Oxford and Cambridge both offer extensive opportunities for alumni to remain connected with their Universities, wherever they live. Alongside the Colleges and local alumni societies, the two Universities organise lectures, festivals, international events, volunteering opportunities and alumni networks throughout the year.
Cambridge Alumni
The University of Cambridge Alumni website is the main starting point for Cambridge alumni. It brings together University and alumni news, benefits, events and opportunities to get involved.
Alumni looking for events or fellow Cantabrigians in their region can use the University’s Find an Alumni Group service and the Cambridge Alumni events programme. Cambridge has a global network of volunteer-led groups, ranging from regional societies to professional and special-interest communities.
A number of University-wide programmes are particularly useful for alumni living outside Cambridge:
Global Cambridge brings Cambridge academics, students and alumni together in cities around the world. The events combine opportunities to meet other alumni with discussions of current Cambridge research, ideas and innovation. Explore Global Cambridge
The annual Cambridge Alumni Festival brings alumni back to Cambridge for lectures, discussions, tours and College and Department activities. Recordings from previous Festivals are also available online through the Festival Player. Cambridge Alumni Festival
The Cambridge Alumni Advisory Board provides a formal channel through which alumni can contribute their perspectives to the University’s alumni engagement activities. Its working groups include the Networks and Volunteers Working Group, which focuses particularly on the relationship between Cambridge and its alumni groups and volunteers around the world. Cambridge Alumni Advisory Board
Cambridge alumni can also stay connected through the University’s official social-media channels. Cambridge maintains official presences on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube and other platforms, and there is also an official Cambridge alumni community on LinkedIn. Cambridge social-media channels Cambridge Alumni also has its own Instagram presence, @cambridge_alumni.
To ensure that invitations and alumni news reach you wherever you are living, it is worth keeping your address, email and communication preferences current with the University. Update your Cambridge alumni details
Oxford Alumni
The Oxford Alumni website is the central hub for the University’s global alumni community. It provides access to alumni news, benefits, events, services and opportunities to reconnect with Oxford.
The University’s Oxford Alumni Groups network includes regional and special-interest societies around the world. Alumni can also browse the Oxford Alumni events calendar for events organised by the University and its alumni networks.
One of Oxford’s best-known alumni programmes is Meeting Minds, which brings alumni together in Oxford for academic talks, discussions, College events, tours and opportunities to reconnect with the wider University community. Oxford Alumni events and Meeting Minds
The Oxford Alumni Forum gives alumni from around the world an opportunity to contribute ideas and feedback to the University. Forum members serve as a sounding board on University initiatives and alumni priorities, bringing together perspectives from different generations, professions, academic backgrounds and regions. Oxford Alumni Forum
Through My Oxford Online, alumni can update their contact details and communication preferences and access digital alumni content through My Oxford+. My Oxford Online
Oxford Alumni can also be followed through @oxfordalumni on Instagram, Facebook and X, while professional networking between alumni is encouraged through the University’s LinkedIn community.
Keeping your details with Oxford up to date is particularly useful after moving to another city or country, as it helps the University and its alumni networks keep you informed about relevant activities in your region.
Your College
For both Universities, the relationship with your College remains an important part of alumni life. Colleges maintain their own alumni and development programmes, organise reunions and other events, and often have their own newsletters and social-media channels.
Cambridge provides a useful overview of College alumni contacts and online channels, while Oxford alumni can remain connected with their College alongside their University-wide alumni membership.
If you have moved to a new city or country, it is therefore worth keeping your details current with both your University and your College.
Alumni Events Around Europe
Annual Dinners, Garden Parties, Christmas gatherings, Freshers Events and Boat Race parties are familiar features of Oxford and Cambridge alumni life around the world. But local societies also organise an extraordinary variety of other activities, often reflecting the culture, institutions and character of the cities and countries in which they are based.
Many societies are also happy to welcome visiting Oxford and Cambridge alumni to suitable events, even if they are not members of the local society. Arrangements naturally vary, so it is always worth contacting the organisers beforehand. The examples below are intended to provide a little inspiration — and perhaps encourage societies to exchange invitations and ideas more frequently.
- The Great Game of the Universe – Barcelona. The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Barcelona has organised an interactive science challenge in which alumni solve puzzles and quiz questions inspired by major scientific discoveries — a rather different way of welcoming alumni and recent graduates to the local community. Oxford and Cambridge Society of Barcelona
- A traditional Calçotada – Barcelona. The Barcelona Society has also embraced one of Catalonia’s great culinary traditions by bringing alumni together for a traditional calçotada, complete with calçots, romesco, grilled food and cava. It is a lovely example of an alumni society making the culture of its home region part of its programme. Barcelona Calçotada
- Austrian University Challenge – Vienna. The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Austria has organised its own British-style University Challenge, bringing Oxbridge alumni together with graduates of other UK universities for a competitive pub quiz. Oxford and Cambridge Society of Austria
- A joint Heuriger – Vienna. The Austrian Society also joins other international alumni associations for gatherings at a traditional Viennese Heuriger. Wine, local food and alumni from several universities make for a particularly Austrian form of networking. Oxford and Cambridge Society of Austria
- Shakespeare in the Bois de Boulogne – Paris. The Cambridge Society of Paris has included outdoor performances of Shakespeare in the Bois de Boulogne among its cultural activities, combining theatre with an informal alumni gathering in one of Paris’s best-known green spaces. Cambridge Society of Paris
- Oxford versus Cambridge Pétanque – Paris. Oxbridge rivalry in Paris is not confined to rowing: Cambridge and Oxford alumni have also competed at pétanque, giving an unmistakably French interpretation to inter-university sporting competition. Cambridge Society of Paris
- The Bal de l’X – Paris. Another unusual item in the Cambridge Society of Paris programme has been participation in the celebrated Bal de l’X, associated with the École Polytechnique. It illustrates the links alumni societies can build not only with Oxford and Cambridge but also with other universities and Grandes Écoles. Cambridge Society of Paris
- Amsterdam Light Festival Walk – The Netherlands. The Oxford and Cambridge Society of the Netherlands has taken alumni on an evening walk through the installations of the Amsterdam Light Festival. After several kilometres through the winter city, participants could warm up together over a drink. Amsterdam Light Festival Walk
- Seasonal Nature Walks – The Netherlands. Alumni in the Netherlands regularly leave the cities behind for guided walks through the Dutch countryside. One excursion took the group on a 15-kilometre walk through Veluwezoom National Park, followed, appropriately enough, by afternoon tea. Spring Walk with Wicher
- Oxbridge Pub Quiz Teams – Leiden. Instead of organising their own quiz, members of the Dutch Society have entered Oxbridge teams into an established English-language pub quiz in Leiden — creating both cooperation and a little friendly competition among alumni. Netherlands Pub Quiz and Drinks
- Croquet at CERN – Geneva. The Oxford and Cambridge Club of Geneva has been hosted by the CERN Croquet Club for an afternoon on its international croquet lawns, followed by a barbecue. Science, sport and an unusual location make this a particularly memorable alumni event. Geneva Croquet and BBQ
- A Jamaican BBQ at the UN Beach Club – Geneva. Another Geneva gathering brought alumni to the UN Beach Club overlooking Lake Geneva for a Jamaican barbecue, with participants from Oxbridge, Ivy League universities and leading business schools. Geneva End-of-Summer Celebration
- The Blues Croquet Match – Brussels. The Cambridge Society of Belgium maintains Oxbridge sporting rivalry through an annual Blues croquet match against Oxford. The Society’s wider programme has also included private-garden visits and golf days alongside lectures and dinners. Cambridge Society of Belgium
- The Oxbridge Mixer – Brussels. Brussels alumni have developed a particularly simple and successful format: informal Oxbridge Mixers in the European Quarter. No paid Society membership is required, attendance can range from a small gathering to well over a hundred people, and alumni of other universities are sometimes invited as well. Brussels Oxbridge Mixer
- Strawberries & Cream with the Ivy League – Bratislava. The Oxford and Cambridge alumni network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has cooperated with Ivy League alumni on events including a Strawberries & Cream Garden Party in a historic Bratislava garden — complete with champagne, summer refreshments and activities for families. Bratislava Strawberries & Cream Garden Party
- The Bregenz Festival – Lake Constance. The German Cambridge Society, together with the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Austria and, on occasions, the Oxford Society Lake Constance, has organised joint visits to the Bregenz Festival. Alumni and guests have combined opera on the spectacular floating stage with dinners, guided walks and vineyard visits — a particularly good example of alumni societies collaborating across national borders. Bregenz Festival alumni visit
- A GoBoat Social – Copenhagen. The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Denmark has taken its summer networking onto Copenhagen’s waterways, organising a GoBoat trip followed by an informal dinner and drinks at Reffen Street Food Market. Alumni could join either the complete outing or simply meet the group afterwards. Copenhagen Summer GoBoat Social
- Oxford versus Cambridge on the Vistula – Warsaw. The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Poland does not merely watch the University Boat Race: it organises its own race between Oxford and Cambridge alumni crews on the Vistula River. Alongside talks and social gatherings, this is surely one of the more ambitious interpretations of Oxbridge sporting rivalry outside Britain. Oxford and Cambridge Society of Poland
- Ambassadors, AI and Baltic Conversations – Tallinn. Our Baltic Sea neighbours at the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Estonia have developed a particularly strong programme around international affairs, technology and public life. Events have included a joint LSE–Oxbridge discussion on AI and digital platforms, as well as informal dinners and discussions with ambassadors and other public figures. Hamburg occasionally likes to think of itself — with a little artistic licence — as Scandinavia’s southernmost city, so we are particularly pleased to include our fellow alumni on the other side of the Baltic. Oxford and Cambridge Society of Estonia
Connecting Across Europe
We would like to strengthen our links with Oxford, Cambridge and joint Oxbridge societies across Europe. Societies are welcome to include the Oxbridge Society of Hamburg in their newsletters or alumni information; our current contact details can always be found on our Contact page.
Our Presidents, Wilfried Becker and Melania Zauri, and our Secretary, Karsten Wenzlaff, as well as other members of the Committee and the Society, are happy to be approached on matters involving cooperation between alumni societies. We are also supported by Holger Blenske, our External Relations Officer, who is based in Wiesbaden and helps us maintain contacts with Oxford, Cambridge and Oxbridge networks elsewhere in Germany and across Europe. More information about the Society can be found on our homepage.
We encourage our own members to tell us when they attend alumni events elsewhere in Europe. Our 2026 Events overview includes several examples of members participating in gatherings organised by other societies and alumni networks.
Likewise, societies elsewhere in Europe are very welcome to share suitable Oxbridge Society of Hamburg events with their members. Our forthcoming activities are listed on our 2027 Events page.
Our aim is simple: to make it easier for alumni societies to know one another, exchange ideas and invitations, and create opportunities that extend beyond their own city or country.