Dates

LexHack '26 runs from Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 9:00 AM ET through Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET.

    • All project work must occur between June 6 (9:00 AM) and June 12 (10:00 PM).
    • Submission deadline is Friday, June 12, 2026 at 10:00 PM ET on Devpost. This is a hard deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted.
    • Demo Day on Saturday, June 13 is presentation and awards only. No additional building or code changes after the submission deadline.

Eligibility

  • Open to high school students enrolled in a US high school
  • Participants must register on Devpost and complete the participant form before the event begins
  • In-person participants must agree to the LexHack '26 Code of Conduct and sign a photo/media release at the Lexington Community Center
  • Participants under 18 may be asked to provide parent or guardian consent depending on attendance details
  • Teams of 1 to 4 people. Solo hackers are welcome but teams are encouraged.

Project and Submission Requirements

    • All code and assets used in the project must be created during the hackathon window, or be open-source, publicly available, or properly licensed
    • Use of AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Copilot, etc.) is fully allowed and encouraged. Disclose major AI assistance in your submission.
    • Projects must be submitted on Devpost by 10:00 PM ET on Friday, June 12, 2026
    • Teams must present live on Demo Day (June 13) to be eligible for prizes. No-shows forfeit eligibility for all awards including People's Choice.
    • Presentations are 7 minutes total: 5 minutes of demo and 2 minutes of Q&A

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded across three tracks:

  • 🏆 Grand Prize — Best combination of real-world impact and technical execution
  • 💡 Most Creative Solution
  • 👥 People's Choice (decided by participant vote)

Specific prize values and sponsor-contributed swag will be announced closer to the event.

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Projects will be scored on four criteria:

Category Weight
Impact / Usefulness 40%
Technical Execution 30%
Creativity + Design 20%
Presentation 10%

 

Judges are the sole determinant of the Grand Prize and Most Creative Solution award. Participant votes only determine the People's Choice award and do not factor into any other prize. Participants cannot vote for their own team.

In the event of a tie among judges, the head judge's score takes precedence. Winners will be announced at the closing ceremony on June 13 starting at 1:30 PM.

A separate Code of Conduct applies to all in-person attendees and will be distributed before the event.