Cairde Sligo Arts Festival — React Native App

A portfolio mobile app for the Cairde Sligo Arts Festival, built with React Native 0.84.

Screenshots (iPhone 16 Pro Max)

Captured on the iOS Simulator. PNG originals live in release/screenshots/iPhone 16 Pro Max PNG/; JPEG copies in release/screenshots/iPhone 16 Pro Max JPG/.

Home	Featured events	Event details	Map categories
Map details	My Festival	What’s On

App preview video

Short walkthrough (~27 s). The full recording is release/video/CarideAppVideo.mp4 (~48 MB). For the README and faster loading, use the compressed preview:

release/video/cairde-app-preview.mp4 (~6.5 MB, H.264, faststart).

Download / open preview video · Encoding notes & variant comparison

Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	React Native 0.84 + React 19
Navigation	React Navigation 7 (Native Stack + Bottom Tabs)
Animations	React Native Reanimated 4
Graphics	@shopify/react-native-skia 1.x
Maps	react-native-maps 1.27
Storage	@react-native-async-storage/async-storage
Icons	FontAwesome 6 (solid + brands)
Gradients	react-native-linear-gradient
Architecture	New Architecture (Fabric + TurboModules)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+ (RN 0.84 requires Node 22 minimum)
• Xcode 16+ for iOS
• Android Studio Hedgehog+ for Android
• Ruby / Bundler for CocoaPods

Getting Started

# Install dependencies
npm install

# iOS — install pods
cd ios && bundle exec pod install && cd ..

# Start Metro bundler
npm start

# Run on iOS simulator
npm run ios

# Run on Android emulator
npm run android

Key Features

• Countdown timer — Skia-powered circular progress ring counting down to festival
• Event listings — Full-screen cards with gradient overlays and favorite saving
• My Festival — Personal schedule with timeline view and native share
• Interactive map — Filter venues by category (Art, Stages, Bars, Food) with pill chips
• FAQ accordion — Animated expand/collapse with linked resources
• Dark navigation — Reanimated 4 animated tab icons with bounce effect

Architecture Notes

• New Architecture (Fabric renderer) enabled by default on both iOS and Android
• iOS minimum deployment target: 17.0
• Android minimum SDK: 24
• All hardcoded dates are computed dynamically from new Date().getFullYear()

Google Maps Setup

1. Obtain a Google Maps API key from the Google Cloud Console
2. Create android/app/secrets.properties with:

   MAPS_API_KEY=your_key_here
   

3. For iOS, add your key to ios/cairde_festival/AppDelegate.mm or via the Info.plist

Node Version

# Using nvm
nvm install 22
nvm use 22

# Or using fnm
fnm install 22
fnm use 22