Build a local events aggregator

To build a local events aggregator, you’ll need to create a platform that collects, categorizes, and displays local event information from various sources. Here’s a breakdown of how to do it, including features, architecture, and tools:

Core Features

1. Event Listings

   • Title, Date, Time, Venue

   • Description

   • Category (Music, Food, Family, etc.)

   • Tags (Free, Outdoor, etc.)

2. User Functionality

   • Search & filter events

   • RSVP or bookmark events

   • Email or mobile notifications

   • User-submitted events

3. Admin Dashboard

   • Manage event submissions

   • Moderate spam or duplicates

   • Insights & analytics

4. Aggregator Sources

   • RSS Feeds

   • APIs (Eventbrite, Meetup, Facebook Events)

   • Web scraping for smaller/local sites

   • Manual submissions

Tech Stack

Frontend

• React or Next.js: SEO-friendly and fast

• Tailwind CSS: Rapid UI development

• Map Integration: Leaflet.js or Google Maps API

Backend

• Node.js (Express) or Django (Python)

• PostgreSQL or MongoDB: Store event data

• Redis: Caching popular events or locations

Scraping/API Aggregation

• Python with BeautifulSoup, Selenium, Requests

• API integration with:

  • Eventbrite API

  • Facebook Graph API

  • Meetup API (if public)

  • Ticketmaster Discovery API

Scheduler

• CRON jobs for scraping & syncing APIs periodically

Hosting

• Vercel or Netlify (frontend)

• Render, Heroku, or DigitalOcean (backend)

• Cloudflare: CDN, DNS, and security

Database Schema Overview

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Users
- id
- name
- email
- password_hash

Events
- id
- title
- description
- start_time
- end_time
- venue
- location (lat, lng)
- source (API, manual, scrape)
- category
- tags
- organizer

Bookmarks
- id
- user_id
- event_id

Key Functionality Details

Search & Filtering

• Filter by category, tags, dates, location radius

• Full-text search with fuzzy matching

Event Deduplication

• Use hashing (e.g. hash title+time+venue) to detect duplicates

• Manual override via admin panel

Email Digests

• Weekly top events via scheduled emails (SendGrid, Mailchimp)

Admin Tools

• Approve or reject user submissions

• See aggregated events by source

• Monitor scraping/API success/failure logs

Monetization Ideas

• Featured event listings

• Local business ads

• Affiliate links (ticketing platforms)

• Membership for exclusive perks (early RSVPs, discounts)

Security & Compliance

• CAPTCHA for submissions

• Rate-limiting API endpoints

• GDPR-compliant cookie consent & data handling

• HTTPS everywhere (use Let’s Encrypt)

Scalability Tips

• Store scraped data temporarily with TTL to avoid bloat

• Cache geo-based queries

• Use background workers (Celery for Python or BullMQ for Node)

Sample Scraper in Python (Eventbrite)

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import requests

def get_eventbrite_events(city):
    url = f"https://www.eventbriteapi.com/v3/events/search/?location.address={city}&token=YOUR_API_KEY"
    response = requests.get(url)
    data = response.json()
    events = []
    for event in data.get("events", []):
        events.append({
            "title": event["name"]["text"],
            "start_time": event["start"]["local"],
            "end_time": event["end"]["local"],
            "description": event["description"]["text"],
            "url": event["url"]
        })
    return events

Future Enhancements

• Mobile App (React Native)

• AI recommendation engine

• Community discussion on events

• Integration with smart calendars (Google, Outlook)

If you want a working MVP or code base, I can help you generate the front-end or back-end components step by step.