All,

I am delighted to announce on behalf of the Wikimania Committee that Wikimania, the annual Wikimedia community conference, will be held in Montréal, Canada in 8–13 August 2017.

2017 will be the 375th anniversary of the founding of Montréal as a city, which will make it a great time for a cultural event to take place. Despite being our twelfth Wikimania, Montréal will be our first in a Francophone location, and the Montréal team is working with French-speaking community members worldwide to make Montréal a success. WikiFranca and Wikimedia Canada will be supporting the local team led by Marc-André Pelletier (User:Coren). A press release/announcement from them will be forthcoming. You can contact the team via e-mail at team{at}wikimania.ca.

For 2017, we decided to investigate and vet a revised earlier proposal for Montréal to host while the selection process itself is being reviewed. Selecting and confirming the venue with more lead time ensures cost savings in hotel prices and contract terms; affords us favourable dates and rates; and allows participation and overlap with current and future teams.

Please join us in congratulating the team, and working to support them in holding an excellent conference.
 
Yours,

James D. Forrester
Chair, Wikimania Committee