diff --git a/wagtail/__init__.py b/wagtail/__init__.py
index 169041f92c..1f37dec368 100644
--- a/wagtail/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from wagtail.utils.version import get_semver_version, get_version
 
 # major.minor.patch.release.number
 # release must be one of alpha, beta, rc, or final
-VERSION = (2, 6, 0, 'alpha', 0)
+VERSION = (2, 7, 0, 'alpha', 0)
 
 __version__ = get_version(VERSION)
 
diff --git a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
index e0e3a75053..ba51f8376b 100644
--- a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
+++ b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 Django>=2.2,<2.3
-wagtail==2.6a0
+wagtail==2.7a0