What happens when hundreds of WordPress enthusiasts get together for two days?
You get plenty of ideas, conversations, learning, and memorable moments.
That was WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 (WCKTM 2026)!
We, the SiteSaga team, joined WCKTM 2026 as a media partner, and this is our official event recap! If you attended, it’s your chance to relish the memories. If not, it’s your ultimate look back at everything that happened.
Honestly, it was a great experience. From Contributor Day to the main Conference Day, there was something for everyone at every turn.
So, let’s explore major highlights, sessions, moments, and key takeaways.
Why WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 Was Different: Coming Together with Hope
I’ll talk about the event in detail, but I’d like to begin with a personal feeling.
WordCamps have been part of Nepal’s WordPress community since 2012. But I think this year’s event, WordCamp Kathmandu 2026, was special.
It brought Nepali tech professionals together once again for something productive and hopeful, just weeks after a devastating disaster struck the country.
The “Himalayan Tsunami” hit northern Nepal hard: it killed more than 1400 people, left over 6,000 still missing, swept away villages, markets, bridges, and roads, and disrupted the routes connecting even Kathmandu.
The WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 organizing committee, understandably, faced a dilemma about what to do after such a catastrophe. In the end, they chose to hold the event on the planned date as a way to contribute to the healing process, and it succeeded.
As always, the event gave developers, designers, marketers, students, and businesses a place to learn, grow, connect, contribute, and explore.
This time, though, those words meant more. The event helped many of us move forward with hope, and perhaps share that positivity with others.
Coming back to the event highlights, WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 was the latest gathering of Nepal’s WordPress community in the capital. The previous WCKTM event took place back in 2023, and WordCamp Nepal in 2025 also happened in Kathmandu.
This year, WCKTM 2026 returned with the theme “Where Ancient Culture Meets Open Source.” The theme shows two sides of Kathmandu.
- Its rich cultural heritage.
- The open-source spirit that lies at the heart of WordPress.
Now, let’s explore what happened (what we saw, learned, and loved) at WCKTM 2026.
Contributor Day: Giving Back to WordPress
WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 kicked off with Contributor Day!
This day is entirely dedicated to giving back to WordPress. Attendees gather, form contributor teams, and each person contributes to the WordPress project based on their interests and expertise.
This year, there were 10 contributor teams (or “tables”): Core, Accessibility, Photos, Patterns, Themes and Theme Review, Plugins and Plugin Review, Full Site Editing, Training, Education, and Polyglots. More than 220 contributors took part.
The day began with registration, conversations, and an opening ceremony hosted by Eurika KC, who briefly introduced the contributor teams and their team leads.
Contribution time followed, running from 10 AM to 3 PM with a one-hour lunch break in between. During the closing ceremony, each table lead shared their team’s experience and achievements of the day, and every lead received a token of appreciation. The day ended with a group photo.
Check our Instagram post below for more photos from the Contributor Day!
Contributor Teams & Key Highlights
The contributor tables and their leads were:
- Photos: Alina Kakshapati and Uttkrista Chhretri (youngest table lead)
- Themes and Theme Review: Bijay Yadav
- Core: Rajan Lama
- Patterns: Madan G.C.
- Accessibility: Nazmul Hasan Robin
- Education: Pooja Derashri
- Training: Rajan Mani Poudel
- Plugins and Plugin Review: Rakesh Lawaju and Roshan Nagaju
- Polyglots: Ravi Khadka
- Full Site Editing: Santosh Kunwar
These are some of the major highlights of contributor teams:
- Photos: That day, 200+ photos were contributed to the Photos repository. Now, a total of 44K+ photos are available for free use.
- Themes and Theme Review: The team focused on learning how to build a WordPress theme. The contributor team reviewed and accepted 3 themes.
- Patterns: Everyone from the Patterns table submitted at least one pattern. Several of them were accepted, making a total of 2.3K+ patterns.
- Polyglots: Translated WordPress (core, plugin, or theme) into the native Nepali language. Now, there are 360+ Nepali translators.
Conference Day: Sessions, Stories & Community
The second day of WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 was the main Conference Day!
Registration opened early in the morning, and within moments, the venue was filled with the hustle and bustle of everyone involved in the event.
Soon after, the grand opening ceremony began with two emcees, Pratisha Joshi and Asmi Dhakal. Here’s what happened:
- A warm welcome from the lead organizer, Regan Khadgi
- The announcement of the two Ujwal Thapa Scholarship recipients.
- The photo contest announcement, with participants asked to use #wcktm in their posts.
The conference sessions then began in two separate halls. The main hall hosted 10 presentation talks, while the workshop hall hosted 3 workshops. The main hall also featured a panel discussion with three speakers and a moderator.
Attendees got a lunch break and a short tea break between sessions, and the day ended with the closing ceremony and an after-party. I’ll cover the closing ceremony and after-party later.
Check the Instagram post below for more photos from the Conference Day!
Major Highlights from the Sessions
Overall, there were 17 speakers, including 13 national and 4 international speakers. These are the different areas of the sessions and their respective speakers involved:
- AI and Business: A panel discussion on the AI shift, moderated by Chandan Goopta, with panelists Stuti Basnyet, Sujan Shrestha, and Pravash Karki.
- AI Workshops: Separate workshops on AI in business and engineering by Jagatjyoti Gyanendra Tuladhar, Madan Panthi, and Abhishek Adhikari.
- Engineering: Sessions by Suraj Bhattarai, Jerico Adrian Aragon, Swarnika Shakya, Dinesh Bhattarai, and Nisha Pariyar, each on a different topic.
- Business, Marketing, and Design: Sessions by Shriram Lamichhane (the youngest speaker), MD Saif Hassan, Ashutosh Gaur, and Diana Tupas.
- Community, Education, and People: A session on WordPress education programs and how to get involved, by Pooja Derashri.
Check out some inspiring and interesting sessions that we loved:
- “WordPress Education Programs: What They Are and How You Can Be Part of It”: Pooja Derashri explained how students, educators, and community members can get involved in WordPress education programs, with examples from global events and recent Campus Connect events in Nepal. The session captured the spirit of the WordPress community and contribution.
- “What Running WordPress at Scale Taught Me”: Jerico Adrian Aragon shared challenges from years of running WordPress at scale and how they were solved. What stayed with me most was his humane and empathetic take on mistakes: a failure is never one engineer’s fault alone. Bringing the whole team in spreads the lesson to everyone and brings in ideas to strengthen systems and processes.
- “How a 16-Year-Old Built a Free Classroom for Millions – With WordPress” – Shriram Lamichhane gave an inspiring talk on how he used WordPress to provide free education to students during COVID-19, when he was just 16. Amazingly, this small project grew into a platform reaching millions of students across Nepal.
- “AI Should Serve People: Here’s How to Make Sure It Does”: Diana Tupas showed how AI can support product design without losing focus on real people. The session offered practical ways to use AI for research and prompting. She also brought gifts for those who took part in the Q&A, which was a sweet gesture.
- “AI as a Bicycle for the Mind: The 1968 Idea Behind Human-Centered AI” – MD Saif Hassan traced the evolution of technology and AI and shared examples of humans and technology working together. His ideas are easy to apply to any kind of work.
People Behind WordCamp Kathmandu 2026, Thank You!
WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 came together through the combined efforts of many people and organizations. Speakers, organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and community members each played an important part in making the event possible. Each one of you deserves a warm thank you!
We gathered some facts and details for you.
| People | Details |
|---|---|
| Organizers | Included 24 organizers under the Lead Organizer, Regan Khadgi. Other organizer teams were for Audience Experience (AX), Communication, Community, Content Creation, etc. |
| Volunteers and Emcees | Manish Pyatha and Milan Khanal led the volunteer team with 18 volunteers. Similarly, two emcees engaged us through their stage presence on the conference day. |
| Sponsors | The four platinum sponsors were Bluehost, A2 Hosting, Jetpack, and WooCommerce. The event had two silver sponsors, five bronze sponsors, and 10 micro sponsors, too. |
| Supporters | Texas International College as the academic partner, Subisu as the internet partner, and NREN as the technical partner. Plus, three media partners, including us, SiteSaga. |
| Speakers | A diverse lineup of 17 speakers: 13 from Nepal, 2 from the Philippines, 1 from India, and 1 from Bangladesh. |
| Contributor Table Leads | 10 Contribution tables, 12 experienced table leads. ‘Photos’ and ‘Plugins and Plugin Review’ had two table leads each. |
| Attendees | 350+ Attendees registered on Conference Day, and 220+ on Contributor Day. |
Beyond the Sessions: There Was Fun, Too!
Beyond the sessions, WCKTM 2026 offered plenty of fun activities and extra events that built community engagement and networking.
One highlight was the sponsor booths, which featured games, swag, prizes, raffles, and product insights. Attendees enthusiastically joined in the games, adding a lot of fun to the event experience.
Another highlight was photography. Everyone took plenty of selfies and photos, many with Lakhepuu, the official Wapuu of WCKTM 2026.
This year’s Wapuu was extra special, blending the local Kathmandu deity “Lakhey” with WordPress’s beloved mascot, giving it a local touch not seen in other WordCamps.
Lakhey is a popular figure in Kathmandu’s Newari traditions, especially during festivals like Indra Jatra. It’s well known across Nepal for its masked dances, music, and celebrations that remain part of Kathmandu’s living heritage.
Therefore, Lakhepuu reflects that bold appearance, energy, and protective spirit, while keeping the playful character of Wapuu.
After the conference program ended, an electrifying after-party followed, with music, food, and dance.
Highlights from the Closing Ceremony
Many things happened during the closing ceremony of Conference Day, each met with plenty of cheering, screaming, and hooting.
Here are some highlights:
| Tokens: All the event’s supporters, including speakers, sponsors, partners, volunteers, and emcees, received tokens of appreciation. |
| Winner Announcement: Congratulations to Diana Tupas for winning the Photo Contest! |
| Future Announcement: Lead organizer Regan Khadgi announced the new lead for the next WordCamp Kathmandu: Sweta Shrestha, the first-ever woman to lead the WordPress Kathmandu community! |
Key Takeaways from WordCamp Kathmandu 2026
Beyond the sessions and activities, WordCamp Kathmandu 2026 left us with some valuable takeaways:
- AI is becoming part of everyday WordPress workflows, but human judgment remains essential when using it.
- Open-source contribution calls for a range of skills, not just development. WordPress continues to support business, eCommerce, education, and more.
- Local communities play an important role in the wider WordPress ecosystem, and there’s room for more opportunities for local contributors.
- There’s a growing need for opportunities aimed at developers, agencies, freelancers, students, and entrepreneurs.
- Learning through contribution is just as valuable as learning through conference sessions.
- Networking remains a crucial part of the WordCamp experience.
- The bond between Nepali and international WordPress communities continues to grow stronger.
- Young builders, innovators, and fresh ideas deserve to be a highlight of events like this, regardless of the contributor’s experience level.
Concluding SiteSaga’s Journey as a Media Partner
With this post, we conclude SiteSaga’s journey as a media partner for WordCamp Kathmandu 2026. Since our selection, we’ve published 4 blog posts, 4 videos on our YouTube channel, and multiple social media posts covering the event.
Being part of the event was a rewarding experience. We got to reconnect with the WordPress community, follow the sessions, share the event with our audience, and experience WordCamp from a media partner’s perspective.
We thank the WCKTM organizing committee and the wider WordPress community for their support throughout the event. We hope to continue supporting WordCamps as a media partner and join more WordCamp events in the future.
Last but not least, check out the official photos from WCKTM 2026: Contributor Day Photos + Conference Day Photos. Also check our Instagram for more photos!
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