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FiestaBoard Update — May 2026

· 4 min read
FiestaBoard Team
FiestaBoard Team

Hi friends,

For anyone who missed the first and second posts: FiestaBoard is the free, open-source dashboard for Vestaboard. You self-host it, plug in the data sources you care about (weather, transit, stocks, sports, surf, your calendar, Last.fm, Home Assistant, dad jokes — you name it), and it drives your board. Flagship and Note both supported.

Since the last update, two things have changed that we think genuinely matter for this project:

You no longer need to know Docker — just flash a Raspberry Pi​

The biggest accessibility unlock: there's now a FiestaPi image you flash onto a microSD card with the official Raspberry Pi Imager. No command line, no docker-compose, no editing config files. Boot the Pi, open http://fiestapi.local:4420 on any device on your network, and the setup wizard walks you the rest of the way.

While it runs on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, we are testing and using a Pi 3B+ because we wanted an Ethernet port for a more stable connection. A microSD and a 5V power supply and you're done — that's an always-on controller for your board. A Pi 3B/4/5 works too if you have one in a drawer.

Setup guide: Raspberry Pi setup

One-click auto-updates​

The other big quality-of-life change: FiestaBoard now updates itself. There's an in-app "Update available" banner with a single button — click it, you get a full-screen progress overlay, and a minute or two later you're on the latest version. This does require a second "sidecar" docker image that comes automatically with the FiestaPi. For existing users you'll want to pull the new docker compose file to join in on the fun.

Translation: you're not stuck on whatever version you installed six months ago. Bug fixes and new plugins land on your board without you having to think about it.

25+ new plugins since the last post​

The plugin registry has roughly doubled. A non-exhaustive sampler of what's new:

  • Calendar Subscription — point it at any public iCal URL, get upcoming events + pre-event alerts on the board
  • Home Assistant — display any entity state via REST or MQTT
  • Aurora Forecast, ISS Tracker, Spacecraft Launches, Solar Activity, Moon Phase
  • Earthquake, Wildfire, Volcano Activity, Lightning Alerts, River Flow, Tide Times, UV Index
  • Hacker News, Reddit Hot, Currency Exchange, Network Speed, Pi-hole Stats
  • Word of the Day, Quote of the Day, National Day, On This Day, Element of the Day, Pet Facts, Dad Jokes
  • Santa Tracker (don't @ me, it's December-shaped fun)
  • Webhook + Generic Data — point at any JSON/XML feed and map fields to template variables, no code

Total is now 45+ plugins. Browse the list inside the app under Integrations, or here: fiestaboard.app/plugins

The Integrations page with plugin cards

A few other things worth mentioning​

  • Inline expressions in templates — spreadsheet-style formulas so you can do math, conditionals, and string formatting right in the page editor.
  • WYSIWYG editor and Scheduling from the last post are still here and have gotten a lot more polish.
  • Multi-board support if you have more than one board.
  • Note device rendering (the heart ❤️ character, etc.) is now correct.

Come hang out / break things with us​

The project remains open source and a labor of love — expect a few rough edges, but getting from unboxing to a functional board is now a breeze. Plus, it is forever free.

If you build a plugin, file an issue, or just want a feature — GitHub is the best place so it's all in one spot and others can chime in. We genuinely read everything. And if you're already running FiestaBoard, drop a screenshot of what's on your board right now in Discord — that's always the best part.

Happy flipping.