Gatsby Hacktoberfest 2018 was a vibrant event that engaged the community in open-source contributions, resulting in 439 pull requests from 250 authors, including 170 first-time contributors. The initiative aimed to make contributing accessible and welcoming, focusing on issues in areas like open-source software and documentation. Despite the success, the small Gatsby team felt overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response, leading to the creation of codeowner teams to manage contributions more effectively. Challenges included a surge in minor pull requests towards the end of the month and the rapid claiming of issues by contributors. Lessons learned included the importance of planning earlier and maintaining a backlog of accessible issues to release throughout the event. Overall, the event was an insightful experiment that highlighted the passion of the community and provided valuable takeaways for future Hacktoberfests.