diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index c8b7cd0492..cfd963a03e 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,58 @@
+2025.02-rc1, released February 28th, 2025
+
+	Fixes all over the tree and new features.
+
+        Nios2 architecture support removed.
+
+	Toolchain:
+
+        - binutils 2.44 added, binutils 2.43.1 becomes the default.
+
+        - gdb 16.1 added, gdb 15.1 becomes the default.
+
+        - Synopsys external ARC toolchains marked as broken as they
+          are not "bare" toolchains, causing various build issues
+
+        - ARM external toolchains bumped to 12.4.rel1 and are now also
+          available for Aarch64 build machines
+
+        Infrastructure:
+
+        - utils/generate-cyclonedx script added to generate SBOM in
+          CycloneDX format. To use it, run
+
+            make show-info | utils/generate-cyclonedx > sbom.json
+
+        new defconfigs: FriendlyARM NanoPi R3S, NXP imx8mm-evk /
+        imx8mm-ddr4 /imx8mp-evk / imx93-evk / ls1043a-rdb /
+        ls1046a-rdb, Orangepi 5 plus, Polyhex Debix model A,
+        Raspberrypi zero 2w 64bit, Raxda rock 4SE, STM STM32MP135F-DK
+
+	New packages: bmap-writer, cpuinfo, cross-ldd, farmhash,
+	fft2d, fp16, gemmlowp, libecoli, libglib2-bootstrap, lynis,
+	nxp-bt-wifi-firmware, nxp-mwifiex, panel-mipi-dbi-firmware,
+	parsec, psimd, pthreadpool, python-aiohttp-sse-client,
+	python-asyncclick, python-changelog-chug, python-telnetlib3,
+	python-waitress, qt6graphs, qt6multimedia, qt6quick3d,
+	rnnoise, ruy, snooze, tensorflow-lite, usbip, utfcpp,
+	wlr-randr, xilinx-embeddedsw, xnnpack
+
+        Removed packages: angularjs, angular-websocket, directfb,
+        directfb-examples, fconfig, genromfs, giblib, gst-omx,
+        hiwatha, latencytop, libhid, linux-fusion, lite, mimic,
+        mongodb, obsidian-cursors, python-m2crypto, quagga, ramsmp,
+        w_scan
+
+	Issues resolved:
+	- bluetooth.service cannot connect to D-BUS
+	  https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/issues/65
+        - gdb package doesn't have a licence hash in the gdb.hash file
+          https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/issues/66
+	- package/libsha1: Build failure with GCC 14 [-Wimplicit-int]
+	  https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/issues/69
+	- samba4 build failed in master
+	  https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/issues/86
+
 2024.11.2, released February 21st, 2025
 
 	Important / security related fixes.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c876f8a54c..824fba06bf 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ all:
 .PHONY: all
 
 # Set and export the version string
-export BR2_VERSION := 2025.02-git
+export BR2_VERSION := 2025.02-rc1
 # Actual time the release is cut (for reproducible builds)
-BR2_VERSION_EPOCH = 1733653000
+BR2_VERSION_EPOCH = 1740760000
 
 # Save running make version since it's clobbered by the make package
 RUNNING_MAKE_VERSION := $(MAKE_VERSION)
diff --git a/docs/website/download.html b/docs/website/download.html
index 2b9d8030ce..9d27cf8a08 100644
--- a/docs/website/download.html
+++ b/docs/website/download.html
@@ -75,41 +75,41 @@
 	  <p><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11.2.tar.xz.sign">PGP signature</a></p>
 	</div>
       </div>
-<!--
-      <h3 style="text-align: center;">Latest release candidate: <b>2024.11-rc3</b></h3>
+
+      <h3 style="text-align: center;">Latest release candidate: <b>2025.02-rc1</b></h3>
       <div class="row mt centered">
 	<div class="col-sm-6">
 	  <div class="flip-container center-block" ontouchstart="this.classList.toggle('hover');">
 	    <div class="flipper">
 	      <div class="front">
-		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.gz"><img src="images/zip.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
+		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.gz"><img src="images/zip.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
 	      </div>
 	      <div class="back">
-		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.gz"><img src="images/zip.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
+		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.gz"><img src="images/zip.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
 	      </div>
 	    </div>
 	  </div>
 
-	  <h3><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.gz">buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.gz</a></h3>
-	  <p><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.gz.sign">PGP signature</a></p>
+	  <h3><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.gz">buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.gz</a></h3>
+	  <p><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.gz.sign">PGP signature</a></p>
 	</div>
 	<div class="col-sm-6">
 	  <div class="flip-container center-block" ontouchstart="this.classList.toggle('hover');">
 	    <div class="flipper">
 	      <div class="front">
-		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.xz"><img src="images/package.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
+		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.xz"><img src="images/package.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
 	      </div>
 	      <div class="back">
-		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.xz"><img src="images/package.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
+		<a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.xz"><img src="images/package.png" width="180" alt=""></a>
 	      </div>
 	    </div>
 	  </div>
 
-	  <h3><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.xz">buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.xz</a></h3>
-	  <p><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2024.11-rc3.tar.xz.sign">PGP signature</a></p>
+	  <h3><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.xz">buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.xz</a></h3>
+	  <p><a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.xz.sign">PGP signature</a></p>
 	</div>
       </div>
--->
+
       This and earlier releases (and their PGP signatures) can always be downloaded from
       <a href="/downloads/">http://buildroot.net/downloads/</a>.
     </div>
diff --git a/docs/website/news.html b/docs/website/news.html
index 88ac274e59..b4e72ac1f2 100644
--- a/docs/website/news.html
+++ b/docs/website/news.html
@@ -9,6 +9,27 @@
 <h2>News</h2>
 <ul class="timeline">
 
+  <li class="timeline-inverted">
+    <div class="timeline-badge"><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-thumbs-up"></i></div>
+    <div class="timeline-panel">
+      <div class="timeline-heading">
+	<h4 class="timeline-title">2025.02-rc1 released</h4>
+	<p><small class="text-muted"><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-time"></i>28 February 2025</small></p>
+      </div>
+      <div class="timeline-body">
+	<p>We have a new release candidate! Lots of changes all over the tree, see the
+          <a href="https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/blob/2025.02-rc1/CHANGES">CHANGES</a>
+          file for more details.</p>
+
+	<p>Go to the <a href="/downloads/">downloads page</a> to pick up the
+          <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2025.02-rc1.tar.xz">2025.02-rc1
+            release</a>, and report any problems found to the
+          <a href="support.html">mailing list</a> or
+          <a href="https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/issues">bug tracker</a>.</p>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </li>
+
   <li>
     <div class="timeline-badge"><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-thumbs-up"></i></div>
     <div class="timeline-panel">