DrupalCamp England 2026: Beyond the Code

People might think I'm a little strange when I say DrupalCamp England is my favourite time of year. But after years without a camp on home soil, what the volunteers have built here is something genuinely worth celebrating, and this year's event in Manchester was the perfect place to do it.

I always leave these events re-energised. There's something about being in a room full of people who genuinely love what they do that no amount of reading articles or watching recordings can replicate. From the moment sponsors were setting up, merch was out, and familiar faces were appearing the energy was already there. And as someone who works at an agency that not only sponsors the event but whose CEO is one of the organisers, I felt particularly proud to be there in my Zoocha t-shirt and socks.

Grounding the AI conversation

We all knew AI would be central to this year's camp, and the keynote from Dr. Phininder Balaghan "The Augmented Future: Winning with AI" captured it beautifully. The framing was really interesting: augmenting humans, not replacing them, which is a real concern across many industries right now and deserves to be addressed head-on. We need people who understand how to work with AI intelligently, knowing when to lean on it, how to direct it, and how to grow alongside it.

Privacy and data governance got the spotlight too, and as an advocate for both, it was really great to see. Understanding where your data goes when you hand it to an AI provider, guarding against prompt injection and data leakage, and ensuring AI is adopted responsibly.  These are questions we should all be asking, and with data laws tightening and security concerns evolving, something we all must be aware of. Having that front and centre at a tech event felt important and timely.

What made it even more special was that Phininder comes from outside the Drupal space and was genuinely excited about how Drupal is approaching AI. That external perspective was a great way to begin the weekend.

Time to shout louder about Drupal

After 13 years in Drupal, the thing that excites me most right now is how much of a story we have to tell and how many people haven't heard it yet. Alex Moreno Lopez's talk encompassed this perfectly. Drupal has evolved immeasurably. It can now reach audiences it never could before, and with the AI initiative gaining serious momentum, the case for Drupal has never been stronger.

The challenge isn't the product, it's making sure the wider world knows what we already know. Drupal has never been more intuitive, with UX for content editors a major focus, and the AI initiative pushing the boundaries of what a CMS can do. Scalable, secure, and giving organisations full control of their data. The community continues to build something truly special, and it’s a story worth telling.

The answer? Get out there. Non-Drupal meetups, generalist tech events, industry conferences and engage the next generation. At Zoocha we're lucky to work alongside some brilliant graduates who have already caught the Drupal fever. That energy is exactly what the ecosystem needs more of.

AI in Drupal: the pace is incredible

The Drupal AI Initiative is a community-driven effort to accelerate AI innovation across the CMS and strive to make Drupal the premier AI-enabled open source platform. Zoocha is proud to be a part of it, and DrupalCamp England showed exactly why that investment matters.

James Abrahams' talk on "Drupal CMS AI — No-Code Visual AI Agent Builder" was, as always, infectious. The amount that has changed since last year's camp alone is staggering. FlowDrop UI, endless integrations, agents that build agents. And it's being built the right way: the collaboration with Symfony AI shows a real commitment to long-term stability.

What excites me most is the accessibility of it. Non-developers can build and configure AI workflows through the UI which is transformative for content teams and clients alike. As a developer involved in the initiative, supporting quality assurance across the AI ecosystem, seeing how rapidly everything is evolving and being part of that journey is something I am really proud of.

More than the sessions

Some of the best moments weren't in the lecture theatres at all. Conversations over lunch between people from different agencies, constructively challenging each other's ideas; that's the magic. Everyone there is invested in the same future. Paul Johnson's photography captured it perfectly, and the social at BrewDog rounded off Saturday brilliantly.

Sunday had its own special energy. Drupal in a Day welcomed students and curious newcomers to a free, hands-on introduction to Drupal and the world of open source, opening doors to what a career in this space could look like. And the AI workshop was the perfect close to the weekend: a brilliant mix of exploring what's already possible, getting hands-on with AI, and seeing live demos of what I thought was the future of AI, not the now! This kind of session that leaves you buzzing with ideas on the train home.

Why these events matter

For developers, agencies, and clients alike these events keep us connected to where Drupal is going, give us the opportunity to share what we've learned, and remind ourselves what open source actually means in practice.

Open source only works because people care enough to show up and DrupalCamp England is proof of that. Developers, agencies, and contributors coming together because they believe in something bigger than any one project. That's what makes this community special, and exactly why these events matter. I loved it, and can’t wait until next year.