diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 2db4b471b2ac..aaaa78441941 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,19 @@ This project adheres to `Semantic Versioning`_ starting with version 1.0.
 
 .. towncrier release notes start
 
+[1.9.6] - 2020-04-15
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+- `#5426 <https://github.com/rasahq/rasa/issues/5426>`_: Fix `rasa test nlu` plotting when using multiple runs.
+- `#5489 <https://github.com/rasahq/rasa/issues/5489>`_: Fixed issue where ``max_number_of_predictions`` was not considered when running end-to-end testing.
+
+Miscellaneous internal changes
+------------------------------
+- #5626
+
+
 [1.9.5] - 2020-04-01
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/changelog/5426.bugfix.rst b/changelog/5426.bugfix.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 6a43adc3eef2..000000000000
--- a/changelog/5426.bugfix.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `rasa test nlu` plotting when using multiple runs.
diff --git a/changelog/5489.bugfix.rst b/changelog/5489.bugfix.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f1c6760072c..000000000000
--- a/changelog/5489.bugfix.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fixed issue where ``max_number_of_predictions`` was not considered when running end-to-end testing.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog/5626.msic.rst b/changelog/5626.msic.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index d28085309a7e..000000000000
--- a/changelog/5626.msic.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Apply ``tfa.activations.gelu(x)`` only if min 1 transformer block is used in ``DIETClassifier``.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b6ca6c7ac246..99b12d03c191 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ exclude = "((.eggs | .git | .pytype | .pytest_cache | build | dist))"
 
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "rasa"
-version = "1.9.5"
+version = "1.9.6"
 description = "Open source machine learning framework to automate text- and voice-based conversations: NLU, dialogue management, connect to Slack, Facebook, and more - Create chatbots and voice assistants"
 authors = [ "Rasa Technologies GmbH <hi@rasa.com>",]
 maintainers = [ "Tom Bocklisch <tom@rasa.com>",]
diff --git a/rasa/version.py b/rasa/version.py
index 5294603a11c7..2f6bbbacee47 100644
--- a/rasa/version.py
+++ b/rasa/version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # this file will automatically be changed,
 # do not add anything but the version number here!
-__version__ = "1.9.5"
+__version__ = "1.9.6"