diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 06a706be1..2aec20966 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-19.05.0
+19.08.0-rc0
diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/index.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/index.rst
index e12947193..adfaf127d 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/index.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/index.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Release Notes
     :maxdepth: 1
     :numbered:
 
+    release_19_08
     release_19_05
     release_19_02
     release_18_11
diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_19_08.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_19_08.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b9510f93a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_19_08.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+..  SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+    Copyright 2019 The DPDK contributors
+
+DPDK Release 19.08
+==================
+
+.. **Read this first.**
+
+   The text in the sections below explains how to update the release notes.
+
+   Use proper spelling, capitalization and punctuation in all sections.
+
+   Variable and config names should be quoted as fixed width text:
+   ``LIKE_THIS``.
+
+   Build the docs and view the output file to ensure the changes are correct::
+
+      make doc-guides-html
+
+      xdg-open build/doc/html/guides/rel_notes/release_19_08.html
+
+
+New Features
+------------
+
+.. This section should contain new features added in this release.
+   Sample format:
+
+   * **Add a title in the past tense with a full stop.**
+
+     Add a short 1-2 sentence description in the past tense.
+     The description should be enough to allow someone scanning
+     the release notes to understand the new feature.
+
+     If the feature adds a lot of sub-features you can use a bullet list
+     like this:
+
+     * Added feature foo to do something.
+     * Enhanced feature bar to do something else.
+
+     Refer to the previous release notes for examples.
+
+     Suggested order in release notes items:
+     * Core libs (EAL, mempool, ring, mbuf, buses)
+     * Device abstraction libs and PMDs
+       - ethdev (lib, PMDs)
+       - cryptodev (lib, PMDs)
+       - eventdev (lib, PMDs)
+       - etc
+     * Other libs
+     * Apps, Examples, Tools (if significant)
+
+     This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+     Also, make sure to start the actual text at the margin.
+     =========================================================
+
+
+Removed Items
+-------------
+
+.. This section should contain removed items in this release. Sample format:
+
+   * Add a short 1-2 sentence description of the removed item
+     in the past tense.
+
+   This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+   Also, make sure to start the actual text at the margin.
+   =========================================================
+
+
+API Changes
+-----------
+
+.. This section should contain API changes. Sample format:
+
+   * sample: Add a short 1-2 sentence description of the API change
+     which was announced in the previous releases and made in this release.
+     Start with a scope label like "ethdev:".
+     Use fixed width quotes for ``function_names`` or ``struct_names``.
+     Use the past tense.
+
+   This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+   Also, make sure to start the actual text at the margin.
+   =========================================================
+
+
+ABI Changes
+-----------
+
+.. This section should contain ABI changes. Sample format:
+
+   * sample: Add a short 1-2 sentence description of the ABI change
+     which was announced in the previous releases and made in this release.
+     Start with a scope label like "ethdev:".
+     Use fixed width quotes for ``function_names`` or ``struct_names``.
+     Use the past tense.
+
+   This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+   Also, make sure to start the actual text at the margin.
+   =========================================================
+
+
+Shared Library Versions
+-----------------------
+
+.. Update any library version updated in this release
+   and prepend with a ``+`` sign, like this:
+
+     libfoo.so.1
+   + libupdated.so.2
+     libbar.so.1
+
+   This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+   =========================================================
+
+The libraries prepended with a plus sign were incremented in this version.
+
+.. code-block:: diff
+
+     librte_acl.so.2
+     librte_bbdev.so.1
+     librte_bitratestats.so.2
+     librte_bpf.so.1
+     librte_bus_dpaa.so.2
+     librte_bus_fslmc.so.2
+     librte_bus_ifpga.so.2
+     librte_bus_pci.so.2
+     librte_bus_vdev.so.2
+     librte_bus_vmbus.so.2
+     librte_cfgfile.so.2
+     librte_cmdline.so.2
+     librte_compressdev.so.1
+     librte_cryptodev.so.7
+     librte_distributor.so.1
+     librte_eal.so.10
+     librte_efd.so.1
+     librte_ethdev.so.12
+     librte_eventdev.so.6
+     librte_flow_classify.so.1
+     librte_gro.so.1
+     librte_gso.so.1
+     librte_hash.so.2
+     librte_ip_frag.so.1
+     librte_ipsec.so.1
+     librte_jobstats.so.1
+     librte_kni.so.2
+     librte_kvargs.so.1
+     librte_latencystats.so.1
+     librte_lpm.so.2
+     librte_mbuf.so.5
+     librte_member.so.1
+     librte_mempool.so.5
+     librte_meter.so.3
+     librte_metrics.so.1
+     librte_net.so.1
+     librte_pci.so.1
+     librte_pdump.so.3
+     librte_pipeline.so.3
+     librte_pmd_bnxt.so.2
+     librte_pmd_bond.so.2
+     librte_pmd_i40e.so.2
+     librte_pmd_ixgbe.so.2
+     librte_pmd_dpaa2_qdma.so.1
+     librte_pmd_ring.so.2
+     librte_pmd_softnic.so.1
+     librte_pmd_vhost.so.2
+     librte_port.so.3
+     librte_power.so.1
+     librte_rawdev.so.1
+     librte_rcu.so.1
+     librte_reorder.so.1
+     librte_ring.so.2
+     librte_sched.so.2
+     librte_security.so.2
+     librte_stack.so.1
+     librte_table.so.3
+     librte_timer.so.1
+     librte_vhost.so.4
+
+
+Known Issues
+------------
+
+.. This section should contain new known issues in this release. Sample format:
+
+   * **Add title in present tense with full stop.**
+
+     Add a short 1-2 sentence description of the known issue
+     in the present tense. Add information on any known workarounds.
+
+   This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+   Also, make sure to start the actual text at the margin.
+   =========================================================
+
+
+Tested Platforms
+----------------
+
+.. This section should contain a list of platforms that were tested
+   with this release.
+
+   The format is:
+
+   * <vendor> platform with <vendor> <type of devices> combinations
+
+     * List of CPU
+     * List of OS
+     * List of devices
+     * Other relevant details...
+
+   This section is a comment. Do not overwrite or remove it.
+   Also, make sure to start the actual text at the margin.
+   =========================================================
+
