With the continued progression of COVID-19, there are serious concerns regarding the safety of our community at flagship WordPress events in 2021.
Flagship events (i.e. large, regional WordCamps that attract an international audience) bring together people from all corners of the world, so until infection rates are effectively mitigated and/or a vaccine is widely available, these large scale events that typically host more than 1,000 individuals could become “super-spreader” events if a single infected person attends.
The Community Team has already made recommendations for in-person events for the remainder of 2020. At this time, it seems prudent to take the following precautionary measures with our largest in-person events for 2021.
New Flagship Events
Applications for new flagship events (or regional events that cover multiple regions or countries) will not be accepted for all of 2021.
Existing Flagship Events
If any current flagship would like to host events in 2021, they will need to be online. This applies to WordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe (already announced), WordCamp US, WordCamp Asia, and WordCamp Centroamérica. As online events continue to evolve to reflect community needs, the Community Team strongly encourages these flagship organising teams to be creative in their approach.
Please know that, at the heart of these recommendations, is a desire to protect everyone in the community, their families, and everyone we all may come in contact with. Although we grieve the loss of in-person events, we can still make a difference by supporting and protecting the members of the community. The continued health and safety of WordPress users, attendees, contributors, organisers, and volunteers is of utmost importance here.