Wikimania:Expressions of Interest/Current call
Expression of Interest for Future Wikimanias
The Wikimania Steering Committee is excited about and looking forward to Wikimania 2026 in Paris, France and Wikimania 2027 in Santiago, Chile!
We are currently beginning a new process to recruit expressions of interest (EOI) for 2028 and 2029 Wikimanias. While we have previously welcomed expressions of interest, we are opening another opportunity with a special invitation to regional teams who are interested in hosting Wikimania in 2028 to express their interest. We also welcome early conversations to start about hosting Wikimania 2029. While groups that are interested in further years are welcome to participate in our office hours, we may not have the bandwidth to actively pursue these interests until later. We appreciate to be aware of your interests, however.
What is Wikimania?
Wikimania is an annual gathering of attendees from around the world who are contributors to and supporters of the Wikimedia projects. It is an in-person event, with a substantial online component. We host Wikimania in a different location (and often a different part of the world) each year, to ensure and support the widest possible participation from our global community. Wikimania is a joyful event. It is a chance to celebrate our community and projects, share ideas and information, build connections among Wikimedians, and inspire and develop future projects.
While each team is free to envision Wikimania in new ways, there are features of each conference that are similar from year to year:
- Size: Wikimanias typically have 500-1000 in-person attendees, who are generally participants in Wikimedia projects (both volunteers and staff) and friends of the movement.
- Venue: Conference programming and activities happen at a single conference venue, with nearby accommodation for attendees.
- Online: There is an online and hybrid component for remote attendees. This is a feature that we wish to increasingly emphasize and invest in at Wikimania.
- Scholarships: The Wikimedia Foundation and its affiliates offer extensive scholarships for a substantial percentage of attendees, to ensure the widest possible participation.
- Duration: Conference programming typically spans 3 days with additional pre-conference days (which might feature technical or topic-based gatherings, or excursions to local places of interest).
- When: Wikimania is typically held during July or August. Keeping a consistent time of year aids in planning other large events across the movement and helps attendees plan their travel.
- Programming: Conference programming is multi-tracked, with submissions from attendees making up the majority of the programming. Conference events may include submitted lectures, lightning talks, discussions or workshops. The program may also include poster sessions, plenary lectures, and other events developed by the Core Organizing Team. Additional conference events, including meet-ups, parties, and local excursions are also often a part of the Wikimania experience.
Location requirements
Wikimania, as the flagship international conference of the Wikimedia movement with attendees from around the globe, has different requirements from smaller and regional conferences.
While there is no perfect location, excellent Wikimania locations share certain features:
- They are a safe, stable and secure location for members of our international community to visit. This means strong human rights protections for a diverse set of attendees, including protection (both legally and socially) against discrimination based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity or citizenship, and strong online free speech protections.
- Local laws and government policies must not expose participants to undue risk due to their association with the Wikimedia movement.
- Modes of travel are safe and secure, with good transportation links to international airports and other modes of transportation. It is ideal for the proposed location to not require extensive travel upon arrival in-country. Please keep in mind international travelers.
- Offer low-barrier travel visas to a wide variety of other countries.
- A host team (which does not have to be local to the location) with experience of organising conferences and is willing to collaborate with the Wikimania Steering Committee and the Wikimedia Foundation to create an amazing event.
What does the host team do?
We are looking for a team who is interested in being the local host and core organizing team for Wikimania. Core organizing teams are supported by and receive substantial logistical and financial support from the Wikimedia Foundation's Movement Communications team, as well as the Wikimania Steering Committee and interested international volunteers.
We are looking for community groups that are enthusiastic and capable of managing the logistical and organizational responsibilities of hosting this large-scale conference. We are particularly interested in teams who represent regional collaborations to host Wikimania (e.g. Wikimania 2023 was hosted in Singapore by a regional team from ESEAP), rather than teams from a single city or country.
Core Organizing Teams (COT) activate local volunteers and Wikimedians to help with the event, lead envisioning, developing and executing the conference program and associated activities, and work on all aspects of logistics (supported by conference staff). They also act as hosts and provide the local face of the event, welcoming Wikimedians from around the world. The core organizing team provides the overall vision for the event and makes it their own.
What we need from you
The expression of interest to host Wikimania does not need to include specific logistical details at this stage, such as specific venue or even a particular city. Wikimedia Foundation staff will work with teams to identify suitable locations after teams are chosen. If you have specific ideas for venues, feel free to include these, but final decisions will depend on many factors (including availability, contract terms, proximity to accommodation, etc).
We do need to know:
- Where are you proposing Wikimania be held? This may be a city, country, or region.
- Who is putting forward the proposal? If a regional collaboration, what groups are involved? Who has been consulted and how have they been consulted?
- Who are the initial proposed members of the Core Organising Team (COT)? (note, this does not need to be a final list and you do not need to have every role filled; it’s normal to add members as planning continues).
- What is this team’s experience in running events? (whether Wikimedia events or other kinds of events). Please briefly describe these events and team members’ roles in them, especially any larger event events (for example attendance, if you provided scholarships, was the event in person vs hybrid, etc).
- Why does your team think hosting Wikimania in your region or locale would be beneficial for local Wikimedians and the movement at large?
- What are the main contextual risks related to holding this event at this time and in this location? Please consider political, legal, social, public health, environmental, or other risks that could affect the event or participants, including other major events like elections, key national anniversaries etc.
- What are the main contextual opportunities related to holding this event at this time and in this location? E.g. key movement anniversaries, new partnership opportunities etc.
What you should submit:
- Your name and contact information (or contact information for the whole team)
- Answers to the bullet points above
- Any additional information you wish to include
- Whether you are interested in hosting Wikimania in 2028, 2029, and/or beyond; or if you have no specific preference
- Any questions you have for the Wikimania Steering committee.
Please submit this by adding your city to the list underneath and link it to a page with some more information.
Who will evaluate your Expression of Interest:
- The Wikimania Steering Committee, along with Wikimedia Foundation staff who are directly involved in the Wikimania planning process, will read and evaluate EOIs. EOIs will also be reviewed by the Wikimedia Foundation's legal department (including Trust and Safety). EOIs posted on-wiki may also receive community feedback.
- Expressions of interest will be evaluated against the criteria for an excellent location specified above.
- We will provide rolling feedback on submissions, including informal conversations with members of the steering committee. Finalists will be invited to meet with the entire steering committee and conference staff.
Timeline
- Please submit a placeholder as soon as you agree internally that there is interest to submit a formal expression of interest. We would like to be in conversation with you!
- We will organize office hours in May 2026. Reach out to us with questions as well. If you send us an email, we will share an invitation with you and your team.
- 20 May, 11:00 UTC get the link here
- 22 May, 14:00 UTC get the link here
- Please submit your expression of interest as soon as feasible, but before 1 June 2026
- Submissions will be evaluated on a rolling basis. You will be able to edit your expression until 15 June 2026 based on feedback.
- We will want to meet the most promising candidate teams in May, June and/or July
- We hope to make an internal decision in July or early August and invite a team to engage with the Wikimedia Foundation Movement Communications team and a steering committee liaison to put together a formal bid
- The Wikimania Steering Committee will decide on the formal bid for 2028 in the fourth quarter of 2026 (autumn).
- The Steering Committee will open initial conversations for 2029, but prioritize decision making for 2028.
List of submitted expressions of interest
- 2028
- 2029
- Dublin, Ireland
- Primary contact: ... (username, optionally email)
- Australia (city to be determined)
- Primary contact: ... (Gnangarra, optionally email)
- Tunis , Tunisia
- Primary contact: ... (username, optionally email)
- Dublin, Ireland
- 2030
- Brazil (city to be determined)
- Primary contact: ... (username, optionally email)
- Core Affiliate(s): ...
- Brazil (city to be determined)