Facebook allows you to discover events happening in cities other than your current location. This can be useful if you are planning a trip, have recently moved, or just want to see what’s going on in a different town. Facebook has an events search feature that makes it easy to find events by location. You can also follow pages and groups from specific cities to see events they post. Here are some tips for how to see events in a different city on Facebook.
Use Facebook’s Event Search Tool
The easiest way to find events in another city is to use Facebook’s built-in event search tool. Here’s how:
- Go to www.facebook.com and log into your account if you aren’t already logged in.
- Click on the “Events” link in the left sidebar.
- In the “Search for Events” bar, type in the name of the city you want to view events for.
For example, if you wanted to see events happening in Los Angeles, you would type “Los Angeles” into the search bar.
Facebook will then display upcoming events taking place in Los Angeles. You can further filter the results by date to only see events occurring during a certain timeframe, like a specific weekend you’ll be visiting the city.
The events shown will include public events created by pages and groups on Facebook. You’ll see things like concerts, festivals, conferences, classes, and more.
One limitation is that private events created by individual users likely won’t show up in the search results. So this is best for finding public happenings.
Follow Pages and Groups in the City
Another way to see events in a specific city is to follow relevant Facebook pages and groups from that location. Here are some tips for finding ones to follow:
- Search for the city’s name plus terms like “events,” “things to do,” “concert alerts,” etc. This will surface pages specifically geared towards event listings in that area.
- Look up venues, theaters, concert halls, convention centers, and other event spaces in the city. Follow their Facebook pages so you’ll get notified when they have upcoming events.
- Search for genres of events like “San Francisco technology conferences” or “Portland food festivals.” Join any relevant groups that post events.
- Follow Facebook pages for local newspapers and magazines. They will promote events happening locally.
- Search for Facebook groups related to topics you’re interested in + the city name, like “Denver photography meetups.” Join the groups to see their event posts.
The benefit of following event-related pages and groups is that upcoming events will automatically show up in your Facebook News Feed. So you don’t have to repeatedly search for them.
You may need to like or join dozens of pages to get a comprehensive list of events for a given city. But the more pages you follow, the more events you’ll discover.
Adjust Your Location Settings Temporarily
You can temporarily tweak your location on Facebook to show events near a different city:
- Go to your Facebook account settings.
- Click on the “Location” tab.
- Enter the name of the city you want to view events for.
- Change the search radius to expand the area. A 50-100 mile radius from the center of the city is a good starting point.
- Save your new (temporary) location.
Now when you go to the Facebook Events page or browse your News Feed, you should start seeing events from that city mixed in alongside events from your actual location.
This makes it easy to discover what concerts, festivals, and other happenings are occurring in the target city without having to do manual searches each time.
Just remember to change your location back when you are done. Otherwise, you’ll keep seeing events from the other city.
Look at Event Recommendations
Facebook recommends events to you based on pages and groups you’ve liked, posts you’ve engaged with, and other signals.
You may start getting recommended events in the target city after following a number of pages there or changing your location temporarily.
When browsing Facebook, pay attention to the “Events You May Like” section. This will showcase events the platform’s algorithm thinks you’ll be interested in.
So if you’ve taken steps to signal interest in a different city, some of those events may pop up in the recommendations module.
Turn on Event Notifications
Another handy option is enabling notifications about events on Facebook. Here’s how to turn them on:
- Click the arrow in the top right of Facebook.
- Go to “Settings & Privacy.”
- Select “Settings.”
- Click on “Notifications” in the left column.
- Turn on notifications for “Events.”
Now whenever a page you follow creates a new event, you’ll get a notification about it. This makes it easy to stay on top of upcoming happenings in the city.
You can fine-tune which pages you get notifications for by clicking “Edit” under the Notifications setting. This will let you disable notifications from pages that are less relevant.
View Friends’ Events in the City
If you have friends who live in the city you want events for, you can browse events they’ve RSVP’d to. Here’s how:
- Go to your friend’s profile.
- Click on the “Events” tab on their page.
- View the list of events they plan to attend.
Events your friends have RSVP’d to from that city will be listed. You can scroll through to get ideas for concerts, parties, meetings, and other happenings.
One caveat is that this will only include events they’ve RSVP’d as “Going” or “Interested” for, not all events happening there. But it can still give you additional events to consider attending.
Search by Event Name
If you know the specific name of an event you want to find, you can search for it directly on Facebook.
- Go to Facebook’s search bar at the top.
- Type in the exact name of the event in quotes.
For example “Cher concert in Seattle.”
Facebook will show results for any public pages that match that exact name. This works well for finding pages for concerts, festivals, conferences, and other named events.
You can also add the city after the event name to narrow it down by location.
Browse Events by Date
If you want to see events during a specific date range:
- Go to the Facebook Events page.
- Click “By Date” at the top.
- Select your start and end dates.
This will display all posted events happening between those dates. You can then scroll through to see ones taking place in the target city.
The downside is there may be lots of events from other locations mixed in. But it allows you to browse events chronologically, which is helpful if you know when you’ll be visiting the city already.
Turn on Location Services on Mobile
If you have location services enabled on your phone, you can discover even more nearby events:
- Open the Facebook app on your iOS or Android device.
- Go to theMenu > Settings & Privacy > Location Settings.
- Slide the toggle for location to the On position.
Now when you open the Nearby Friends feature in Facebook, it will show you events close to your current location.
As you travel near the city, this will automatically populate with events happening there. It uses your phone’s geolocation rather than your configured Facebook location.
This gives you an easy real-time look at local happenings in the target city as you get close to it.
Conclusion
Facebook provides a variety of ways to find events in cities other than where you live. The event search tool allows you targeted searches by location name. Following relevant pages and groups will populate your feed with events. Adjusting your settings temporarily shows nearby happenings. And leveraging friends, names searches, and dates lets you dig deeper into local happenings.
Use a combination of these approaches when looking for events in a different city on Facebook. This will give you the most comprehensive view of public events for places you’re visiting or considering a move to. Monitoring events ahead of time lets you plan activities and make the most of your time exploring a new city.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I see all events happening in a city on Facebook?
Unfortunately there is no single place that aggregates every event in a given city on Facebook. However, you can use a combination of the event search tool, location pages, groups, friends, and other approaches outlined above to find many events happening locally.
How far back can I view events for a city on Facebook?
Facebook’s event search tool and pages seem to show events occurring within the next few weeks to months. So you likely won’t be able to surface events from months or years ago in a specific location.
Will private events show up when browsing a city?
No, only public events created by pages and public groups will be visible. Private events organized by individual users that are invite-only won’t appear in public searches and feeds for that city.
Can I get notifications for events in a city I don’t live in?
Yes! By turning on notifications for the Events category in your Facebook settings, you can get notified whenever Pages you follow create new events. So follow relevant Pages in the target city to get notified about happenings there.
How do I find free events in a city on Facebook?
When using the event search tool, select “Free” under Price in the filters to only see free events. You can also search for terms like “free events in [city name]” and look in relevant low-cost groups.
| Event Discovery Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Event Search Tool | – Easy targeted searches by city – Filters by date/price |
– Only shows upcoming public events – Doesn’t cover everything happening |
| Follow Relevant Pages/Groups | – Get automatic updates in feed – Broad range of events |
– Need to actively follow many accounts |
| Temporarily Change Location | – Events mixed into main feed – Minimal effort |
– Doesn’t work as well for longer distances |
| Event Recommendations | – Surfaces events you may like | – Algorithm may not always be accurate |
| Friends’ Events | – Gets personalized events | – Limited to friends’ RSVPs only |
| Search by Name | – Good for specific known events | – Need to know exact event name |
| Browse by Date | – View chronological listings | – Lots of irrelevant events mixed in |
| Location Services | – Shows nearby events in real-time | – Requires enabling location access |
Key Takeaways
- Use Facebook’s search bar to find events in a city by name.
- Follow event pages and groups from the target location.
- Temporarily adjust your location in Facebook’s settings.
- Turn on notifications for the Events category.
- Check events your friends have RSVP’d to.
- Search for specific event names in quotes.
- Filter by date ranges to see upcoming events.
- Enable location services on mobile to see nearby happenings.