2026 talk:Wikimania

Before you write here...

Before you write your message here, please check if you are raising a public enquiry related to Wikimania 2026 or if you are raising concern or suggestion about Wikimania which may involve sensitive or personal information.
If you are raising a concern or suggestion about Wikimania which may involve sensitive or personal information, we advise you send an email message to wikimaniawikimedia.org and not posting on this talk page. This is for your own safety. Thank you. --Exec8 (talk) 17:00, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

When will program submissions open?

TIA for an answer Hanyangprofessor2 (talk) 04:25, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

The call for submissions for the program will open in early January 2026. SanBonne (talk) 09:52, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Hanyangprofessor2, the submissions will open in early January 2026, stay tuned! Thanks. Dyolf77 (talk) 09:53, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

@Hanyangprofessor2:, the organizers had started the call for proposals. Visit 2026:Program to know more. It closes 1 March 2026. -- Exec8 (talk) 14:55, 27 January 2026 (UTC)

Scholarship resubmittion

Hello. I was just looking at the questions on the scholarship form and didn't mean to actually submit it. Please toss out my malformed request, thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 14:27, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

Just tried to create my actual request and was told that I couldn't do so, having already submitted one, and have sent an email (had thought that posting here would be enough) requesting an extension if this isn't figured out early today. Thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 20:45, 31 October 2025 (UTC)

Internationalization

Hi all! Please note for my requests in MediaWiki talk:Sidebar and Talk:About.
Also, i'm update Wikimania:MediaWiki pages with translations and Template:Mediawiki message check. Kaganer (talk) 21:11, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Conference venue known?

Is the conference venue confirmed in Paris? Or at least, is it known in what district / arrondissement it will be held? Bluerasberry (talk) 16:37, 8 December 2025 (UTC)

Came here to ask this. Some of us are coming from very far away and need to plan flights travel and accommodation. I'm coming from New Zealand, and the only way I can be further away from Paris is by being in space. — Jonathanischoice (talk) 07:12, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

Pinging the communication team - @Afek91 and Lexy Tchuileu: Bluerasberry (talk) 19:48, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

I believe the organizing team provided some answers at a diff post. — Exec8 (talk) 16:50, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, @Exec8:. This is an exact quote from your link:

• "For those that are self funding or self booking, we recommend booking your accommodation in the northeast part of Paris, along line 7 for easy transport to the conference spaces."

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/12/19/looking-ahead-to-wikimania-2026/ (published 19 December 2025)

I appreciate and fully support everyone who has put in the hard work and effort into organizing this Wikimania and other meetings across our movement. However, timely decision-making and communication—particularly regarding venue, scholarships, visas, and other travel-related arrangements—have consistently been a pain point. Unless improvements are explicitly and publicly announced and benchmarked, it is difficult to see sustained long-term progress.

That said, "northeast part of Paris, along line 7" is safe enough to proceed for this time. The level of advice provided, however, would not have been sufficient in the case of Nairobi.

P.S. While many of us are fortunate enough to make arrangements despite uncertainty, others are effectively prevented from participating due to financial constraints, visa requirements, employer policies, or similar barriers. This is not only an equity issue but also an efficiency one: without sufficient advance information, highly productive volunteers—often those with demanding professional responsibilities—are less able to plan ahead and participate meaningfully. The opposite may be true in some cases, where participation skews toward less productive people with fewer external responsibilities rather than toward those best positioned to contribute, an outcome we should seek to minimize.

--taweethaも (talk) 04:46, 24 January 2026 (UTC)

Neighborhoods

Here is Google Gemini's AI interpretation of the conference recommendations of convenient neighborhoods close to the conference venue. @Taweetham: thanks for reiterating how a few minute of planning notice can save many international attendees a lot of time and money.

• 10th Arrondissement
  • Canal Saint-Martin (Stops: Louis Blanc, Château-Landon)
• 19th Arrondissement
  • La Villette (Stops: Stalingrad, Riquet, Crimée, Corentin Cariou)
  • Pont de Flandre (Stops: Corentin Cariou, Porte de la Villette)
  • Aubervilliers & Pantin (Stops: Quatre Chemins, Fort d'Aubervilliers)

Bluerasberry (talk) 15:07, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

@Bluerasberry Thanks for sharing further details. --taweethaも (talk) 13:08, 28 January 2026 (UTC)

If you need to confirm if the area you picked for your accommodation is fine, you can contact wikimania-AT-wikimedia.org, privately. Trizek ^{from fr:} 11:38, 2 February 2026 (UTC)

YouTube live chat

Since the success of Wikipedia 25 live chat, should Wikimania 2026 do the same? Ahri Boy (talk) 00:45, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

Wikimania 2026 online chat is available upon regular registration, which will happen closer to the event. You will be given instructions about the online features like chat via email once registered. -- Exec8 (talk) 15:01, 27 January 2026 (UTC)

Is 2026:Travel missing information? Ahri Boy (talk) 02:10, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

@Ahri Boy, it will be updated very soon. Thanks for waiting. Dyolf77 (talk) 09:00, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, Dyolf. Ahri Boy (talk) 05:47, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Sold out, but not advertised

I'm a bit surprised to see it was sold out without really being advertised on Wikipedia. Most highly experienced editors who are constantly online didn't manage to get tickets. What happened here? Where did it get advertised? Or are people just much more organised than me? Femke (talk) 20:49, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

As an English Wikipedia admin who was also looking forward to assisting, I completely share your concerns, especially since I will likely have to cancel two talks I had planned because of that. I am looking forward for more clarity about what happened. Chaotic Enby (talk) 20:52, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Is there a possibility of getting a larger venue? It seems like basically no WUER (from enwiki at least) managed to get a ticket. Femke (talk) 21:39, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

+1 to the above, the fact that the ticket sold out before they were announced to be open onwiki severely disadvantages contributors that spend their time editing the wiki (which makes up the bulk of our contributors) from going to the conference. Sohom Datta (talk) 03:39, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm really concerned that this was apparently advertised on Telegram, yet I can't find any onwiki advertisement. I'm also disappointed that the capacity was so limited – it seems obvious that a conference in a major, highly-accessible city near a large proportion of the movement would have high demand, and yet at 1000 in-person attendees capacity is significantly lower than many past Wikimanias. I really hope the organizers are able to find a solution here, whether this is finding additional space for the event or some form of merit-based screening of attendees. Toadspike (talk) 07:33, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

+1 to all of the above. I would like to understand why news of ticket availability was announced on Telegram before other more inclusive and appropriate venues and how that decision was made. I don't understand how it benefits Wikimedia for the people who are the most involved in those projects to be excluded from attending one of Wikimedia's most important events. Daniel Quinlan (talk) 22:26, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Announcements outside the proper Wikiverse, thus in the projects, but in some shady backrooms, is a complete no-go. Registration must not start before it was announced properly, and only on-wiki is proper, telegram is everything but proper, it's deliberately exclusive. Sänger (talk) 09:25, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

Let's not assume bad faith here. Communication onwiki was planned, and organisers did not expect this to be at capacity so fast. Femke (talk) 13:44, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

There is no assumption of bad faith, but communication onwiki should have been the primary channel, and be ready when the registration opened. Chaotic Enby (talk) 14:14, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Not bad faith, just assuming sloppiness.

Nothing is valid in the Wikiverse, if it's not a) on-wiki and b) translated in at least 20 languages. No registration to anything for the whole wikiverse must ever be started, before that criteria are fulfilled. For certain sub-groups perhaps their venues are enough, but for Wikimania telegram is a shady backroom, nothing even remotely valid for announcements.

Publish on at least 95% of all projects in at least 20 languages, wait for at least a few days, and then, only then, anything can start properly. This way here was deception of the normal wikimedians, not with malice, but with utter thoughtlessness. Sänger (talk) 14:25, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

BTW: This seems to be quite a recurring topic, that those far detached from the real editing projects in their ivory towers assume, that the real wikimedians use as well such esoteric venues like usenet, telegram, X, IRC, discord or whatever. No, on-wiki is the only valid way. Sänger (talk) 15:35, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Why just the meager number of 1000 participants?

Why did you plan for this 25th anniversary Wikimania in Europe just with this extreme meager number of participants? !000 in Europe or North America is even in normal times far too little, but for the 25th birthday it was absolutely clear, that at least 2000 slots, better perhaps 3000 should have been the planning number. It was even clear before this desaster was started, that it would be a disaster, if you would have looked at ther numbers of former Wikimania participations. Sänger (talk) 07:53, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

@Sänger pretty sure the venue would not fit those kind of numbers you are suggesting, considering that during the 2024 Olympics it only accommodated a single representation, which was Canada House. Braveheart (talk) 14:54, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

Then it was the wrong venue to start planning with. 1000 ist just a complete planning disaster, the venue has to fit the expected participants, if it's too small, it's unfit for the Wikimania.

Yes, now it's too late to move Wikimania to a fitting venue, but the decision for this one was complete rubbish. Sänger (talk) 17:18, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

Your remark suggests, that the venue was first, and then someone tried to find some meeting to host there, and came up with the Wikimania, regardless whether it's suitable or not, just because this someone liked the venue so much.

That's of course a complete wrong process, first you have to estimate, how many people will probably come to the Wikimania, in the year of the 25th anniversary in central Europe, and then start looking for venues, that fits this number of people. Looking at the graph, 1500 should have been the minimum planning size, even for a regular year, better 2000. But somehow this small venue, where it's done now, popped up, I don't have the faintest clue, why it was decided, to use this small venue for Wikimania, it has to be something, that didn't took the participants into account. Sänger (talk) 05:43, 12 April 2026 (UTC)

I think you misunderstand the graphs - the number from London includes a lot of foot traffic, plus the Barbican is a way bigger venue. For Esino Lario a whole village was the venue.

Try finding a bigger venue in Paris, even 2 years out, without paying absurd amounts of money. Wikimania itself does not add any value to the Wikimedia communities in its current form, so why spend even more money on an event with little to no tangible outcomes? Braveheart (talk) 06:35, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

Hotels & Airfare

The 2026:Hotels & Airfare Discounts page is still a red link. Do we have an ETA for its publication, please? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:42, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Pigsonthewing, registered attendees will receive an email with hotel discount information within a few days. Adélaïde Calais WMFr (talk) 07:07, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

2026 talk:Scholarships

Seems like nobody is answering questions posted there...

Anyway, I'd like to ask: I applied for a scholarship, the Wikimania page says results are announced - where? I didn't receive any email (at least that uses the heading/word Wikimania). Piotrus (talk) 03:24, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Piotrus, could you contact wikimania-scholarships[AT]wikimedia.org please ? The scholarship team will .give you your answer. It's possible that the email bounced or went to spam and got deleted automatically after 30 days (depending on your inbox setups). Adélaïde Calais WMFr (talk) 07:04, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Payment method

It may reassure some to know that, although the only option on the payment form is "Credit card", I just successfully ticked that option and paid with a debit card. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 11:07, 15 April 2026 (UTC)