More than 1,200 attend Wikimania 2026 in Paris
Wikimania 2026, the global Wikimedia community's annual conference and meetup, took place July 21–25 in Paris. As France hosted the event for the very first time, an estimated 1,200 attendees gathered in Paris under the theme "Liberté, Équité, Fiabilité" (Freedom, Equity, Reliability). Wikimedia NYC board chair Richard Knipel and executive director Pacita Rudder joined them.
Coinciding with Wikipedia's 25th birthday, the five-day program featured keynotes, workshops, a Wikimania Hackathon, the Wikimedian of the Year Awards presented by Jimmy Wales, and discussions on free knowledge in the age of AI.
The 2026 Wikimedian of the Year winners were also announced in Paris: French Wikipedia's Jules* (top honor), Laureates Dreamyshade & Barkeep49, Community Connector Chlod Alejandro, plus honorees Mari Avetisyan and Hijiri Umemoto.
