Wikimania is the annual conference celebrating Wikipedia and its sister
free knowledge projects with three days of conferences, discussions,
meetups, training, and workshops. Hundreds of volunteers and Free
Knowledge leaders from around the world gather to discuss issues, report
on new projects and approaches, and exchange ideas.
The event was held in and around the
Centre Sheraton Montréal, in
Montréal, Canada from August 9 to August 13, 2017.
Themes of the conference this year included the advancement of Free Knowledge,
the role of academic and cultural institutions within the movement,
privacy and rights, and the role of technology to further those
objectives. Wikimania 2017 also featured a deeper look about the
role of the Movement within the Francophonie, and a number of program
elements focusing on advancement of French within the projects.
Beyond the main event, there were other related events: the hackathon where the technical community around the Wikimedia projects join together to work and contribute, and multiple preconferences.
The closing ceremony features Jimmy Wales announcing the Wikimedian of the Year award and a look ahead to 2018's Wikimania in Cape Town, South Africa.