WordCamp Europe 2016 Expands Attendee Capacity to 2200, Largest WordCamp to Date

WordCamp Europe 2016 is now on track to be the largest WordPress conference to date. The event, which will be held in Vienna June 24-26, has expanded its capacity to 2200 attendees (including micro-sponsors.) 400 additional tickets will be made available this week.

The first 1700 seats sold out six months in advance, causing organizers to scramble to expand the venue capacity to meet the overwhelming demand for more tickets. They were able to secure three additional halls in the Leopold Museum and the Baroque suites of the MuseumsQuartier, all located within a minute’s walking distance of each other.

“With the camp happening in the city center, we wanted to make it easy for people to visit all the exquisite museums and sights in the area,” lead organizer Petya Raykovska said. As a bonus, conference goers will receive free access to the Leopold’s museum’s permanent exhibitions as part of their tickets.

WordCamp Europe will also be hosting the largest WordPress contributor day on record. Organizers are planning for 500 attendees and are considering using one of Vienna’s universities as the venue.

“We would have liked it to be in Leopold’s but unfortunately securing stable wifi for so many people in a museum is above our budget, so we’re looking for a venue that already has the infrastructure,” Raykovska said.

Current attendees represent 68 different countries, and the organizing team now includes members from 10 countries spanning both Eastern and Western Europe. The team would like to host a WordPress community summit for Europe but have not received confirmation for this year.

The host city for WordCamp Europe 2017 will be selected by the end of March. This will expand the organizing team for the current event, as future hosts will come on board to learn the ropes.

The next batch of tickets for the event will go on sale Friday, March 11th at 10 AM CET. In the meantime, the 250 people who signed up for the waiting list will receive an email to claim their tickets first via a special reservation link.