If you walked around downtown in Napa Valley today, you might chance upon the ARTwalk. The ARTwalk is currently attracting tens of thousands of foreigners, holiday-goers and art lovers from all around the world. The wonderful event uses, mostly, conventional media to popularize the event, drawing attention it, calling it the 'Celebrating the Napa River' which has a very touristy feel to it.

The ARTwalk was thoughtfully put together by the Arts Council of Napa Valley and the authorities. But that isn't what attracted us to this news. As usual, it is the technology being used to promote the event that eventually did it to us.

They are using QR codes this year in an effort to bring information to the audience and also enhance communication between the people who put the event together and the people who were there to enjoy it. The ARTwalk structures are going to be steady structures there for a year and once the year comes to a close, people can log in and vote for their favorite artwork.

If you don't know what a QR Code looks like, head over, put your nose up to one of those black and white boxes and scan it with your smart phone. The QR Codes contains information about the artist behind the art work and more information about it – which is a sort of audio tour.

One of the things about visiting an art museum is that people who are not really into the whole artsy-fartsy scene might feel a little bit turned off by the fact that they do not belong to the circle. They don't remember the name of the last artwork or art exhibition that they have been to, so, it is kind of intimidating for these people.

However, with the QR Code and audio tour, it makes looking at the sculptures more dummy-proof. With the QR Codes, anyone, with or without an art background, can enjoy the sculptures.

The authorities and organizers agreed on the fact that QR Code is an amazing technology and the best thing about it is that creating and using it is amazingly affordable.

Would it trouble them that not everyone's got an iPhone or blackberry? Yes, they do worry about it but they were of the opinion that in a group of five or more people came, chances are that at least one of the them owns a smart phone. So, the audio tour can be shared amongst friends that way, providing them with a more in-depth and intimate experience.