GitHub Fest Iquitos: Bringing a First GitHub Event to the Peruvian Amazon

Traveling to Iquitos made this GitHub Fest feel different before it even began. Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana is a public university in the Peruvian Amazon, far from the concentration of large technology events in Lima. This was its first GitHub-focused event, and for many students in the room, their first encounter with GitHub Education at all.

A first event can change what feels possible

Around 100 students came from faculties across the university. Some studied systems engineering or computer science; others came from business, economics, accounting, and health sciences because they were curious about technology.

That mix mattered. A large technology event should not arrive in a new city and assume everyone already speaks its language. It should widen the invitation.

The auditorium we did not use

The main auditorium had been reserved months earlier, but on the day of the event we discovered a double booking. A Father’s Day celebration had already been set up there. The local student community reacted immediately: they found a large classroom, redirected attendees, and brought in extra chairs. Some people stood at the back, but they stayed.

That response told me more about the community than a perfect auditorium could have. The group had only been active for a couple of years, yet its logistics, promotion, and communication teams handled the change with confidence.

Teaching the room that was actually there

Version control was not yet part of the curriculum for some technical programs, and almost nobody outside the organizers had heard of GitHub Education. The session ran longer because the questions began at the foundations. I added more Git and GitHub resources to the slides afterward instead of pretending the original plan had been sufficient.

Because the audience crossed so many faculties, I also reframed GitHub beyond source code: project planning, documentation, collaboration, AI, and the wider software-development lifecycle. The Student Developer Pack explanation included application guidance for the documents this university’s students could actually provide.

Audience research did not make the talk less technical. It made the technology accessible to more people.

A connection across regions

After the session, students stayed to ask questions and share what they wanted to build. I spoke with the Dean of the Engineering School about the university’s support for student-led initiatives and upcoming AI projects. The organizers were already imagining collaborations with communities at my own university.

GitHub Fest Iquitos was meaningful because it brought an opportunity that is common in major technology centers to a public university in the Amazon. But it was not a one-way visit from Lima. I left with a clearer view of technology education across Peru and a new connection between student communities in two very different regions.