A new Island-built app is aiming to make it easier for residents and visitors to discover what is happening across the Isle of Wight, bringing events of all shapes and sizes together in one place.
Wight Explorer has been created by Islanders Shane Smith, Fiona Jeffery and Matt Jeffery, combining their experience in business, technology and digital development.
The new platform has been developed to tackle a familiar problem – finding out what is actually happening on the Isle of Wight without having to search across multiple websites, social media pages and event listings.
From major festivals, live music and comedy to family days out, theatre, community events, markets and car boot sales, Wight Explorer is designed to bring a wide variety of events together.
Users of the free app can browse and search events by category, discover what is happening on particular dates and save events to create a personalised schedule.
Push notifications can also be used to remind users about events they have saved.
The idea has been developed by Shane alongside Fiona and Matt Jeffery of award-winning Isle of Wight design and development agency Brightbulb, with the trio establishing Wight Explorer as a new Island startup.
Their ambition is for the app to become the first place people turn when looking for something to do on the Isle of Wight, whether planning a weekend in advance or simply looking for something happening that day.
Shane Smith, Director of Wight Explorer, has said:
“We live here and know just how much happens across the Isle of Wight, but finding out about it isn’t always as easy as it should be.
“There are some brilliant events taking place every week, from small community activities through to some of the biggest events in the Island calendar, but information can be spread across lots of different places.
“We wanted to create something simple that brings it all together. Our goal is for Wight Explorer to become the app people open when they think, ‘What shall we do today?’”
The team also hopes the platform will provide another way for Island event organisers, venues, attractions and businesses to reach people who are actively looking for things to do.
Matt Jeffery, Director of Wight Explorer and Brightbulb, has added:
“The Isle of Wight has an incredible events scene and there is far more happening here than people sometimes realise. The challenge isn’t a lack of things to do, it’s making those things easy to discover.
“We see Wight Explorer as something that can grow with the Island. We want to build a genuinely useful platform for residents, visitors and event organisers, while supporting the businesses, venues and organisations that make the Isle of Wight such an interesting place to live and visit.”
Wight Explorer is available to download free from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
More information can be found at www.wightexplorer.com/app.
