WikiNights:  Turning Philippine Cities After Sunset into Free Knowledge 

We found  a way to solve the challenge of inviting people to regularly come to our basic Wikipedia editing workshops during weekdays and weekends, sitting in front of a computer for long hours getting frustrated by not being able to upload anything because sometimes IP addresses get blocked. There are times volunteers just give up due to poor internet connection when many people are in one room sharing the same network.  Shared Knowledge Asia Pacific  (SKAP) decided to gamify and mobilize willing Wikimedians to a walking open knowledge discovery and contribution. ¹

Not during work hours, not during weekend rest and family time, but after sunset. Even as short as two hours. In person or remote; at home, while being stuck in traffic.  

Nightime

When students finish classes but still have the energy to contribute to social good in or outside of their houses. When workers get off from shifts but have time to avoid the rush hours. Content contributors who have a couple of hours to move their bodies around while still contributing content, health buffs who have time to jog, walk or run while capturing knowledge from their neighborhoods, anyone who wants to disrupt routines, do social good, contribute to the global repository of knowledge – are welcome at WikiNights. 

After sunset is the best time to turn cities into a free knowledge project. It isn’t just quieter streets and neon reflections; it’s the daily pocket of free hours shared by commuters beating the rush hours, night owls in cafes, late night chit-chats by friends,workers post-shift, gamers between raids, and parents after bedtime.

WikiNights transforms the quiet hours after dark into vibrant, open-air knowledge creation hubs. This traveling hackathon brings together students, volunteers, content creators, and community members to edit Wikipedia, translate articles, capture oral histories, and document local culture—all under the glow of streetlights and LED strips.

Creative Activities

WikiNights offers diverse, accessible ways for participants to contribute to Wikimedia projects throughout the evening. 

4. Night Oral-History Booth. Elders, night-shift workers, taxi drivers record 3-min stories under CC-BY. Files land on Commons; transcripts become Wikisource texts; key facts are cited in Wikipedia articles—closing the oral-knowledge gap without violating “published source” rules. 
   
5. Night Market Citations. Food stall owners become living references. We interview, snap receipts, menus, plaques, then immediately cite them in relevant articles. Stall gets a glowing QR sticker; article gets a primary source; public gets verifiable midnight snacks.

Project Impact 

In the end, the project’s contributions could be  diffs, photos, data points, new WikiSource pages, mentored editors, cross-city collaborations. Applause, high-fives, group photos. Wrap; everyone leaves with a badge, a QR link to their first edit, and a caffeine high. 

In Cebu City, Wikiclub Cebu member Bim24 shared her Wikinights Cebu experience. 

In Zamboanga City, Wikiclub Zamboanga member Aisha said she was delighted to participate and wants more of these activities so she can discover her city  better. 

In Baguio City, WikiNights participants posed in Session Road pass overlooking the famous Baguio City Night Market. They were thrilled to learn about this  

The pilot run of the WikiNights generated around 400-500 images in Wikimedia Commons, 10 nightscapes videos and 5 city  soundscapes at night and about 100 updated articles in Cebuano and Chavacano Wikipedia gaining 25 new editors and volunteers. For a new initiative, starting small and gradually growing is a careful way to sustain the project. 

Collaboration at its best

SKAP collaborated with various Wikiclubs to conduct their own WikiNights in their respective cities. Small  and manageable groups of Wikimedians can start turning their cities after dark into open knowledge. Participants discovered a lot of interesting pieces of knowledge that are not normally documented in daytime. It is like getting to know your very city at night. Skylines, soundscapes, store fronts, microbazaars, night markets, libraries beyond books provide so much learning. 

Livestreaming calls with other WikiNights city participants having the same event at the same time adds actual education, more life, energy, enthusiasm and fun not to mention reducing isolation and loneliness for home-based WikiNights attendees. 

What does WikiNights want to achieve?   

WikiNights is a new way of learning about and documenting  a city after sunset. It is a creative way to engage the public and Wikimedians to participate in Wikipedia projects without taking too much of their time. WikiNights is a fun way to socialize and contribute to open knowledge. It is a cost-effective and scalable project that can be done in cities across the world. It keeps Wikimedians moving, sharing stories, improving mental health, especially at night. WikiNights is a good way to train and teach new volunteer editors while building friendship across cities.  

What we learned along the way

SKAP learned that people wanted to contribute to Wikipedia projects, but their time is quite a challenge. Traffic is another obstacle in highly urbanized cities.  WikiNights allow them to contribute even just a couple of hours. Being present in the event is an option, they can participate even at home or anywhere else in the world as long as there is coordination and prior notice. 

Small is powerful. The smaller the crowd, the better the relationship. Small groups are manageable and more effectively mentored. Some people are shy but for small groups and small teams, they open up better and take care of each other ensuring every member’s safety and are sensitive to each other’s interests and passions. If one say, I would like to take pictures of food, the other one will take videos instead while others take the heritage sites or the skyline instead.  

People who are at home can join video calls and learn while editing, sometimes reading articles and translating them to other participants from another city or in other language. 

Young people want to contribute to social good. When we tell them that as Filipinos, we should be able to contribute more local knowledge on Wikipedia so that the AI we use becomes culturally sensitive to Filipino values and knowledge, reduce bias – they are convinced, it is for a good cause since it is part of shaping the future. 

People want to tell their stories and share their cities to the world. They discover that Wikipedia is the best platform for neutral content, explainability and verifiability because they now understand that even if anyone can edit Wikipedia, there are guardrails built around it and that without citation and verifiable sources, articles lose their credibility. 

How to organize WikiNights in your city 

This document will guide you in planning and executing your WikiNights. You may customize it according to your city, community or schedule. Please note your participant’s safety and security. We never allow participants to document for too long. By 10pm, everyone should be done and ready to come home. 

Have fun and we look forward to learning how you turn your cities after sunset into open knowledge and make new friends while growing your WikiNights community.