[Wikimania-l] Exciting News: Announcing the locations of Wikimania 2025 and 2026

Dear Wikimedians, Wikimania 2023 – whether we participated virtually or in Singapore – was a reminder of the power of diversity and collaboration, and so many future possibilities when Wikimedians come together. For the Wikimania Steering Committee, it was great to experience the new regional collaboration model of organizing Wikimania and to see the benefits of overlapping organizers learning from each other, as with the 2023 ESEAP <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ESEAP_Hub> [1] and the 2024 CEE <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Hub> teams [2]. In this spirit, it brings us much excitement to announce the organizers of Wikimania in 2025 and 2026. Wikimania 2025 will be hosted by a collaboration of volunteers and affiliates in East Africa (EARTH <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EA_Regional_and_Thematic_Hub_(EARTH)>) [3], with extended support from the Wiki Indaba Steering Committee (WISCom <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Indaba_Steering_Committee>) [4] and other Wikimedians from across the continent. Hosting Wikimania will be beneficial for energizing new and active communities in the region and will foster content growth and enhance contributions across the continent. This will mark the 20th Wikimania – a significant milestone as only the second to be held in Sub-Saharan Africa and the first in East Africa. The exact city will be selected in the coming months based on careful assessments of political and social developments and discussions with Wikimedia groups and local experts. Wikimania 2026 will be organized by a collaboration of French-speaking Wikimedia groups and hosted in Paris – a first for Wikimédia France and the WikiFranca <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiFranca/en> communities [5]. This special Wikimania will celebrate the 25th anniversary of multiple Wikipedia editions including Basque, Catalan, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Spanish, as well as English and more. We will have a novel opportunity to celebrate this incredible milestone together as a global community in Paris. Get involved, learn more – Wikimania is co-created with Wikimedians from around the world and there is something to do for everyone. Wikimania 2024 <https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2024:Wikimania> [6] will take place in Poland – preparations are already under way and a call for volunteers will be launched soon. So please contribute however you can. We will also continue to expand hybrid and virtual participation and greater on-demand content. Stay tuned. Selecting locations this far in advance means better choice of venues, more time for visa processes, less pressure for organizers, and greater learning and partnership opportunities. If you have any questions or comments, are interested in hosting a future Wikimania, or want to join the Wikimania Steering Committee, please reach out to us on wiki <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee> [7] or at wikimania(a)wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimania@wikimedia.org>. For more information, visit Diff <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/09/24/announcing-the-locations-of-wikimania-2025-and-2026/> [8]. The Wikimania Steering Committee is pleased to make this announcement in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation, the East Africa Regional and Thematic Hub (EARTH), the Wiki Indaba Steering Committee (WISCom), WikiFranca, and Wikimédia France. On behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee, Iolanda [1] The ESEAP hub, hosts of Wikimania 2023 – https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ESEAP_Hub [2] The CEE hub, hosts of Wikimania 2024 – https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Hub [3] The East Africa Regional and Thematic Hub (EARTH) – https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EA_Regional_and_Thematic_Hub_(EARTH) [4] The Wiki Indaba Steering Committee – https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Indaba_Steering_Committee [5] WikiFranca – https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiFranca/en [6] Wikimania 2024, watch this page – https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2024:Wikimania [7] The Wikimania Steering Committee of volunteers – https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee [8] This announcement and more on Diff, the Wikimedia Blog – https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/09/24/announcing-the-locations-of-wikimania…