A bit late here, but... on May 29th and 30th, Chapecó hosted the fourth edition of PHP Velho Oeste, and as an organizer and resident of the city that hosts the event, I carry the same feeling I always do: watching something that started small turn into a gathering people make a point of not missing.

There's a part I really like that doesn't show up in any official photo: after the event wraps up, we sit down at a bar for a beer with several attendees, a lot of people actually. No badges, no organizing rush, just conversation. Someone talking about what they learned in a talk, another one talking about work, laughing over some hiccup only the team knows about. This year we even had karaoke, and people did great. To me, that's as much a part of the event's success as any talk on stage. In the end, what stays are the stronger bonds and the memories kept in photos.

There were 249 attendees in this edition.

What strikes me most isn't really the number, even though it matters, a lot. It's noticing how many people come back: people who were there since the very first edition, in 2023, still showing up year after year, alongside new faces discovering the event now. That says a lot about what we're building: it's not just an event, it's a place people choose to return to.

Our purpose has stayed the same since the beginning: strengthen the PHP community in western Santa Catarina and raise the quality of the event with every edition. It's a non-profit initiative, everything we raise goes right back into the event itself, and none of it would exist without everyone who was there: attendees, speakers, sponsors, supporters, and the team behind the scenes.

Learn more about how it went on the event's website.