How to find hackathons that aren’t on major event sites

TL;DR

• Most hackathons aren’t on major event platforms’ main listings.
• 76.9% of public Luma events are hidden from the discover page.
• You can find hidden hackathons using city-level lists and event checker tools.
• Tech events, including hackathons, are often not featured.
• Use Hidden Events and Luma’s own tools for a broader search.

Finding hackathons is harder than it looks. Many are missing from big event sites’ discover pages, even though they’re public. If you rely on major platforms, you’ll miss a lot of hackathons. Here’s how to actually find them, and why so many stay hidden.

Why are so many hackathons hidden from major event platforms?

Most hackathons aren’t featured on major event platforms’ main discover pages. In fact, 76.9% of public Luma events are hidden, meaning they’re public but not listed where many people look. That’s a huge share of events slipping past the main listings. If you’re searching for hackathons, you’re likely missing a lot just by sticking to the obvious platforms. Hidden Events tracks 2703 hidden events across many cities, so what’s missing is significant.

This pattern is clear for tech events too. 72.9% of all Tech events are hidden, so the odds are against you if you stick with standard searches. If you want to see what’s really happening, you need to look beyond the main discover pages. Luma’s discover page is a good starting point, but it doesn’t show everything. Hidden Events gives you a much wider view.

Key takeaway: If you only use major event platforms, you’re missing many hackathons and tech events.

How can you find hackathons that aren’t on Luma’s discover page?

You can find hidden hackathons by searching live data on Hidden Events, which lists all public Luma events, including those not shown on Luma’s discover page. The key is to use tools and lists that go deeper than the main event platforms.

Start by checking all the Luma events we track, which includes every public event, not just the featured ones. If you’re focused on a specific city, you can browse San Francisco tech events or NYC tech events to see what’s really happening in those scenes. These pages surface many events that don’t appear on the main discover listings.

Want to check if a specific hackathon is hidden? Use the event checker to paste in a Luma event link and see if it’s listed or hidden. This lets you verify in seconds if an event is discoverable or not. And if you’re an organizer, you can get your event listed by using the add-event page.

What share of tech events, including hackathons, are hidden?

A large share of tech events, including hackathons, aren’t featured on major platforms’ main pages. Specifically, 72.9% of all Tech events tracked by Hidden Events are hidden from Luma’s discover page.

This means that out of 96 public Tech events, many are invisible to anyone searching the usual way. If you’re looking for hackathons, you’re not alone in missing out, many tech communities are in the same situation. The Startup category is even more hidden, with 83.5% of its events not featured. Our guide to how to find hackathons breaks down how to use these numbers to your advantage.

If you want to go deeper, you can compare cities and categories using the tables on Hidden Events. This helps you spot which scenes are more hidden than others.

Key takeaway: A very large share of public Tech events, including hackathons, are hidden from standard event searches.

How does the hidden share differ between cities?

Hidden event shares vary a lot between cities. New Delhi has 90.7% of its public Luma events hidden, while Lisbon has 55.3%. If you’re looking for hackathons in New Delhi, you’ll have to dig much deeper. On the other hand, cities like Lisbon have a lower hidden share, so you might have better luck with standard searches. Austin events and Toronto events both have their own city-level listings, making it easier to spot hidden hackathons if you know where to look.

Here’s how city hidden shares compare:

Key takeaway: Your odds of finding hidden hackathons depend a lot on the city. Some scenes are much more hidden than others.

What tools and tactics actually surface hidden hackathons?

To surface hidden hackathons, you need to use purpose-built tools and city-level event lists. The event checker lets you paste any Luma event link to check if it’s hidden. You can also use the city events widget to embed a live feed of upcoming events for a city, making it easy to stay updated on what’s new.

Organizers who want their hackathons found should use the add-event page to get listed quickly. Events appear live in about ten minutes. If you’re just browsing, check out San Francisco this weekend or NYC this weekend for up-to-date event lists. For more on how hidden events work, Luma’s help center has background about public event visibility.

Key takeaway: Use event checkers, widgets, and city-level lists to find hackathons that aren’t on major platforms’ main pages.

When are most hidden hackathons happening?

Most hidden events, including hackathons, start on Thursday, which accounts for 19.3% of all events. If you’re planning your search, it helps to know which days are busiest for new events.

You can check all the Luma events we track filtered by date, or browse city-specific lists like San Francisco events or NYC events to see what’s coming up. The volume of hidden events means you’ll often find something new each week. For more tips, see our blog guide.

Here’s a quick look at key numbers:

Ready to find your next hackathon? Start with Hidden Events for the live list.

About the author. Himanshu Saleria, Founder, Hidden Events. I love meeting people. I’ve been attending events, hosting them, and picking up patterns along the way for what makes a gathering worth showing up to. Hidden Events surfaces what I’ve been finding. Himanshu Saleria on LinkedIn