Twenty years ago, the first Wikimania brought together over 300 Wikimedians at the Haus der Jugend in Frankfurt. Since then, Wikimania has grown into the premier event to collaborate, discuss, and build ideas - with people joining virtually and in person. In person places for this year's event reached capacity in three weeks - you can still join online. We also saw a record number of program proposals, a sure sign that Wikimania has become a must-attend event for Wikimedians everywhere.

This year, we will mark 20 years with the theme of Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability. The programs center on these three concepts, asking presenters to reflect on milestones and share initiatives that move us towards a future that supports ongoing, sustainable, open collaboration. The 2025 conference schedule will be released soon, and contains over 100 hours of programming–available online and in-person–from more than 400 presenters, with live interpretation into 5 languages.

Wikimania Nairobi will be a fully hybrid event, streamed out to a virtual audience around the world from August 6-9. Virtual attendees can easily browse the program, save their favorite sessions, and click between simultaneous tracks. They can use a language picker at the bottom of the video feed to switch language audio tracks with a couple of clicks. They will be able to interact with presenters as well as virtual and in-person audiences through chat, and will have the opportunity to join special virtual discussion rooms. All recordings will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons to allow attendees to catch up on anything they missed.

The in-person event will be hosted in multiple venues throughout Gigiri, Nairobi–a small neighborhood that’s home to the local UN headquarters and many foreign embassies. Main conference programming will be scheduled in close proximity so that attendees can easily move between different sessions, and pre-conference and side event programming will be concentrated within walking distance as well.

Wikimedians can register for the virtual experience here and join others from around the world for the sessions including keynotes, lightning talks and the opening and closing ceremonies.

By its very nature, world travel can never be 100% safe. From sudden airspace closures to people on the streets, our volatile world presents challenges that will never fully go away. That's one reason we make sure that Wikimania is a hybrid event that can be joined remotely.

We are aware of and monitoring the recent protests going on in and around downtown Nairobi. The Gigiri neighborhood, where Wikimania will be held, is in a physically different part of Nairobi from where the protests happened. These protests have been confined to areas that Wikimania attendees do not need to travel to during the event. In addition, the organising team has been working very closely with venue security and surrounding areas and we have plans in place like shuttle buses from the airport to and from hotels and also between venues.  

June 25th and 7th July are symbolic days in the country’s push for democracy and civil rights and although these recent anniversaries have been marred by violence the event organisers will continue to monitor the situation and will advise attendees if the situation changes. If you've planned to attend in Nairobi, you should watch for any announcements from the WMF and for related news stories.

Nairobi has recently been host to several international conferences, including Open Street Map's, State of the Map, and more recently, the CGIAR Science week, and the Ted Talks Countdown Summit.

Nairobi is a well-connected city that serves as a major transport hub for both regional and international travel. With direct flights to and from major cities across Africa and the globe, it offers convenient and accessible travel options for Wikimania attendees. Kenya’s recently updated visa policies have made the country visa-free for tourists, removing traditional entry barriers and simplifying the travel experience for participants from all over the world, especially from within Africa. It hosts institutions such as UN-Habitat and UNEP, a vibrant media, civil society and serves as a regional hub for diplomacy.

Wikimania Nairobi also brings a lot of symbolism as the third Wikimania in Africa, only the second in Africa south of the Sahara, and the first in East Africa. We believe in the impact of this Wikimania in further energizing new and active communities in the region and fostering growth for content and contributions where we currently have large gaps.

Hosting Wikimania in Nairobi also presents an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of Wikimedians in the region and across the African continent.

Whether in Nairobi or online, we hope you’ll join us as we celebrate 20 years of Wikimania.