We threw 30 parties in 13 cities last year.

Across different cities, different rooms, different crowds. If you came to one of them, you were part of it. Whether you were in a club, gallery, or in-between space—if you came through, you were part of it. We didn't want these to feel like one-off events; we wanted to build a way for showing up to actually count.

This is a look at what that meant in practice - and where we’re taking it next.

What does showing up look like?

A packed dance floor at Public Records. Tiga at the Black Hole Experience at SXSW. An internet café exhibition in Buenos Aires. Over 8,000 of you passed through these rooms, checked in, and kept coming back.

Music was the constant thread. We worked with Saoirse, Toribio, musclecars, Danny Daze, DJ Boring, INVT, Ash Lauryn, Kristine Barilli, DJ Python, Patrick Holland, and many more—hosting nights at the spots that hold these scenes together: Public Records (NYC), Valerie’s Factory (BA), RASA (Singapore), Park in Park (Tokyo), ESP HiFi (Denver), and Standard Time (Toronto).

Behind the sound, a massive group of visual artists transformed the spaces

Major thanks to: Abieyuwa, Agoria, Alice Bucknell, Alice Scope, Andy Rolfes, Anna Lucia, Antonia Sanín, Aoi Ito, Asuka, Bent Matter, Connie Bakshi, Craig Barrow, CROSSLUCID, Cybernovae, Danny Elfman, Dave HV, Dawnia Darkstone, Dina Chang, Ellie Pritts, Emi Kusano, Emily Edelman, EXPX Studio, Fingacode, Frenetik Void, Genki Nishida, Hanar, Happy Snacks, Hopium, HVR Memoirs, Itzel Yard, Jack J, Juan Pedro Vallejo, Kabuki, Kakiaraara, Kate Armstrong, Kelly De Melo Nunes, Kevin Peter He, Kim Asendorf, Kim Laughton, KN Studio, Konchord, Leander Herzog, Linda Dounia, Linda Loh, LoVid, Manami Sakamoto, Matt Keff, Maximum Perception, Muriel Lherm, NAXS Group, Nicolas N., Nicolas Sassoon, Nygilia, Oblinof, Occulted, OTP, P1xelfool, Papajams, Riniifish, Saeko Ehara, Sam Rolfes, Scanned by Vandi, Sci-Fi Mascara, Seo Hyo-jung, Shan Vincent de Paul, Sky Goodman, Sko, Slitrobo, Sound of Fractures, Stipin, Sunshine Vendetta, Survival Dance, Tabitha Swanson, Tap In, Theo Triantafyllidis, Tuukzs, Vintage Mozart, Wendi Yan, XTRUX, Yoshirotten, Yuehao Jiang, ZAP, and 100LDK.

IRL works with artists across clubs, galleries, festivals, and DIY spaces. If you want to collaborate or access funding, we share open calls, opportunities, and updates in our Telegram first.

You put the ‘real’ in IRL

Alongside all of that, IRL quietly became real. The app launched. Touchpoints went live across cities and venues. People checked in, earned rewards, and moved through onboarding in under 30 seconds — no wallets, no seed phrases, no explanations needed.

That setup held as things scaled. We saw 41,000 people engage during IRL Summer, a creator-led program ran by Refraction and Base, and another 1,084 onboarded via our Checkpoint photo booths in Rio with Stellar. At Devconnect Buenos Aires, we brought in 565 more through check-ins using Privy. By Art Basel week, IRL was running as a repeatable system inside Stellar House—check-ins, rewards, payments, and art collection all in one flow.

None of this happens without the 1,169 Founding Members who collected Refract Passes, contributing 292.25 ETH to support IRL and fund what came next, and the partners like MUTEK, Stellar, Livepeer, Base, Zora, Aptos, Reown, Polygon, Towns, FWB, Serpentine, ArtDAO, and many more, who help us put digital tools into real spaces.

2026: No More Starting From Scratch

We believe culture belongs to you, the people who show up. Until now, there was no way for that presence to carry forward. Together, we’re building the infrastructure to make participation matter.

The way we do that is by staying put longer with deeper presence in the cities we’ve already been part of. More ongoing work with the community organizers who actually hold scenes together — promoters, independent venues, artists and curators working across clubs, galleries, festivals, and artist-run spaces. We want to give you more chances to become a regular.

On the product side, that means a few concrete things rolling out over the year: tighter integration with ticketing platforms and venue check-ins, a significant expansion of our rewards program, curated ways to discover what’s happening across cities, and IRL payment rails that live in the background. Check in, participate, and carry that value with you to the next event.

The goal is simple: keep the infrastructure out of the way so the culture can lead.

If you want to follow along as IRL rolls out—new cities, new tools, and what’s coming before it’s public—we’re sharing updates first in our Telegram.

— The IRL Team
partnerships@refractionfestival.com