Build all weekend.
HackKentucky brings students, engineers, designers, founders, and first-time hackers together for two days of building at Genuine Works in Louisville. HackKentucky and HackTheTrack share the weekend and venue.
Entry is free. Food, Wi-Fi, caffeine, tables, power, and mentors are included. Come solo or with a team of up to four. You do not need an idea or coding experience to get started. AI tools and coding agents are welcome.
When and where
September 11–12, 2026
Genuine Works / Mashup Food Hall
750 E Jefferson St #200, Louisville, KY 40202
All times below are Eastern Daylight Time. The venue closes overnight.
Friday, September 11
- 4:00 PM: Doors open, check-in, and team formation.
- 5:00 PM: Optional Learn-a-thon. Five parallel tracks, with 35-minute sessions.
- 7:00 PM: Dinner, provided by Papa Johns.
- 11:00 PM: Doors close. Return after 8:00 AM Saturday.
Saturday, September 12
- 8:00 AM: Doors open, grazing breakfast, and hacking.
- 10:00 AM–3:00 PM: Career and startup guest-speaker tracks.
- Noon: Lunch. Each attendee receives a lunch voucher.
- 5:00 PM: Devpost submissions close and judging begins.
- 6:00 PM: Dinner. Each attendee receives a dinner voucher.
- 7:00 PM: Final judging.
- 9:00 PM: Awards and event close.
- 10:00 PM: Building closes.
Learn before you build
Friday's optional Learn-a-thon covers Software, Startups, Hardware, Sustainable Fashion, and AI. Announced sessions include Intro to Git with Jeff Squyres, building swapsgame.com with AI with Dalton Powell, Financial Modeling with Steven Plappert, Moneybot with Kahlil Garmon, and hardware with Jack Manzella. The lineup is subject to change.
See the full schedule and latest session lineup.
Prizes and judging
The overall winning project receives the $2,500 grand prize sponsored by Amplify Startups. Sponsor bounties and technology prize tracks will have their own briefs and award details as they are finalized.
Resources and prizes are confirmed from Snowflake, Google Gemini, ElevenLabs, Backboard, and Vultr through MLH. Specific award packages and entry requirements are still to be announced.
Judging rewards customer discovery, working products, craft, clarity, and impact. Teams may pursue at most two sponsor bounties and must sign up for the bounties they enter. Initial project review happens before the larger pitch round, which is for semifinalists. At least one teammate must present in person.
Read the full judging rubric.
Louisville Bats bounty
Build an online game for kids that can be embedded in the Bats website and promoted in the stadium with a QR code. Baseball gameplay, uniform design, trivia, and other ideas that fit the Bats' brand are welcome. The announced reward is 10 tickets to a Bats game on September 13, 2026, plus five Bats swag bags. Opt in through the Prizes section when submitting.
Before you arrive
- Register for the in-person event on Luma.
- Complete the required HackKentucky liability and media form.
- Join the participant Slack for team formation, help, and event updates.
- Bring a laptop, charger, and photo ID. Flag dietary restrictions when you register.
JPMorgan is our title sponsor. Amplify Startups sponsors the grand prize, Anthropic provides $25 in API credits per hacker, Citation Labs supports T-shirts, Papa Johns provides Friday dinner, Due Gooder supports trophies and medals, Swell supports stickers, Super supports lanyards, and Loudega provides coffee. Phocus is also supporting the event with drinks.
Thanks also to Humana, Churchill Downs, Slingshot, Community Foundation Louisville, Texas Roadhouse, PayFWDs, Kyndly, STAATY, Vsimple, Prologue, and our venue partners Genuine Works and Mashup Food Hall.
Questions? Email hello@hackkentucky.com. More event information is at hackkentucky.com.
Hosted on Devpost
