The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is hosting its 40th Chaos Communication Congress, abbreviated 40C3, from 27 to 30 December 2026 at the Hamburg Exhibition halls. The event is described as Europe’s biggest hacker party, conference and platform for technology, society and civil liberties, continuing the club’s tradition of annual gatherings that blend technical presentations with cultural and political discourse. The congress’s motto for this year is “Model Citizens,” a deliberate reference to past iterations and a prompt to imagine new ways of organizing society after previous models have, according to the organizers, left the planet in a precarious state.
The Call for Participation for talks, entertainment, art, punk and music opened on 12 September 2026, inviting contributors to shape the programme. The congress emphasizes its non‑commercial, volunteer‑driven character: it is organised by volunteers and supported by thousands of unpaid helpers, expecting over 16,000 visitors who do not merely attend but actively help to shape the event through contributions to lectures, music, art installations and the Punk‑Späti stage. This participatory model is presented as a counterpoint to increasingly authoritarian social currents, where personal commitment and solidarity are said to be giving way to top‑down mandates.
The organizers frame the congress as a living example of how differences can be assets, unfamiliar perspectives as sources of inspiration, and mutual needs as foundations for a welcoming community, seeking to demonstrate an alternative to the “strong hand” politics they see gaining ground elsewhere. However, the supplied source does not provide independent verification of the expected attendance figures or evidence that the event will measurably counteract authoritarian trends; it remains the organizers’ articulation of their goals and the event’s structure.