diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 927b7e3df..63ce83760 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,29 @@
 # Meep Release Notes
 
+## Meep 1.33.0
+
+4/24/2026
+
+* Performance optimization for time stepping in cylindrical coordinates ([#3158]).
+
+* Performance optimization for repeated eigenmode solves ([#3167]).
+
+* Multithreading support for epsilon initialization ([#3166], [#3171]).
+
+* Bug fix when combining Bloch-periodic boundaries and mirror symmetries ([#3155]).
+
+* Bug fix when combining Bloch-periodic boundaries and single-precision floating point ([#3157]).
+
+* Bug fix in interpolation of epsilon grid from Meep to MPB ([#3163]).
+
+* Bug fix when combining dft_force and mirror symmetry ([#3161]).
+
+* Bug fix in grid_volume::init_subvolume in cylindrical coordinates ([#3174]).
+
+* Bug fix in Simulation.load_chunk_layout ([#3189]).
+
+* Various improvements and additional documentation ([#3159], [#3169], [#3179], [#3185], [#3187], [#3188], [#3190], [#3193], [#3195], [#3199]).
+
 ## Meep 1.32.0
 
 2/20/2026
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4844c2ccb..c0a16e370 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
-AC_INIT([meep],[m4_esyscmd(./version.sh 1.33.0-beta)])
+AC_INIT([meep],[m4_esyscmd(./version.sh 1.33.0)])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(src/step.cpp)
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
 
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
 # not the same as the "public" version number.  (Don't worry about this
 # except for public releases.) Note that any change to a C++ class
 # definition (in the .hpp file) generally breaks binary compatibility.
-SHARED_VERSION_INFO="36:0:1" # CURRENT:REVISION:AGE
+SHARED_VERSION_INFO="37:0:0" # CURRENT:REVISION:AGE
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign color-tests parallel-tests silent-rules 1.11])
 AM_SILENT_RULES(yes)