Next month marks the 20th anniversary of Joomla's birth. Time to celebrate! There will no doubt be official festivities, but that doesn't mean you can't have your own celebration. Need inspiration? JCM got your back: check out this list of twenty ways to celebrate this unbelievable, wonderful milestone!

Party like it's 2005

Make a list of everyone who you know that is or was connected to Joomla, for example people who were in your user group or even your clients. Invite them to an in-person or virtual (reunion) party. Put on a 2005 playlist and enjoy!

Create your own celebration website

Keep it small and simple: share your own Joomla story or stories, make one page with interesting stats, maybe another one with a timeline, and one that lists all the key features and other good things about Joomla. Share the url in the comments!

Bake a Joomla cake

It doesn't even have to be edible, as long as it looks good 🙂. Think: four layers of Joomla colors, or an icing with the logo. Take a pic and make sure it's all over your socials.

Make a Why I love Joomla-video

List everything you love about Joomla, rehearse a couple of times and then… showtime! 

Hand out awards

Make up your own awards and give them to people who meant something for Joomla (I'm really looking forward to see all my awards coming in).

Start an auction

Sell your Joomla goodies or whatever you want to get rid of and donate the profits to Joomla.

Host an open JUG

Organise a Joomla User Group meeting and invite people from other user groups (Linux, other CMS) so they can get to know Joomla.

Create a Social Media Countdown (or challenge)

Count down to the actual birthday (which is August 17, in case you forgot). Post interesting facts about Joomla, websites you've made, little stories about the community or about your own journey. Or challenge people or yourself with something Joomlish (a site in 20 days, find 20 people who do something...)

Anniversary episode of your vlog or podcast

Do you run a podcast or a vlog? Make a special anniversary episode with interviews, blasts from the past or things people didn't know about Joomla.

Do something with the number 20

For example: write a 20-reasons-blog. Or give away 20 Joomla stickers. Or, if you run an agency, showcase 20 websites you've built (could also be part of the countdown above). Or find 20 people who have never heard of Joomla and organise an online Q&A about Joomla.

Decorate your house or workplace with 20 Years signs and balloons

And take pics for the socials. For maximum impact, leave the signs and other decorations up for a couple of months.

Change your profile picture and banner to a 20-year version

Super nice for social media, GitHub and everywhere else you have a profile pic.

Create a "Top 20 Moments" Instagram carousel

Or LinkedIn, if that's more your thing. Find 20 pics that are not too embarrassing, write catching captions and you're good to go!

Send thank-you emails (or hand-written thank-you cards)

If you run an agency, this is the perfect moment to thank your clients for choosing Joomla - and you, of course. If you love the work of Joomla's volunteers, you could send out emails to thank them for everything they're doing for your favorite CMS.

Highlight one Joomla Feature per day for 20 days

What do you like most about Joomla? Write, vlog, or create a pic and highlight one feature each day. Don't forget to mention accessibility features since we are the rock stars of accessibility 🙂

Write a new Joomla anthem

Musicians of the Joomlasphere: write a song! You can do it on your own or invite JFriends from all over the world and create something together.

Put together a Joomla playlist

Sit down and think for a minute: what songs reflect Joomla the most? Make a playlist and share it on your blog or your socials!

Do a series of Throwback Thursday posts

Write stories or share pics from your history with Joomla, preferably with other people present so you can tag them.

Make a quiz

Put together 20 questions about Joomla and make a quiz. Or share one question each day. Winner gets the Joomla mug that was in the goodie bag of some event ages ago and that's just sitting in the back of the cupboard because your partner doesn't like it very much.

Create a "20 things we've learned" blog post

You can list your own things or ask people you know to contribute. And share, share, share. 

I bet you can do better than this

These are just 20 random ideas to celebrate Joomla's birthday. But since we're a community of inventive, creative people, I'm sure you can come up with ideas of your own. Please share them in the comments!