Beacon Hacks
A free, one-day hackathon for Bay Area high school students. No experience needed.
- Belmont, CA
- Grades 9–12
- Teams of up to four
- Free
Sat, Jan 30, 2027 · target date
Counting down to doors open on Saturday, January 30, 2027, our target date.
Build what lights the way
One Saturday in Belmont for high school students from across the Bay Area. Come with a team, or find one on the day.
Never written code? You are welcome here. Build an app, a game, a website or a hardware hack, then show it to the judges.
Three tracks
Pick one at kickoff.
Signal
Cut through noise. Search, summarize, sort, surface: anything that helps a person find the thing that matters to them.
Landfall
Build for Belmont and the Peninsula. Civic data, schools, transit, small business: anything that makes the place around you work better.
First Light
Beginners only. Judged on what you learned and what you finished, not on how clean the code is.
Prizes and perks
Prizes for the winners and perks for every builder. Participants get the details before the day.
For the winners
CodeCrafters
YRI Fellowship
Origami Prep
Art of Problem Solving
Scrimba
Algoverse
For every builder
Browserbase
Tavus
.xyz
Rosebud AI
SunFounder- Algoverse
The day
A draft for Saturday, January 30, 2027, our target date. Times may shift.
- Doors
- 8:30 AM
- Hacking
- 10 AM to 9 PM, 11 hours
- Home by
- 11 PM, no overnight
- Where
- Belmont, CaliforniaVenue being finalized
Morning
8:30 AM to noon
8:30 AM
Doors open
Check in with your school ID, have breakfast, and find a seat with power.
9:30 AM
Opening ceremony
Rules of the day, the tracks, and introductions from partners.
10:00 AM
Hacking begins
Team matching runs for anyone still looking for a team.
11:30 AM
Workshop (TBD)
Optional, about 30 minutes.
Afternoon
Noon to 6 PM
1:00 PM
Lunch
Pizza. Take a break, then back to building.
4:00 PM
Workshop (TBD)
Optional.
Evening
6 PM to 11 PM
6:00 PM
Dinner
Dinner, then dessert from Simple Delights: brownies, lemon bars, ube mochi bars, cookies and cake. Three hours of hacking left.
9:00 PM
Hacking ends, demos begin
Submissions close. Judges walk the room, science fair style.
10:30 PM
Awards and closing
Prizes and thank-yous. Everyone heads home by 11 PM.
Judges
They walk the room at demo time and talk with every team. More are announced as they confirm.
Want to judge or mentor? Email the team
Swosti Panda
Lead PM/Analyst, Devices & Services, Google
Works on the supply chain and logistics architecture behind Google’s flagship retail stores. Previously at Walmart Technology. MS in Supply Chain Management.
Vasuki Uday Kiran Vudathala
Staff Performance Engineer, AI/ML, ServiceNow
Specializes in GenAI performance, scalability and production reliability. Sixteen-plus years in industry, and a technical author, conference speaker, and hackathon judge and mentor.
Co-founded Nessie (YC F25), the shared context layer for recursive companies. Previously an engineer on Amazon’s recommendation service, where she shipped ML features and led an experiment with a $200M-a-year revenue impact. Yale BS ’24.
Co-founded Nessie (YC F25). Previously at Amazon on authentication systems handling 40 billion requests a day. Shipped an Android app with 70,000+ users at 13 and researched Linux kernel security at Yale. Yale BS ’24.
Parth Maniar
Senior Software Engineer, Alto Neuroscience
Senior Software Engineer at Alto Neuroscience, a precision psychiatry company in Mountain View. Writes about machine learning and AI agents, and built a credit card fraud detection app. Studied data science at the University at Buffalo.
Dan Shalev
DECA Chapter President, Wilcox Business Experience
Leads the DECA chapter at Wilcox Business Experience, a student-run business club in Santa Clara. Built four campaign websites for a congressional run and interned on internal tools at Zeal.
Judges take part as individuals; their employers are not sponsors.
Sponsors
Free for every student, because companies back it. Open places are dashed, and no tier is exclusive.
Venue sponsor
Being finalizedRingCentral (opens in a new tab)Fiscal sponsor
Hack Club (opens in a new tab)A 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Beacon Hacks runs on HCB, so every transaction is public.
See our finances (opens in a new tab)Donate (opens in a new tab)
Presenting · $2,500
Largest logo placement · “Presented by” billing · A short speaking slot at the opening · Optional table or workshop, subject to venue capacity
Partner · $1,000
Prominent logo placement · Send mentors to help teams on the day · Optional workshop, subject to scheduling
Community · $500
Larger logo placement · Support a named prize category, where available
Supporter · $250
Logo on the website · Thanked at the opening and closing · Group sponsor thank-you on social media
In kind
Products, credits and services that make the day possible
- PrizesCodeCrafters (opens in a new tab)
- ScholarshipsYRI Fellowship (opens in a new tab)
PrizesArt of Problem Solving (opens in a new tab)- Tool perkBrowserbase (opens in a new tab)
- Tool perkTavus (opens in a new tab)
- Free domains.xyz (opens in a new tab)
Pro subscriptionsScrimba (opens in a new tab)- CreditsRosebud AI (opens in a new tab)
- Hardware discountSunFounder (opens in a new tab)
- Program discountsAlgoverse (opens in a new tab)
Each tier includes everything in the one below it. No exclusivity, and we never share participant contact information.
Questions
The short version for students, parents and sponsors.
Still wondering? Write to team@beaconhacks.com
Join the Discord(opens in a new tab)What is a hackathon?
A day of building something from scratch, usually with a small team, and showing it off at the end. It might be an app, a game, a website or a hardware hack. Winning is a bonus; finishing something with other people is the point.
Who can apply?
High school students in grades 9 to 12 from anywhere in the Bay Area. Bring a school ID to check in.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Beginners are welcome, and the First Light track is just for first-time hackers. It is judged on what you learned and finished, not on polish.
How do teams work?
Teams have up to four people. Bring friends, or meet a team at team matching before the opening ceremony. Building on your own is fine too.
Can I apply now?
Yes. Registration is on Luma and takes a minute. Registering does not guarantee a spot: we confirm spots once the venue and budget are set, and we will email everyone who registered.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. There is no fee to apply or to attend; sponsors cover the cost of the day.
What should I bring?
A laptop and charger, your school ID, and anything you need to be comfortable for a long day. If you do not have a laptop, email us before the event.
Is there food?
Yes, and it is free. Breakfast when doors open, pizza for lunch, dinner, and dessert from Simple Delights. Email us about allergies or dietary needs before the day.
Do I stay overnight?
No. The draft schedule runs from 8:30 AM to 11 PM, and everyone goes home the same night.
Where is it?
In Belmont, California. The venue is being finalized; we will publish the address once it is confirmed, and applicants will hear first.
How can my company sponsor?
Pick a package in the sponsors section or write to us. In-kind support is welcome too: food, equipment, prizes, software and services.
Is there a code of conduct?
Yes. Everyone at Beacon Hacks agrees to it: students, mentors, judges, sponsors and organizers.