About Find Local

The idea for Find Local is credited to co-founder Alden Harris-McCoy, who, like me, thinks social media no longer serves its original intent of keeping us connected and informed. We rely on those platforms to know what's going on around us that's worth knowing, and to advertise our own events and gatherings — and they've become a poor way to do it. Every person who has worked on this project agrees: local artists, venues, gatherings, community and friends form the backbone of the cities we live in and the lives we want to lead. It's time there was a place that helped you find the treasures in your backyard without the noise. It's time to find local.

Elliot Harris, Co-Founder

So what is Find Local?

Find Local is a hyper-local event catalogue — and a free site for browsing it. See what's happening in music, theater, comedy and more across 84 cities in the US and UK, in an ever-expanding catalog that's updated daily. Filter by date, category, price and time of day, browse the map, or follow a venue you love. Browsing needs no account. Developers can put the same data in their own product through the API, the MCP server or a widget.

How?

Our pipeline reads the public calendars of thousands of local venues — music halls, comedy clubs, theaters, bars, community spaces — and turns them into one structured, searchable feed. Every listing links back to the venue or its own ticketing page so you can check the details at the source. If a venue isn't here yet but its calendar is online, email elliot@findlocal.community and it will be added promptly.

The team

Find Local is a team of friends, family and volunteers with a broad range of skills — marketing, software, business strategy, venue relations and promotion. Each member plays an essential role in making this a reality.

FAQs

How does Find Local make money?

We mostly don't. We're volunteers with a passion for promoting local artists and businesses, and we believe some things are worth doing even if you don't get paid. Some outbound links may be affiliate links; that never changes the price you pay or which events we show.

Does buying books support Find Local?

Yes — and it's the easiest way to help. Our literary listings link the featured book to our Bookshop.org storefront, which funds independent bookstores instead of Amazon. When you buy a book through one of those links, Find Local earns a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Buy your next read there and you support local bookshops and this project at once.

Would you be open to making money?

Of course — it would let us broaden the scope and speed at which we operate. For business inquiries (affiliate links, advertising, partnering, data licensing) email elliot@findlocal.community or see pricing and the API docs.

I want to help. How?

Tell us about missing venues, broken listings or a city you'd like covered. If you're interested in helping in a more committed way, email us a brief synopsis of your skills and interest.

Why not just ask ChatGPT what's happening?

AI assistants are heavily biased toward what's already popular, so you're unlikely to discover new places; Find Local lists every event equally. They're prone to hallucinations; Find Local always links you back to the real source so you can check for yourself. (And if you do like asking an assistant, our MCP server gives it real, sourced data.)

I want to report a bug, request a feature, or request a city or event.

Email elliot@findlocal.community with the details — thank you for your engagement!