SUPER EVENT 🌿SUPER EVENT • OUTDOOR HACKER PICNIC & KEY-SIGNING🌿 Open-Air Park

Touch Grass: The Unplugged Linux Gathering & Nature Unconference

An unplugged, open-air super gathering! Step away from backlit screens, power down the daemons, and touch actual grass with fellow Linux and FOSS enthusiasts. Featuring solar-powered LoRa mesh radios, an open-air GPG key-signing party, an offline Kiwix knowledge mirror, acoustic lightning talks, frisbee, and lawn snacks.

Date & TimeSaturday • 13:30 - 18:00 BST (Sunset)
LocationRamna Park Lake Amphitheatre & Banyan Green, Dhaka
Admission100% Free • Open to All
COUNTDOWN TO GATHERING
BST (UTC+6) • Live Real-Time Ticker
--DAYS
:
--HOURS
:
--MINUTES
:
--SECONDS
📖

About This Event

In a world dominated by endless CI/CD runs, flickering terminal windows, and hyper-connected screens, we often forget the raw physical reality beneath our feet. "Touch Grass" is The Penguins Club's signature super unconference: a deliberate return to nature, fresh oxygen, and unplugged peer-to-peer connection.

Leave your AC server rooms behind. Bring a picnic blanket, your portable solar packs, your favorite offline hardware projects, and your physical presence. We will gather under the historic trees of Ramna Park for an afternoon of peer-to-peer mesh networking, Web-of-Trust cryptographic signing, community tea, and real-world conversations with people who cherish software freedom.

Zero Wi-Fi dependencies. Zero cloud servers. Just pure offline software freedom, decentralized mesh radios, and open-air solidarity.

✨

Key Highlights & Activities

  • •

    🌿 100% Certified Grass-Touching: Reconnect with sunlight, trees, and your fellow humans without notifications.

  • •

    📡 Solar & Battery LoRa Mesh Lab: Deploying Meshtastic & Briar peer-to-peer off-grid communication nodes across the park perimeter.

  • •

    🔑 Sunlight GPG Key-Signing Protocol: Cross-sign public keys in person to strengthen our community Web of Trust (bring printed fingerprints!).

  • •

    🎒 Offline Digital Ark with Kiwix: Experience entire offline mirrors of Wikipedia, ArchWiki, and OpenStreetMap running on low-power Raspberry Pi single-board computers.

  • •

    ⚡ Unplugged Lightning Talks: Zero projector slides! 5-minute talks with handheld mini-whiteboards, paper sketches, and genuine acoustic voice projection.

  • •

    🍉 Lawn Picnic & Frisbee Tournament: Fresh seasonal fruits, hot tea, samosas, and open-air games as the sun dips below Dhaka's skyline.

⏱️

Event Schedule & Agenda

Timeline and sessions for the day (BST Dhaka Time)

13:30 - 14:00

Check-In, Picnic Mat Circle & Fingerprint Verification

TPC Welcome Crew

Find our circle under the giant banyan tree by the lake, lay out mats, grab your badge, and verify GPG fingerprint sheets.

14:00 - 14:40

Opening Circle: "Digital Ecology & The Art of Disconnecting"

The Penguins Club Core

A grounded conversation on developer burnout, open-source sustainability, local resilience, and mindful computing.

14:40 - 15:30

Hands-On Lab: Deploying Off-Grid LoRa & Meshtastic Networks

Hardware & Radio SIG

Live field test! Configuring handheld LoRa nodes, passing encrypted packets across the trees without internet or cell towers.

15:30 - 16:15

Sunlight GPG Web-of-Trust Key-Signing Party

Cryptography Group

The classic FOSS tradition conducted in open air. Confirm IDs, exchange fingerprints, and build resilient cryptographic trust.

16:15 - 17:15

The Unplugged Lightning Talks (Zero Slides!)

Community Volunteers

6 rapid 5-minute talks using portable dry-erase boards and vocal cords. Topics range from home gardening to custom Linux kernels.

17:15 - 18:00

Chai, Lawn Picnic & Sunset Frisbee Hack

Everyone

Enjoy snacks and tea while mingling, catching up on projects, and closing out an unforgettable afternoon outdoors.

🧠

Prerequisites

  • No technical prerequisites whatsoever — open to complete newcomers, seasoned sysadmins, designers, and students.
  • Curiosity for decentralized technology, offline computing, or just enjoying good company in the park.
🎒

What to Bring

  • A picnic mat or blanket if you have one (we will also bring large ground tarps).
  • Printed copies of your GPG key fingerprint + government ID (if participating in the key-signing party).
  • Portable battery bank, Meshtastic/LoRa devices, or offline Raspberry Pi projects (optional).
  • Reusable water bottle, walking shoes, and a light jacket for the sunset breeze.
  • Snacks, biscuits, or fruits to share with fellow attendees!
👥

Facilitators & Hosts

The Penguins Club Collective

The Penguins Club Collective

Community Stewards & FOSS Advocates

Organizers and volunteers nurturing local open-source infrastructure and offline tech culture in Bangladesh since 2020.

github.com/the-penguins-club
Hardware & Decentralized SIG

Hardware & Decentralized SIG

Mesh Networking Coordinators

Enthusiasts building low-power radio communication tools, LoRa gateways, and community emergency networks.

❓

Frequently Asked Questions

Why "Touch Grass"? Is this a joke?

It embraces the beloved internet meme with complete sincerity! Engineers and tech enthusiasts spend an unhealthy amount of time indoors glued to terminals. Stepping outside into nature with a community of friends turns a meme into a transformative, revitalizing gathering.

What if it rains?

We monitor weather forecasts closely. In case of unexpected drizzle, we move directly to the covered pavilions and heritage colonnades adjacent to the lake. Any location adjustments will be broadcasted on Telegram.

Do I need a laptop?

Laptops are completely optional! In fact, we encourage leaving heavy laptops in your bag or at home. If you bring one for the offline Kiwix demo, make sure the battery is charged, as there are no power outlets in the park.

Is there an entry fee?

Never! Like all The Penguins Club events, Touch Grass is 100% free and community supported.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Explore Other Upcoming Meetups

Join our monthly hands-on workshops, talks, and open-source hackathons across Dhaka.

Hacktoberfest 2026: Open Source Contribution Marathon & PR Sprint
HACKTOBERFESTGLOBAL CELEBRATION • FIRST PR TO UPSTREAM COLLABORATION
24 October 2026 • 11:00 BST • Saturday

Hacktoberfest 2026: Open Source Contribution Marathon & PR Sprint

Celebrate the world's largest open source festival with The Penguins Club! Join a high-energy, full-day sprint where mentors help you find beginner-friendly issues, master Git branching and conventional commits, submit meaningful Pull Requests to Linux and FOSS projects, and earn exclusive stickers, badges, and booklets.

Linux Command Line, Shell Automation & System Internals
SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE & BASH WORKSHOP
17 October 2026 • 15:00 BST • Third

Linux Command Line, Shell Automation & System Internals

Hands-on lab walking through terminal navigation, automation pipelines with bash, systemd services, and Linux kernel fundamentals. Master process management, I/O redirection, and building resilient shell utilities.

Contributing to Open Source Software & Git Best Practices
UPSTREAM COLLABORATION & PR SPRINT
21 November 2026 • 15:00 BST • Third

Contributing to Open Source Software & Git Best Practices

Hands-on guidance through cloning repositories, fixing good first issues, writing tests, and opening upstream pull requests. Learn how to communicate effectively with maintainers and write clean atomic commits.

Self-Hosting, Local Privacy & Digital Sovereignty
HOMELAB, CONTAINERIZATION & NEXTCLOUD
19 December 2026 • 15:00 BST • Third

Self-Hosting, Local Privacy & Digital Sovereignty

Learn how to take control of personal data by hosting your own open-source services on refurbished hardware or inexpensive home servers. Discover Docker, Podman, Nextcloud, Pi-hole, and Tailscale private overlays.