Data Sources and Backfill: Populate Your Calendar for Launch

Overview

Backfill data sources automatically populate your events calendar with event listings from trusted external providers such as Ticketmaster, AXS, Bandsintown, Goldstar, and Active Network. This ensures your calendar has a strong base of content from day one, even before local event creators begin submitting their own listings.

Your own locally submitted events always take priority over backfill content. Think of your calendar as having two layers — local submissions rise to the top while imported backfill forms the base beneath, creating a full, engaging experience for visitors.

How Backfill Works

Evvnt partners with major event databases to import event data that matches your site's location, radius, and category settings. These imported listings are known as backfill events and are automatically formatted for your calendar.

Backfill events differ from locally submitted events in a few ways:

• They are system-generated — they do not originate from a local user account
• They can be displayed or hidden depending on your calendar configuration
• They can be managed by authorized editors from the editor dashboard using the Manage options on any event listing

Why Backfill Matters

Backfill keeps your calendar active and appealing while your local community engagement grows. By combining events from national and regional promoters with community submissions, your site benefits from:

• Instant volume — your calendar is populated from launch
• Continuous updates — new events appear automatically as providers add them
• SEO value — a consistent flow of current event content supports organic search traffic
• Monetization support — more events mean higher engagement, which supports ad sales and sponsorship value

Pulling Backfill Events via the API

Backfill events can be retrieved through the Publisher API, but they are excluded by default. The GET /events endpoint only returns evvnt-sourced events unless you add the all_sources=true parameter.

More info here: Calendar Site Partner API Access

Available Data Sources

The data sources available for your calendar may include:

• Ticketmaster — major concerts, sports, theater, and live events
• AXS — concerts, sports, and live entertainment
• Bandsintown — live music events and touring artists
• Goldstar — discounted tickets for live entertainment, theater, and film
• Active Network — activities including athletics, recreation programs, camps, and classes

Which sources are active for your calendar depends on your configuration. If you have admin or editor access for a calendar, then you can enable or disable specific feeds.

Managing Backfill Events

You have several options for how backfill content behaves on your site:

• Enable or disable data sources — Your team can configure which feeds are active for your calendar
• Control display settings — choose whether backfill events show with or without images, and how they are prioritized relative to your own submissions
• Edit or remove events — from the editor dashboard, use the Manage button on any backfill event to access editing, hiding, or removal options. See Manage Events for details.

Best Practices

Encourage local submissions — as your community grows, local events will naturally rise in priority over imported content.

Review periodically — scan your calendar to ensure imported content aligns with your brand and audience.

Related Articles

• Manage Events: Edit, Reject, and Bulk Reject Listings
• Publishing Settings: Set Your Catchment Area and Radius
• Publishing Settings: Control Event Categories and Allowed Content