The Cultuletras festival returns to the Barrio de las Letras in Madrid for four days, offering free activities for residents and visitors. Storytelling sessions, workshops, and literary routes make up a program that aims to bring culture and history closer to all audiences, without needing to pay an entrance fee or book months in advance.
The technology behind the event's cultural management 🖥️
To coordinate the more than 30 simultaneous activities, the Cultuletras team has implemented an open-source management system. A web application with PHP and a MySQL database allows scheduling and real-time capacity control. Volunteers use tablets with a React interface to register attendees and prevent overcrowding. The system syncs with a Node.js server that updates the neighborhood's digital map, showing literary routes optimized using Dijkstra's algorithms to avoid congestion.
When your literary route ends at the corner bar 🍻
All very poetic until you realize that Cervantes' literary route passes right in front of four terraces. The algorithm calculated the most efficient route, but it didn't account for the fact that at seven in the evening, all the tables are occupied by tourists with sangria. The digital map warns you about congestion, but not that the only free spot is a bench next to a dumpster. At least the children's storytelling sessions have shade, even if it's from the fruit shop's awnings.