Why is multilingualism important? For the Wikimania 2026 Core Organizing Team, it comes down to inclusivity. Using multiple languages makes content more accessible to more people. It promotes social understanding, as people are able to listen and share their own knowledge in their native languages.
While machine translation has made it faster to generate basic translations, the Wikimedia community continues to rely on humans to review, refine, interpret, and contextualize knowledge – to ensure accuracy and make it more relevant to different audiences around the world. In addition, being in a multilingual environment promotes empathy and humility, as we are each reminded of the effort it takes for humans to truly understand other languages and cultures.
At Wikimania Paris, we will be testing new approaches to translation and interpretation, based in part on feedback from previous Wikimanias. Here is an overview of what will be different this year – what you may experience and how you can get involved.
Linguistic diversity, on-site interpreters
In planning Wikimania Paris, the Core Organizing Team has had the opportunity to rethink how we best support multiple languages and to test new approaches. We also wanted to increase participation by French speakers and others from Francophone countries, who have historically been underrepresented at Wikimania. This year, at least 36 sessions will be delivered in French, or have a mix of French and other languages, including pre-conference events and meetups.
The 2026 edition will be the first time that Wikimania will offer live on-site interpreters , translating into French, English, Spanish, and Arabic. These four languages – among the top 6 languages spoken in the world – are the official languages for Wikimania Paris.
Partnering with, the translation agency, Global Voices, we will provide live on-site interpretation across four program tracks, available through special headsets. In the conference program on Eventyay, these sessions are marked with a globe icon 🌐 . (Translation headsets will be available in the corresponding rooms and must be returned at the end of each session.)
Recordings with Lingua Libre
We are also excited to feature Lingua Libre, a project by Wikimedia France. They will set up a recording booth at Wikimania Paris, inviting attendees to record words, phrases, and sentences under a free license. Also known as LiLi, Lingua Libre is a participatory linguistic media library that shares its audiovisual corpus as a digital public good on Wikimedia Commons. This project plays a vital role in promoting linguistic diversity and preserving endangered languages.
Volunteers needed to monitor automated subtitling
For rooms that do not have live interpretation, we are currently exploring a new subtitling system using machine translation. This pilot project will require light supervision – simply alerting the technical team if the system stops working or glitches. No prior training is required.
The number of rooms we can equip with this subtitling system depends entirely on volunteer support. And with enough help, we may extend this setup to virtual rooms to offer an even more immersive online experience!
Want to help? If you are available to volunteer for this role – either in person or online – please write to us at wikimania@wikimedia.org
Content translated by and for the community
Beyond the conference program, we have ensured that official Wikimania documentation is accessible in our four official languages for 2026. As always, the Wikimania wiki is being translated into many additional languages by our international community of volunteers and affiliates, ensuring we reach as many people as possible across the movement.
We thank everyone who is making the multilingual approach possible at Wikimania Paris and supporting our efforts to experiment with new ways of working. By opening our hearts and minds, we can collectively explore how language diversity and inclusivity can foster better international understanding.
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