diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 41dd5d0..e042b4d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.6.0rc1] - 2026-07-13
+
 ### Added
 
 - Add ewoksjob options under `EWOKSJOB_OPTIONS`: ``log_memory_usage`` and ``detect_memory_leaks``.
@@ -243,7 +245,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   - task discovery
 - Redis handler for ewoks events
 
-[unreleased]: https://github.com/ewoks-kit/ewoksjob/compare/v1.5.0...HEAD
+[unreleased]: https://github.com/ewoks-kit/ewoksjob/compare/1.6.0rc1...HEAD
+[1.6.0rc1]: https://github.com/ewoks-kit/ewoksjob/compare/v1.5.0...1.6.0rc1
 [1.5.0]: https://github.com/ewoks-kit/ewoksjob/compare/v1.1.0...v1.5.0
 [1.4.0]: https://github.com/ewoks-kit/ewoksjob/compare/v1.3.4...v1.4.0
 [1.3.4]: https://github.com/ewoks-kit/ewoksjob/compare/v1.3.3...v1.3.4
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 629724b..d3da339 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "ewoksjob"
-version = "1.5.0"
+version = "1.6.0rc1"
 authors = [{name = "ESRF", email = "dau-pydev@esrf.fr"}]
 description = "Asynchronous and distributed scheduling of Ewoks workflows from python"
 readme = {file = "README.md", content-type = "text/markdown"}