This article is about the Proxi admin app at app.proxi.co.
Whatever your town calls it — a Sip and Stroll, Wine Walk, Wine Stroll, Beer Crawl, Brew Fest, Chili Crawl, Chili Fest, Chili Cook-Off, Cookie Crawl, Cocoa Crawl, Taco Trail, Taste of Downtown, Food Crawl, Girls' Night Out, Ladies' Night, Shop Hop, Holiday Open House, First Friday, or Art Walk — the shape is the same: people buy a ticket or grab a map, walk between downtown businesses, and get a pour, taste, or deal at each stop. It's one of the highest-return events a downtown can run, and it's a perfect fit for a map plus a passport.
The twist that makes this guide different from the festival one: the stops are businesses, and the businesses themselves know their offering best. So the winning setup is: get every business into your Listings, invite each one to their own portal, and let them keep both their business info and their event offering up to date — without you chasing anyone. Here's the whole build, using a made-up "Downtown Sip & Stroll" with 20 stops.
1. Get the Businesses Into Listings First
If you don't have listings for these businesses yet, this is the moment — listings are the shared profiles that make everything else (the map, the portal, next year's event) work without retyping.
On the Listings page, add each business with Add Item — search for the business and we'll create the listing and pull in its details — or import your whole participant roster at once with Import CSV.
Select the new listings and click Get data to fill in hours, websites, and photos automatically.
Add a label like "Sip & Stroll 2026" so you can filter to this year's participants in one click. (See Setting Up Categories, Fields, and Labels.)
This is a one-time investment: next year's event starts with the roster already built.
2. Build the Event Collection and Map
Go to Collections → New Collection → From my listings, check off the participants, and name it "Downtown Sip & Stroll."
Add the event's own fields — click Fields → Add a field for each:
"What They're Pouring" (or "Chili Name," "Featured Cookie" — a text field for the offering).
"Event Deal" — the special-offer field for event-night discounts.
"Stop Number" — a Short code field, if you want numbered stops on the pins and the printed map.
Create a map from the collection. Set the Category options to match your event — Pour Stop, Bite Stop, Deal Stop, Check-In HQ — each with its own marker, and turn them on as filters.
Brand it in Branding (event name, colors, logo) and frame downtown as the starting view. Since this is a walking event, set Get directions to walking mode in Point Card → Actions.
3. Invite Each Business to Its Portal
Here's the part that saves you a hundred emails. Every listing can have a contact — the owner or manager — who signs into their own portal to manage their info:
Open each listing, add the owner as a contact, and click the invite button. You'll confirm — "Email them a link to sign in and manage this listing" — and they get a branded email with a Manage your listing button. They sign in with their email and a 6-digit code; no password to forget.
Once in, they can update their business information — name, description, hours, photos, and any listing properties — and those changes apply everywhere immediately.
They can also update their event info: on their portal page, your event collection shows with an Edit button that opens a form — "Edit your listing in Downtown Sip & Stroll" — pre-filled with their current entry, including "What They're Pouring" and their event deal. You choose whether those edits go live instantly or wait for your quick review (it follows the collection form's approval setting).
So the ask to each business becomes one sentence: "Click the link in your email, check your hours and photos, and fill in what you're pouring." You watch the map fill itself in.
4. Or Let Businesses Sign Themselves Up With a Form
Recruiting stops you don't have yet? Turn on Public submissions for the collection and shape the form as your sign-up sheet: "Pour at the Downtown Sip & Stroll" with fields for their business, what they'll serve, and a contact email. Keep Require approval before publishing on so you vet each stop, and share the form link in your business newsletter. Approved submissions land on the map; you can connect them to listings afterward. (See Collecting Places From Your Community.)
5. Ticket It and Gamify It
Create a Passport from the same collection (New Passport → Use existing collection):
Sell tickets right in registration — switch on Charge Participants on the Registration Page tab. Typical pricing runs $15 for food crawls up to $40+ for premium wine walks, often with a VIP tier and a cheaper designated-driver ticket — you can offer multiple options.
Check-ins — Code Check-in works beautifully here: each business gets a code on a card by the register ("POUR12"), and only wristbanded guests hear it. Or use QR codes via Export Codes → PDF — Branded for print-ready signs.
Chili cook-off or people's-choice voting? Turn on the Upvotes action in Point Card → Actions and rename it — "Vote for this chili!" — with the count showing. Every ticket holder's phone becomes a ballot, and the tally is live. Close voting by switching the action off at the deadline.
Awards — "Visited 10 Stops" with a completion message for a prize entry at check-in HQ, and a "Finished the Stroll" badge for bragging rights.
Register yourself as a tester and walk a couple of stops before the night. (See Testing Your Challenge or Scavenger Hunt Before Launch.)
6. Event Night
Run one central check-in table: ID check, wristband, tasting glass — and a big QR to the map. Stagger entry windows if you expect a crowd, so stop #1 doesn't get slammed at 5:00.
Small QR cards at each stop let people re-open the map (and check in) wherever they are.
Edits go live instantly — a business runs dry or closes early? Flip off Active on this map from your phone and the map stays truthful all night.
7. After the Event
Participants & Activity gives you check-ins per business (the foot-traffic proof that re-signs stops for next year), the participant list for your prize drawing, and ticket revenue under Payments.
The voting tally crowns your chili champion — hand them a trophy they'll display all year.
And the durable win: every business now has a listing and portal access. Their hours and photos stay current year-round, and your next event starts from a live roster instead of a cold spreadsheet.
Beyond the Map: How Successful Strolls Run
Field notes from downtowns that run these every year:
Check local alcohol rules first — and early. Most cities require a special-event liquor permit (often 30–90 days of lead time), open-container laws usually only bend inside a defined boundary or social district, and expect requirements like non-glass cups, staffed boundaries, and carding anyone who looks under 30. Pair the permit with event insurance that covers alcohol — many cities require proof.
One wristband, one ID check. Central check-in means shop staff never have to card anyone — they pour for wristbands only. That single design choice is what makes 20 retail shops willing to host tastings.
15–25 businesses is the sweet spot. Main Street survey data puts the typical wine walk at ~20 stops, ~227 tickets at ~$28 average, with most districts charging businesses a small participation fee (~$75). Ask each stop for four things: staff the pour, offer an event-night deal, theme their space, and stay open the whole window. Shops that can't pour make great snack or activity stops.
Time it for weekend evenings in spring or fall — Friday or Saturday, roughly 4–9pm. Chili crawls own the cold months. Check the community calendar before you pick a date; a competing festival is the top attendance killer.
Market in waves: announce with early-bird pricing ~6 weeks out, reveal the business lineup ~4 weeks out (each reveal is a post), email the map 1–2 weeks out, and send day-of check-in details. Businesses cross-posting to their own followers is your cheapest reach — give them ready-made graphics.
Going the Girls' Night Out route? Flip the model: free or cheap admission, the draw is stacked shop deals and swag, with tastings as optional add-ons inside licensed venues — which also sidesteps most of the permitting.