diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index f146608225..ec93364592 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+7.0
+
+
 6.0-alpha2
  * Change default for cassandra.set_sep_thread_name to false to reduce CPU usage (CASSANDRA-21089)
  * Avoid permission checks for masked columns when the table doesn't have any (CASSANDRA-21299)
diff --git a/NEWS.txt b/NEWS.txt
index f9285ddc3a..d9207d89a6 100644
--- a/NEWS.txt
+++ b/NEWS.txt
@@ -74,6 +74,18 @@ restore snapshots created with the previous major version using the
 'sstableloader' tool. You can upgrade the file format of your snapshots
 using the provided 'sstableupgrade' tool.
 
+7.0
+===
+
+New features
+------------
+
+Upgrading
+---------
+
+Deprecation
+-----------
+
 
 6.0
 ===
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 34cb09ce26..cedd0c567d 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     <property name="debuglevel" value="source,lines,vars"/>
 
     <!-- default version and SCM information -->
-    <property name="base.version" value="6.0-alpha2"/>
+    <property name="base.version" value="7.0"/>
     <property name="scm.connection" value="scm:https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.developerConnection" value="scm:https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.url" value="https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf?p=cassandra.git"/>
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index ea6e1278c4..793a9cb3f6 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+cassandra (7.0) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New release
+
+ -- Mick Semb Wever <mck@apache.org>  Sat, 21 Mar 2026 23:45:40 +0100
+
 cassandra (6.0~alpha1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * New release