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2026 · Tech calendar · 30 km radius

The conference year, seen from a 2-star table in Neerharen.

Seventeen tech events fall inside a 30-km radius of Ralf Berendsen in 2026. Four of them land at MECC Maastricht, 7 km from the restaurant.[3] The cleanest weekend-anchor is BSides Limburg on Fri 13 March — close out the con, drive south, sit down for dinner.

17
events in range
6
headline confs
7 km
closest venue
Oct
busiest month
distance from Paalsteenlaan 90, Lanaken
MECC Maastricht
7 KM · NL · 4 events
Maastricht University
7 KM · NL · 1 event
Thor Park, Genk
14 KM · BE · 2 events
Corda Campus, Hasselt
24 KM · BE · 4 events
PXL Hasselt
26 KM · BE · 2 events
Brightlands, Heerlen
29 KM · NL · 6 events

The year on a page

★ = headline · pink bar = busy month
January 01 / 26
healthtech, opens the year
February 02 / 26
March 03 / 26
April 04 / 26
No conferences scheduled in range.
Hack & Hang · Apr 1 · PXL[23]
May 05 / 26
June 06 / 26
July 07 / 26
August 08 / 26
No conferences scheduled in range. Belgian summer break.
September 09 / 26
Nothing confirmed in range at time of writing.
October 10 / 26 ★★★
November 11 / 26
FTI Festival runs through Nov 15[18]
December 12 / 26
No conferences scheduled in range. Year closes quietly.

Six headline conferences

in chronological order
MAR · 24 KM · ⌬ BEST PAIR
⌬
BSides
Limburg
Mar 12 — 13 · 2 days

BSides Limburg

Corda Campus, Hasselt

Community-driven cybersecurity conference, workshop day Thu + conference day Fri[8]. Fri close → 25 min drive south = the cleanest Sat-dinner anchor of the year.

JUN · 7 KM
∮
IEEE
WCCI
Jun 21 — 26 · 6 days

IEEE WCCI 2026

MECC Maastricht

Three IEEE-CIS conferences bundled into one week — IJCNN, FUZZ-IEEE, CEC. ~1,500 scientists; LLM explainability, neural nets, evolutionary & fuzzy systems[11]. Hybrid format[25].

OCT · 7 KM
⊕
BNAIC
BeNeLearn
Oct 21 — 23 · 3 days

BNAIC / BeNeLearn 2026

Maastricht University

38th Benelux AI conference + 35th Belgian/Dutch ML conference — the regional reference event[12]. Closes Fri 23 Oct → Sat-dinner viable.

OCT · 7 KM Big Science Business Forum 2026 logo
Oct 27 — 30 · 4 days

Big Science Business Forum 2026

MECC Maastricht

4th edition after Trieste, Copenhagen, Granada[14]. 1,000+ reps from CERN/ESA-type institutions + European tech. Procurement & tech-transfer flavour. Early-bird €440 until 1 Jun.

▲ THE SATURDAY-DINNER ALIGNMENT

Three Friday closes that hand off cleanly to a Sat-night reservation.

Ralf Berendsen serves Tue – Sat 18:30 – 21:00 (dark Sun/Mon)[1]. A Friday-finishing conference is the rare shape that lets you trade the badge for cutlery without an extra travel day.

  • ✦ Best Fri 13 Mar 2026 BSides Limburg Conference day ends late afternoon. Corda Campus Hasselt → Lanaken = ~25 min drive on E314/N78[26]. Saturday morning free for Hoge Kempen.
  • Fri 26 Jun 2026 IEEE WCCI close-out Closing sessions at MECC Maastricht; 7 km / 15 min taxi to the restaurant.[3]
  • Fri 23 Oct 2026 BNAIC / BeNeLearn close Maastricht University, 7 km. Coincides with the busiest October week — BSBF arrives the following Monday.

Sundays and Mondays are out: Ralf Berendsen is closed both days[1], so a conference that ends Sun (or starts Mon) wastes the dinner anchor. Tue-, Wed- or Thu-evening conference dinners are possible but break the natural weekend shape.

Smaller, niche & half-day options

For a lighter touch — evening meetups, workshops, makerspace
FEB 11
Vlaamse Programmeerwedstrijd[22] · 3-hour student programming contest, teams of threePXL HASSELT · 26 KM
FEB 24
Cegeka 'What's Next' evening[24] · Young-graduate IT careers night, 17:30 – 21:00CEGEKA HQ, CORDA · 24 KM
MAR 3
Powering the Future: Power Electronics[20] · One-day workshop, energy transitionENERGYVILLE 1, THOR PARK · 14 KM
MAR 9
AI Leisure & Hospitality[16] · Applied-AI session for tourism/hospitality entrepreneursBRIGHTLANDS HEERLEN · 29 KM
MAR 16-20
PXL Codesight[22] · Robotics week — Linux + Python + ROS + computer visionPXL HASSELT · 26 KM
MAY 19
AI strengthens energy optimisation & data-centre efficiency[21] · AI-ops half-dayTHOR PARK GENK · 14 KM
JUN 18
Health Innovation Euregion[15] · Cross-border BE/NL/DE health-innovation dayBRIGHTLANDS HEERLEN · 29 KM
JUN 22
Smart Manufacturing Day[15] · Industry 4.0 showcase, the day after WCCI endsBRIGHTLANDS HEERLEN · 29 KM
JUL 7
Summer AI Summit[15] · Applied AI + data scienceBRIGHTLANDS HEERLEN · 29 KM
OCT 1 & 29
Masterclass AI for Managers[15] · Two-session executive AI literacy trackBRIGHTLANDS HEERLEN · 29 KM
MONTHLY
Hack & Hang 13+ Makerspace[23] · Jan 14 · Feb 11 · Mar 11 · Apr 1 · May 6 · Jun 10PXL / UHASSELT · 26 KM
TBC
ICF Top7 2026[17] · Intelligent Community Forum awards, Brightlands-Limburg hostDATES NOT YET PUBLISHED

Just outside the line30 km cutoff

  • Aachen (DE) — 33 km. RWTH Aachen and the Aachen Colloquium Automobile & Engine Technology do not qualify under a strict 30 km radius[4].
  • Liège — ~30 km. Borderline. Some sources put it at 31 – 32 km by road. Treated as out-of-radius for safety[4].
  • Eindhoven · Leuven · Brussels · Antwerp. All > 50 km, well outside. Their conference calendars don't enter the picture for this weekend.

The rest of the weekend

EXPEDITION
Day-trips & activities within 30 km
Six day-trip shapes — Maastricht, Hoge Kempen, Bokrijk+Genk, Tongeren, Hasselt, Valkenburg — with hours, 2026 ticket prices and drive times.
SURVEY
Walking-distance lodging
Two real walking-distance options for a Saturday dinner — stay inside La Butte aux Bois, or walk 1.1 km from Hotel Admiraal.
SURVEY
Special-character lodging within taxi range
Eleven character stays within a 20-minute taxi — Relais & Châteaux, Gothic monastery, moated Lanaken kasteel.