To mark the 25th anniversary of Wikipedia, a group of Wikipedians from throughout Metro Manila, and some from further afield, met on the afternoon of 18 January 2026. The 22 attendees came from a variety of backgrounds: newcomers, independent editors, and Wikimedians from various user groups in the Philippines.
For many attendees, this was their first in-person Wikipedia-related event. Other attendees were old hands, and reminisced about the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia celebration. Others fell in-between those extremes, but (so far as the organizers have heard) all enjoyed the event.
Some editors were new. “Until recently I didn’t know you could edit Wikipedia”, one said in their introduction, a refrain many in the movement have heard before. A similar but less familiar introduction was “I started editing in 2008…but did not create an account until three years ago, when I discovered you need an account to upload images.”
Attendees shared their various editing interests, which included astronomy, theme parks, and pop culture. Following introductions, a quiz was held to give away three books on Philippine history and culture. (Two of these books were out of print, but the publisher agreed to find spare copies!) This quiz included questions about different aspects of and articles from the English and Tagalog Wikipedias.
The event concluded with a group photo, food, and editing. A cake marking the occasion with the Wikipedia 25 globe was ceremoniously photographed for Commons, before being devoured by the waiting crowd.
Time constraints folded the edit-a-thon into the eat-a-thon. Participants were requested to edit an article relating to the Philippines to mark the occasion. We tried out the Outreach Dashboard to monitor this and while we had trouble refining the results to edits from the edit-a-thon, we hope this tool will continue to evolve.
From what we’ve heard from attendees, all were either satisfied or strongly satisfied with the event, and felt it was worth their time. All were also satisfied with the program and merchandise, although the venue, food, and quiz obtained a small number of neutral responses. Most importantly, all respondents reported feeling more comfortable interacting with other Wikimedians, more encouraged to edit, and wanting to join another event or edit-a-thon. More than one respondent noted that more time should be dedicated to editing, and perhaps less time on the quiz.
To find so many Wikimedians in Metro Manila willing to meet up with strangers was a huge success. The new goal is to embark on the long process of turning strangers into editing collaborators. If you are ever in Metro Manila, reach out to us!
From your hosts, Chlod and Chipmunkdavis.
You can find more photos from the event here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_25_in_Manila
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation