The Great American Wiknic is an annual wiki-picnic held in cities across the United States on or around a common day every summer. The 2013 Wiknic will be on Saturday, June 22 and nearby dates, with a local raindate generally the following day.

Wiknic participants in San Francisco, June 2011
Wiknic participants in Boston, June 23, 2012

The Wiknic is the picnic anyone can edit, with people bringing their own picnic food and perhaps other items to share. Suggestions are offered by the page for New York City's first Wiknic and the announcements for the various 2011 and 2012 events (below).

Wiknics are:

  • Easy to organize, even for old Wikipedians
  • Welcoming to everyone, even for new Wikipedians and Wikipedian-wannabes
  • Fun!

In short, a Wiknic can be a great easy-in to real life Wikipedia culture, and lead to greater wiki-community and outreach in your corner of the country!

Wiki-picnic meetups by region

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The 2013 Great American Wiknic will be held on Sat, June 22 (and nearby dates), with a local rain date generally the following day.

With grassroots organizing help from local Wikipedia:Meetup groups and the Wikimedians Active in Local Regions of the United States (WALRUS) committee...

Everyone is encouraged to start a Wiknic page for your own city, and please sign up at your city's meetup page (in bold):

Northeast

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Mid-Atlantic

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Midwest

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  • Southern Indiana Wiknic - Bloomington, Indiana (June 15)
  • Minnesota Wiknic - Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 22)
  • Chicago Wiknic - Chicago, Illinois (June 22)
  • St. Louis, Missouri - June 22, 10:30am - Turtle Playground in Forest Park + stroll through the Saint Louis Zoo.
  • Metro Detroit Wiknic - Detroit, Michigan (June 22) Any wiki variety invited, we can wiki with the wikipedians :-)
  • Cincinnati, Ohio - June 22, 11:30am - Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park.
  • Possible event: Downtown Muskegon, Michigan : June 22 - Heritage Landing - Near playground
  • Possible event: Marquette,Michigan, : June 22 - Harlow Park - Wikipedia:Meetup/Marquette/Wiknic
  • Possible event: Lansing, Michigan : June 22 - Patriarch Park - Wikipedia:Meetup/Lansing/Wiknic
  • Possible event: Wichita, Kansas : June 22 - Riverside Park- Wikipedia:Meetup/Wichita/Wiknic

West and South West

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Southeast

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Texas

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Start an event for your city

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To jumpstart a Wiknic in your city or town, feel free to copy-and-paste the example text below (adjust placenames accordingly!) - ideally include the town, event date, park name, and the local wiki-meetup page -

Frostbite Falls, Minnesota : June 22 - Great Moose Park - Wikipedia:Meetup/Moosylvania/Wiknic

Ask any questions at Wikipedia talk:Wiknic. It is an amazing event for anyone!

History and development

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The first national Wiknic was held in June 2011, and 16 cities took part with Wiknics large and small. June 2012 was a success as well, and now third time's a charm with Wiknic 3.0 June 2013. The Wiknic concept was modeled on the Wikipedia 10 celebrations and on the past success of Wiknics in New York City, and has inspired other large-scale coordinated events like Wikipedia Loves Libraries and Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States.

2011

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Extended content
 
Map of U.S. urban areas with local events scheduled for the 2011 Great American Wiknic.

With grassroots organizing help from local Wikipedia:Meetup groups and the Wikimedians Active in Local Regions of the United States (WALRUS) committee, 16 Wiknic events were held throughout the United States around June 25, 2011:

  • Northeast
  • Midwest
  • West
  • Press coverage of 2011 events:

2012

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The 2012 Great American Wiknic was held on June 23 (and nearby dates), by a happy coincidence also Alan Turing's Centennial.

Extended content
  • Northeast
  • Mid-Atlantic
  • Midwest
  • South
  • West
  • Possible cities under discussion
Possibly Ann Arbor with ArborWiki folks
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  Media related to Wiknic at Wikimedia Commons