# BackstageCon 2026: The Essential Developer Portal Event Returns for Its Fifth Year
**Salt Lake City, November 9, 2026** — BackstageCon is making its comeback, bringing together the global Backstage community for a dedicated day of deep dives, real-world insights, and hands-on knowledge sharing. Set the day before KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America kicks off in Salt Lake City, this conference offers a focused experience that cannot be found anywhere else on the KubeCon schedule.
## Why Developer Portals Matter More Than Ever
The way engineering teams build software is being reshaped by artificial intelligence, and developer portals sit right at the center of that transformation. Backstage, the open-source platform born from Spotify’s internal tools and now stewarded by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), has been actively rolling out AI-powered capabilities over the past year. But knowing which features to adopt — and how — requires hearing directly from teams that have already done the work.
That is exactly what this conference delivers. Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies for weaving AI agents into their portals, managing permissions for autonomous tools, and keeping plugin ecosystems healthy as the underlying project evolves.
## A Day Built for the Community
Unlike large multi-track conferences where Backstage might get a single session, BackstageCon dedicates every hour of the day to the platform. It operates as a single-track event, meaning every session is attended by the same audience. This creates a shared context that fuels richer hallway conversations, networking breaks, and meaningful connections between attendees.
The agenda is divided into four thematic areas:
– **AI agents and context in Backstage** — exploring how AI capabilities integrate with portal infrastructure
– **Technical deep dives** — detailed sessions on architecture, plugins, and platform engineering patterns
– **Developer experience and workflows** — how teams design portals that developers actually use
– **Lessons learned from deployment and adoption** — real stories from organizations at various stages of their journey
Each talk is clearly labeled as beginner, intermediate, or all levels, ensuring that newcomers and veterans alike can find sessions relevant to their experience.
## Who Should Attend
This event is designed for a specific audience, and that specificity is part of its strength:
– **Platform teams running Backstage in production** — these are the speakers and attendees grappling with challenges like catalog ownership at scale, AI integration, and long-term plugin maintenance.
– **Teams evaluating or early in their Backstage adoption** — seeing what others have learned avoids costly mistakes and accelerates time-to-value.
– **Contributors and plugin authors** — a rare chance to meet the people maintaining the project face-to-face and understand the roadmap firsthand.
No extensive preparation is required, though a quick skim of the official documentation — particularly around the Software Catalog, Software Templates, and plugins — will enrich the experience. Familiarity with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is also helpful, as a significant portion of the programming covers AI-related topics.
## What Sets This Event Apart
The philosophy behind BackstageCon is straightforward: one project, one track, one full day, with the people who actually run it. There are no keynotes from distant executives — the sessions are led by practitioners who have built, broken, and rebuilt their own Backstage instances.
Attendees can expect to hear about topics such as:
– Keeping human oversight central when deploying AI agents within internal platforms
– Assigning proper identity and access controls to autonomous AI workflows
– Streamlining catalog ownership so that platform teams are not overwhelmed with manual updates
– Strategies for maintaining plugin compatibility as the core project advances
One session in particular addresses a question that often gets overlooked in technology discussions: what makes adoption difficult? The answer, according to organizers, often comes down to organizational dynamics rather than technical barriers.
Another highlights how a team modernized a Backstage instance that has been in operation for over ten years using AI tools — a testament to the platform’s longevity and flexibility.
## Register Your Spot
BackstageCon is included as part of the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026 experience, but registration for the full conference is required to attend. With Salt Lake City hosting the event, the venue promises to be accessible for North American teams looking to deepen their understanding of developer portals and platform engineering.
For those who have been on the sidelines, watching the Backstory project grow from a niche internal tool to a CNCF graduated project, this is the ideal moment to get involved. The community is welcoming, the knowledge shared is practical, and the connections made often last well beyond the event itself.
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### Frequently Asked Questions
**What is Backstage?**
Backstage is an open-source developer portal platform originally created by Spotify and now maintained under the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). It helps organizations standardize their developer experience by centralizing documentation, tooling, and services in a single, customizable portal.
**Do I need to be a Backstage user to attend?**
No. While many attendees are current Backstage users, the event welcomes anyone interested in developer portals, platform engineering, or the intersection of AI and software delivery. Sessions are labeled by difficulty level to accommodate a range of experience levels.
**Is there a fee to attend BackstageCon?**
BackstageCon is part of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026. Registration for the full conference includes access to the BackstageCon day. Attendance is subject to standard KubeCon registration fees, though subsidized and scholarship options are typically available through the CNCF.
**Will there be recordings available after the event?**
While the primary value of BackstageCon lies in live interaction and community networking, some sessions may be recorded depending on speaker preference. Attendees are encouraged to check with organizers for post-event content availability.
**What should I bring or prepare beforehand?**
A laptop is optional but helpful for note-taking. If you want to get the most out of technical sessions, having a basic understanding of Backstage’s Software Catalog, Software Templates, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) will be beneficial. Reviewing the official documentation prior to the event is recommended but not required.
**Can first-time attendees contribute a talk?**
BackstageCon welcomes contributions from the community. If you have a story or insight about your experience with Backstage, you are encouraged to submit a proposal. The event values practical, real-world perspectives over theoretical presentations.
**How does BackstageCon differ from the Backstage talks at KubeCon?**
KubeCon typically includes one or two Backstage talks spread across its multi-track schedule. BackstageCon provides an entire dedicated day with a single track, allowing for deeper exploration of topics, more attendee interaction, and a cohesive experience shared by everyone in the room.
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### Final Thoughts
BackstageCon represents something increasingly rare in the technology conference landscape: a focused, community-driven event that prioritizes depth over breadth. By dedicating a full day to a single project, it creates space for genuine knowledge exchange, meaningful networking, and practical takeaways that attendees can implement the moment they return to their own organizations.
Whether you are a platform engineer wrestling with catalog management at scale, a team leader exploring how AI can enhance your internal developer portal, or simply someone curious about where the developer experience space is heading, this event offers a concentrated dose of insight that few other conferences can match.
The fifth year of BackstageCon arrives at a pivotal moment for the platform, as AI capabilities continue to reshape how teams build and manage software. Being in the room with the people shaping that future is an opportunity worth taking seriously.
Thank you for reading
