Downtown Walk/Crawl Set-Up Guide

Participating Business Map & Guide

Once your participating businesses are confirmed, visitors need an easy way to know who's participating, where they're located, and what's happening at each stop.

An event map or guide brings those details together and helps turn individual businesses into one connected Downtown Walk/Crawl experience.

Whether you're organizing a Valentine’s Day Crawl, Stroll into Spring: Sip & Stroll, Browse and Bloom, Girls' Night Out, Witches' Night Out, Christmas Crawl, Chocolate Walk, Art Walk, Shop Hop, or another themed event, your guide should make it easy for visitors to discover participating businesses and explore more of downtown.

This guide walks through how to organize participating locations, create an event map or guide, and make it useful before and during your event.

Why Create an Event Map or Guide?

The goal of a Downtown Walk/Crawl is to encourage people to move throughout the district and experience multiple businesses.

Without a clear guide, visitors may stick to businesses they already know or miss participating locations altogether.

Show Who's Participating Give visitors one place to see all participating businesses.	Help Visitors Navigate Make it easier to find each stop throughout downtown.
Highlight What's Happening Show samples, specials, activities, entertainment, and other experiences.	Encourage Exploration Introduce visitors to businesses they may not already know.
Spread Foot Traffic Give businesses throughout the district more opportunities to be discovered.	Connect the Event Bring individual participating locations together into one coordinated experience.

The goal isn't simply to tell visitors where businesses are. It's to help them decide where they want to go next.

How to Create Your Downtown Walk/Crawl Event Map or Guide

1. Gather Your Participating Business Information

Start with the businesses confirmed through your Participating Business Registration.

For each participating location, gather the information visitors will need, such as:

• Business name
• Address
• Event-day hours
• Short business description
• Sample, special, activity, or experience
• Business image or logo
• Important participation instructions

Keep the information consistent across businesses so visitors can quickly understand what they'll find at each stop.

If you collected these details during business registration, much of the work is already done.

Give Every Stop a Reason to Visit A business name and address tell visitors where they can go. The event experience tells them why they should go. Instead of simply listing: Main Street Bakery – 123 Main Street Tell visitors what's waiting for them: Main Street Bakery – Stop in for a special chocolate cupcake sample during the Chocolate Walk. The same idea works across different themes. A Sip & Stroll stop might highlight a tasting, Browse and Bloom could feature a floral display or spring activity, and Witches' Night Out might spotlight a themed special, contest, or experience. A simple description can turn a location on your list into someone's next destination.

2. Choose How Visitors Will Explore Participating Businesses

There are several ways to help visitors navigate your Downtown Walk/Crawl. Choose the format that fits your event, audience, and the amount of information you want to share.

Depending on your event, you might create:

• Printed Event Map: Show participating businesses and their locations throughout downtown.
• Event Passport: Combine participating locations with stamps, check-offs, or activities.
• Printed Event Guide: List participating businesses and what's happening at each stop.
• Digital Business List: Create a mobile-friendly list visitors can reference throughout the event.
• Event Signage: Identify participating businesses and help direct visitors throughout downtown.
• Digital Map: Give attendees a mobile-friendly way to view participating locations and event details.

You don't necessarily have to choose only one. A printed passport might work alongside a digital guide, while QR codes on signage can give visitors quick access to additional information.

Printed, Digital, or Both? Think about how people will actually use the information. Printed materials are great for quick reference, passports, and something visitors can carry throughout the event. Digital guides can provide more information and give visitors easy access from their phones. Using both can give attendees flexibility while making the event easier to explore.

3. Organize Your Event Experience

Once you've chosen your format, think about how visitors will move through the event.

Make participating businesses easy to identify and keep information simple enough to scan while walking downtown.

Depending on your event, your map or guide might also include:

• Check-In Locations: Show visitors where to begin or pick up event materials.
• Participating Businesses: Feature every official event stop.
• Food & Drink Stops: Highlight tastings, samples, restaurants, cafés, or other experiences.
• Activities: Show games, demonstrations, family activities, or special experiences.
• Entertainment: Add musicians, performers, or other event programming.
• Photo Opportunities: Feature murals, themed displays, decorations, or photo stops.
• Public Art: Encourage visitors to discover artwork along the route.
• Restrooms & Public Facilities: Include practical information that improves the visitor experience.
• Parking: Help attendees identify convenient places to begin exploring.
• Other Event Attractions: Include anything else visitors may want to discover along the way.

What you highlight can change with the theme. A Stroll into Spring: Sip & Stroll might emphasize tasting locations, Browse and Bloom could feature floral displays and spring activities, Girls' Night Out might spotlight shopping specials and entertainment, while a Christmas Crawl could highlight holiday experiences, decorated storefronts, treats, and seasonal activities.

You can also organize stops by category, neighborhood, block, or type of experience when that makes navigation easier.

Spread Visitors Across Downtown Pay attention to businesses located outside the busiest part of your district. A compelling sample, activity, special, or experience can give visitors a reason to walk another block and discover a business they might otherwise miss. Use your event guide to highlight what's worth discovering throughout the entire district, not just the most familiar locations.

4. Promote and Distribute Your Event Guide

Your map or guide shouldn't appear for the first time when someone checks in.

Sharing it ahead of the event can build excitement by showing attendees which businesses are participating and what they'll be able to experience.

Make your guide easy to find through:

• Ticket Communications: Include it with confirmations or pre-event information.
• Email: Send attendees an event guide before they arrive.
• Website: Place it alongside event information and ticket sales.
• Social Media: Feature participating businesses and direct followers to the complete guide.
• Participating Businesses: Give each business the guide to share with customers.
• QR Codes: Place them on posters, passports, flyers, signs, and check-in materials.
• Event-Day Signage: Remind visitors where they can access the complete list of stops.

The easier your guide is to access, the more likely visitors are to actually use it throughout the event.

Event Guide Promotion Playbook

Share the guide at different moments for different reasons:

• Before Tickets Are Purchased: Use participating businesses and featured experiences to show people what they'll discover, from tastings during a Sip & Stroll to shopping specials during Girls' Night Out or festive stops during a Christmas Crawl.
• After Purchase: Include the guide in confirmation or pre-event communications so attendees can start planning their route.
• On Social Media: Feature individual businesses and direct followers to the complete map or guide.
• Through Participating Businesses: Give every location a link or QR code they can share with customers.
• At Check-In: Make the guide immediately accessible before visitors begin exploring.
• Throughout Downtown: Use QR codes and signage to help visitors reopen the guide whenever they need it.

Don't treat the guide as a one-time handout. Make it part of the visitor experience before, during, and throughout the event.

Put the Guide Everywhere Think about the questions visitors will ask throughout their experience: Before the event: Who's participating? At check-in: Where should we start? During the event: What's nearby? Halfway through: What haven't we visited yet? Make sure your event map or guide is easy to access at each of those moments.

Ideas for Your Downtown Walk/Crawl Guide

Your event guide can include more than a list of participating businesses. Think about everything a visitor might want to discover as they move through downtown.

Depending on the theme, consider highlighting:

• Participating Shops: Specials, samples, products, or activities.
• Restaurants & Cafés: Food and drink experiences.
• Check-In Locations: Where visitors begin the event.
• Entertainment: Musicians, performers, or demonstrations.
• Photo Opportunities: Murals, decorations, or themed displays.
• Public Art: Artwork visitors can discover between businesses.
• Historic Sites: Downtown landmarks and local stories.
• Event Activities: Games, contests, or family activities.
• Seasonal Experiences: Highlight Valentine’s Day treats, spring activities, Halloween experiences, holiday displays, or other details tied to your event theme.
• Tasting Stops: Show drinks, samples, or specials for events like Stroll into Spring: Sip & Stroll.
• Shopping Experiences: Feature discounts, giveaways, products, and special activities for events like Girls' Night Out or Ladies Night Out.
• Themed Storefronts: Highlight floral displays for Browse and Bloom, Halloween decorations for Witches' Night Out, or festive storefronts during a Christmas Crawl.
• Parking: Convenient places to begin exploring.
• Public Spaces: Parks, plazas, and gathering areas.

The businesses may be the main stops, but the spaces and experiences between them can help make the entire downtown feel like part of the event.

Make the Journey Part of the Event Don't only think about the destinations. Murals, historic buildings, decorated storefronts, performers, photo opportunities, and public spaces can give visitors more to discover as they travel between businesses. A great Downtown Walk/Crawl makes exploring downtown itself part of the experience.

Take Your Event Guide Digital with SeeMyLegacy

Printed maps and event guides can work well, but communities can also create a more interactive experience for visitors.

With SeeMyLegacy's Interactive Tours, participating businesses can be brought together on an Interactive Map that visitors can explore directly from their phones.

Each participating location can become a digital stop featuring information such as:

• Business name and location
• Photos
• Business or event description
• Special offers
• Samples or activities
• Event-day information
• Additional links and details

The content at each stop can reflect the event itself. A Valentine’s Day Crawl might feature themed treats and shopping specials, a Browse and Bloom event could highlight floral displays and spring activities, and a Christmas Crawl might showcase festive experiences happening throughout downtown.

Visitors can open the Interactive Map, explore participating locations, learn what's happening at each stop, and decide where they'd like to go next.

A Clear Downtown Exploration Experience Open the Map → Discover a Business → See What's Happening → Visit the Stop → Keep Exploring

Organizers can share the Interactive Tour through event websites, emails, social media, QR codes, signage, and other promotional materials.

Test It Like an Attendee Before event day, take your map or guide downtown and use it yourself. Can you easily find participating businesses? Are addresses correct? Is it clear what's happening at each stop? Is the information easy to use from a phone or while walking? Testing the experience yourself can help uncover small issues before visitors arrive.

Bring Your Downtown Walk/Crawl Together

Your Participating Business Registration establishes who's involved.

Your Ticket Sales Campaign brings visitors to the event.

Your event map or guide helps everyone discover where to go and what's happening.

Together, they create a simple framework communities can customize around almost any theme:

Participating Businesses → Ticket Sales → Event Map & Guide → Downtown Experience

That same framework can become a Valentine’s Day Crawl, Stroll into Spring: Sip & Stroll, Browse and Bloom, Girls' Night Out, Witches' Night Out, Christmas Crawl, or another experience built around your community.

Start with your businesses. Build an experience people want to attend. Then give visitors an easy way to discover everything happening throughout downtown.

With SeeMyLegacy, communities can bring these pieces together and use an Interactive Tour to turn participating businesses into a digital experience visitors can explore throughout the event.

Ready to Map Out Your Downtown Walk/Crawl? Bring participating businesses, event details, locations, and downtown experiences together in one easy-to-explore Interactive Tour. Book a Demo → Contact Us