WPC 2026 edition Dates & Timeline
© Filip Hrebenda 6th place. Nature/Landscape 2025 – Slovakia
Timeline 2026
Published April 18th 2025
Below you will find the WPC 2026-edition timeline
– please check in regularly and keep your eyes on this information! You don’t want to miss the important dates.
The WPC 2025 opens on May 1, 2025 and the grand finale will be on April 10th -12th, 2026 in Iceland!
Stay with us through this fantastic year, and make sure you plan for a trip to attend the prize giving ceremony and gala dinner .
| MAY 1 | Competition Opens for registration |
| JUNE 1 | Software open. Uploading of images may begin. Payments to begin. (NB: payment must be made by 30 October otherwise team is removed from competition) |
| OCT 17 | National Teams entries should now be closed to allow time for the Team Captain to gather RAW images and finalise Team entry before 31 October. |
| OCT 31 | International Competition Closes. No extensions possible |
| NOV 1 – NOV 3 | Brief category validation. Looking for obvious wrong categories/ obvious issues with rules etc. Overview process only. |
| NOV 3 | Judging Starts |
| NOV 8 | Cut-off date for Team Captains to replace images from brief validation where applicable |
| NOV 8 | Team members may be announced (no images may be shown) |
| NOV 23 | Judging Closes |
| Nov 24 | Team members + images may be promoted. If an image is disqualified from this point – there is no replacement available to the team. A DQ’d Photographer is still considered a team member |
| Nov 24 – DEC 7 | Major validation of Top 15 images in each category |
| DEC 17 | 1st Finalist announcement made (5 random categories) SoMe Slides available for these 5 categories |
| DEC 19 | 2nd Finalist announcement made (5 remaining categories) SoMe Slides available for these 5 categories |
| JAN 1 | BON – Best of Nation Photographer announcement made on YouTube/FB SoMe Slides made available |
| APR 10-12 | In person Awards Presentation and Event – Reykjavik Iceland! |