.cncgkochi.in
Supported by: Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Format: Full-day conference — keynotes, technical sessions, hands-on workshops Topics on the programme:

Kubernetes and container orchestration
Platform engineering and internal developer platforms
Cloud-native security
GitOps and continuous delivery
Observability and OpenTelemetry
AI/ML workloads on Kubernetes
Community ecosystem and open source contribution

Who's it for:
Engineers, architects, students, and community members from across Kerala and anyone nearby who wants to be part of the cloud-native conversation and folks from the broader CNCF ecosystem are all welcome. Whether you're running production Kubernetes clusters or just getting into cloud-native, there's a track for you. Scale: 500+ attendees, 20+ speakers, multiple tracks.

Meet the Golden Astronaut

This is one of the things I'm genuinely most excited about. We're bringing in few of the Golden Astronaut — a Linux Foundation-certified professional holding 13 Linux Foundation certifications. That's not a typo. Thirteen. The full Kubernetes stack and well beyond. We'll also have a Kube Astronaut at the event. For context — the Linux Foundation certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS, KCNA, KCSA, and others) are the global benchmark for Kubernetes expertise. Meeting someone who has earned 13 of them, in person, in Kerala — that's a rare thing. Bring your questions.

Why Kochi, Why Now

The Kerala cloud-native community has been building for years. AWS User Group Kochi, DevOps Malayalam, CNCG Kochi, CNCG Trivandrum — consistent meetups, real technical depth, and a community with staying power. Those 175 CFP submissions didn't come from nowhere. They came from a community that's been showing up. KCD Kochi is what happens when that momentum compounds. The goal isn't to import expertise from outside — it's to give Kerala's engineers a global-quality stage and create connections that outlast the event day. Kerala doesn't need to prove it belongs in the cloud-native conversation. KCD Kochi is just making that visible.

What KCDs Do That Recordings Can't

A conference recording is useful. A conversation with a Kubernetes maintainer over lunch — that's different. An engineer from a tier-2 city in Kerala who connects with someone who maintains a project they use every day leaves with something no YouTube video can replicate. That's the actual value KCDs are designed to create, and it's why the CNCF invests in sanctioning them globally. KCD Kochi is that, but local.

Get Your Ticket — 25% Off with My Code

Tickets are live at kcd.cncgkochi.in. Use my personal discount code at checkout:

FRIENDSOFEBIN25 — 25% off your ticket

Grab it while it lasts.

Still Want to Be Involved?

The CFP is closed, but there are still ways in:

Sponsors: This event runs because companies believe in community. Check the event website or reach out directly.
Volunteers: We need people on the ground. If you want to be part of making this happen, let's talk.
Attendees: Get your ticket and use FRIENDSOFEBIN25 for 25% off.

Saturday, April 18, 2026 · Holiday Inn, Kochi, Kerala
Supported by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Official event website: kcd.cncgkochi.in · CNCF page: community.cncf.io/kcd-kochi