Get this in the WhatsApp immediately.

Anyone who has been on a night out in Cork knows how quickly a group chat can descend into chaos once everyone starts suggesting different pubs, gigs and places to go next.

Now, one Cork local reckons he has an answer – and it’s arriving just in time for the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.

Will, the creator of Barrmin, has developed a free app designed to help groups plan their nights out, keep track of what’s happening around the city and, most importantly, stop everyone from disappearing in different directions halfway through the evening.

The app started as an idea after a great night out and has since become a labour-of-love side project over the past few months.

And with Jazz Weekend bringing thousands of people onto Cork’s streets from Thursday, October 22nd, to Monday, October 26th, it’s launching at a pretty handy time.

“I’ve been running a lot since COVID, and on a night out with friends we were chatting about fitness trackers,” Will told us.

“We joked that someone should make a fitness app for socialising. I was keen to learn some new skills, and with AI tools making it possible, I started building it for my friends to see how far I could take it.

“It started as a tongue-in-cheek fitness tracker for nights out and has grown into a planner and tracker for groups of friends. Earlier this year I built out the All Together Now schedule for my wife and friends, and that’s where the festival planner came from.”

How does it work?

Barrmin has 745 sets across 79 venues in Cork, Kinsale and the surrounding area for the festival weekend, covering everything from the official programme to the Music Trail and fringe events.

The idea is simple: instead of spending half the night trying to work out where everyone is going, groups can use the app to see what’s on, plan their own routes between gigs and share a private group map.

That map is only visible to the group and only while the night is on, meaning your friends can keep track of the plan without broadcasting everyone’s movements to the world.

There’s even a feature that generates a deadpan report on your night out the following day – which could make for some interesting reading after a particularly ambitious Jazz Weekend session.

As Will puts it, the point is to keep the group together and get everyone home.

Barrmin is an independent app and isn’t officially connected with the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, but it could prove useful for anyone hoping to squeeze as much music as possible into the long weekend without spending hours coordinating plans.

The app is free to download on iPhone and Android, although it’s restricted to users aged 18 and over.

If you’re already putting together your Jazz Weekend itinerary, you can check out the festival listings on barrmin.com/corkjazz.