diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index a5927d977..30d043676 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+2.1 (xx.xx.xxxx) - IN DEVELOPMENT
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+
 2.0 (xx.xx.xxxx) - IN DEVELOPMENT
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/docs/releases/2.1.rst b/docs/releases/2.1.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f08639228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/releases/2.1.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+==========================================
+Wagtail 2.1 release notes - IN DEVELOPMENT
+==========================================
+
+.. contents::
+    :local:
+    :depth: 1
+
+
+What's new
+==========
+
+
+Other features
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+
+Bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+
+Upgrade considerations
+======================
diff --git a/docs/releases/index.rst b/docs/releases/index.rst
index 952fa2202..779606233 100644
--- a/docs/releases/index.rst
+++ b/docs/releases/index.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Release notes
    :maxdepth: 1
 
    upgrading
+   2.1
    2.0
    1.13.1
    1.13
diff --git a/wagtail/__init__.py b/wagtail/__init__.py
index 551f57c35..9e8c170c0 100644
--- a/wagtail/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ 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, 0, 0, 'beta', 1)
+VERSION = (2, 1, 0, 'alpha', 0)
 
 __version__ = get_version(VERSION)
 
diff --git a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
index bad5a2a7d..4c707bb75 100644
--- a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
+++ b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 Django>=2.0,<2.1
-wagtail==2.0b1
+wagtail==2.1a0