Looking for a simple way to spark more foot traffic, highlight local gems, and keep your community engaged this summer? Meet your new favorite tool: Proxi Passport Events.

Passports are digital checklists and challenges where people visit places, collect digital stamps, and earn rewards. And with Proxi, it’s never been easier to build one, promote it, and track participation.

Whether you're running a downtown district, managing a Main Street program, or boosting tourism, a summer passport is a low-lift, high-reward campaign your community will love.

Need ideas? Here are 10 creative summer passport concepts to get you started. 

10 Summer Passport Ideas to Map Out Your Fun

1. Ice Cream Trail Challenge

Nothing says summer like a cold treat on a hot day. Create a fun, family-friendly passport that guides participants to local ice cream shops, frozen yogurt stands, and dessert trucks. You can include shop details, flavor highlights, and bonus activities like photo challenges or themed days. Offer small rewards or a prize drawing for participants who visit a set number of stops.

📍 Real Example: The Bucks County Ice Cream Trail Challenge, created by Visit Bucks County, sends participants on a county-wide ice cream quest. With fun bonus activities like the “Unique Topping Challenge,” it’s a flavorful way to explore and share local favorites.

2. Summer Festival Passport Challenge

Turn your festival into an interactive adventure with a digital passport that encourages attendees to explore more, stay longer, and engage deeper. Participants can check in at vendor booths, food trucks, activity zones, or sponsor tents to earn points and unlock rewards. Layer in extra challenges like snapping a photo at a mural  or voting for the best festival snack to create buzz and friendly competition.

📍 Real Example: The West Des Moines River Park Palooza Challenge used Proxi to guide attendees through festival activities and vendors, offering a fun way to collect digital stamps and win prizes. With interactive tasks and family-friendly incentives, it turned a typical day at the park into a memorable, gamified experience.

3. Shop Local Hop

Support your local business community by turning shopping small into a fun challenge. Build a passport featuring boutiques, bookstores, pop-ups, and handmade markets. Include special offers or exclusive deals, and give participants a reward or raffle entry for visiting a set number of locations.

💡 Idea Twist: Offer bonus points for bringing a friend or making a purchase—perfect for cross-promotions and downtown buzz.

4. Brewery & Cidery Trail

Tap into your local craft scene with a passport that invites participants to explore breweries, cideries, meaderies, or taprooms across your region. Feature signature drinks or “challenge brews” at each stop, and encourage visitors to check in digitally using on-site QR codes. The more taps they visit, the more rewards they unlock—making it a perfect campaign for beer lovers and community supporters alike.

📍 Real Example: 25 Taps for the St. Johns celebrates the 25th anniversary of the St. Johns Riverkeeper with a flavorful fundraiser that highlights breweries across the St. Johns River watershed. Participants check in at designated breweries to earn points, collect prizes, and raise awareness for clean water—all while sampling brews that support the cause. Bonus activities like posting selfies, repping Riverkeeper gear, or sharing on social media add extra points and entries into a grand prize drawing for a fishing charter or eco tour. 

5. Park Explorer Challenge

Encourage outdoor activity and local discovery with a passport focused on parks, trails, and open spaces. Each stop can include family-friendly features like nature scavenger hunts, splash pads, picnic spots, or historical facts. Great for families, wellness initiatives, and tourism campaigns alike.

💡 Idea Twist: Add a selfie challenge or trivia quiz at each stop to boost social sharing and interaction.

6. Coffee & Breakfast Crawl

Start the day off right with a morning-focused passport that highlights your community’s best cafés, diners, and breakfast spots. Perfect for commuters, remote workers, and weekend brunch-goers alike. Include signature drinks or breakfast specials to tempt people out of their routine.

💡 Idea Twist: Add early bird incentives or loyalty perks for repeat visits—great for weekday business boosts.

7. Art & Murals Walk

Transform your city into an open-air gallery with a passport that highlights public art. Map murals, sculptures, gallery windows, and installations, and let participants wander their way through creative corners. Include artist bios, photo prompts, or interactive QR content to enrich the experience.

💡 Idea Twist: Collaborate with artists to create clues, coloring activities, or behind-the-scenes audio to deepen engagement.

8. Historic Highlights Passport

Celebrate your community’s roots with a self-guided tour of historic homes, monuments, plaques, and museums. A historic passport invites locals and visitors alike to learn something new—and see familiar places in a new light. Add archival photos, audio clips, or links to local legends.

💡 Idea Twist: Partner with a historical society to create mini challenges, like a then v now challenge. Take a photo of a historic location today and compare it with an old photo (provided on the map or from a local archive).

9. Kid-Friendly Adventure Map

Create a passport just for kids (and their grown-ups) filled with parks, splash pads, mini golf, story times, and sweet treat stops. It’s the perfect way to keep families active and engaged all summer long. Include a reward like a sticker pack or small prize to encourage participation.

💡 Idea Twist: Run a themed challenge like “5 Parks in 5 Days” or “Splash Pad Weekend” to keep things fresh and exciting.

10. Summer Reading Trail

Turn your love of books into an interactive experience. Partner with local libraries, bookstores, and reading programs to build a passport that promotes literacy and exploration. Add QR codes that link to book lists, author videos, or digital storytimes to bring the experience to life.

💡 Idea Twist: Host pop-up storytimes in parks or plazas and use the passport to guide participants from one event to the next.

Why Passports Work—and Why Proxi Makes Them Even Better

Summer passport challenges are more than just fun—they’re powerful tools to boost engagement, support local businesses, and bring your community together. And with Proxi, launching one couldn’t be easier.

Fast, No-Code Setup: Build and customize your digital passport in minutes—no tech team required.

Custom Challenges & Check-Ins: Create interactive experiences with QR codes, task completions, and bonus activities to keep participants engaged from start to finish.

Drive Real-World Impact: Use passports to increase foot traffic to local businesses, promote hidden gems, and amplify community events.

Track Everything: Our built-in dashboard gives you real-time data on participation, check-ins, challenge completions, and more—so you can measure success and report impact with confidence.

Branded & Beautiful: Easily customize your passport’s design to match your organization’s branding for a polished, professional look that feels like you.

Mobile-First, Share-Friendly: Proxi passports are accessible on any device and easy to share—perfect for spreading the word via email, social, or partner networks.

Whether you’re organizing a single-day event or a summer-long campaign, Proxi gives you the tools to turn a simple map into a memorable, meaningful experience.

Let’s Build Your Summer Passport

Want to get started? We’d love to help you map it out. Whether you're planning a small neighborhood challenge or a county-wide campaign, Proxi makes it easy to bring your vision to life.

👉 Book a Demo or get started with the template below!