Event Date Planner
Plan an event from a start date or back from a deadline: milestones in working days, a buffer between them, weekends and holiday regions skipped. How it works
Use the Event Date Planner
About the Event Date Planner
The planner lays milestones end to end in working days. Starting Monday, October 19, 2026 with Milestone 1 (3 days), a 1-day buffer and Milestone 2 (5 days), the plan ends Thursday, October 29, 2026. Counted back from a Friday, December 18, 2026 deadline, the same plan has to start on Tuesday, December 8, 2026. Weekends are skipped by default and a holiday region can be added.
Holidays each region counts in 2026
| Region | Dates counted | Of these on Monday to Friday |
|---|---|---|
| United States (federal) | Jan 1, Jan 19, Feb 16, May 25, Jun 19, Jul 4 (Sat), Sep 7, Oct 12, Nov 11, Nov 26, Dec 25 | 10 |
| UK (England and Wales) | Jan 1, Apr 3, Apr 6, May 4, May 25, Aug 31, Dec 25, Dec 26 (Sat) | 7 |
| EU (common dates) | Jan 1, Apr 6, May 1, Dec 25, Dec 26 (Sat) | 4 |
| Australia (national) | Jan 1, Jan 26, Apr 3, Apr 6, Apr 25 (Sat), Dec 25, Dec 26 (Sat) | 5 |
Every date comes from the planner’s own holiday rules. A holiday on a Saturday or Sunday is not moved to a weekday.
Build 10 days, 1-day buffer, Test 5 days, starting Monday, December 14, 2026
| Setting | Build ends | Test starts | Test ends | Holidays excluded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No holidays | Fri Dec 25, 2026 | Tue Dec 29, 2026 | Mon Jan 4, 2027 | 0 |
| United States (federal) | Mon Dec 28, 2026 | Wed Dec 30, 2026 | Wed Jan 6, 2027 | 2 |
| UK (England and Wales) | Mon Dec 28, 2026 | Wed Dec 30, 2026 | Wed Jan 6, 2027 | 2 |
| United States, weekends not skipped | Wed Dec 23, 2026 | Sat Dec 26, 2026 | Wed Dec 30, 2026 | 1 |
The two holidays excluded are Friday, December 25 and Friday, January 1. In the UK the Saturday, December 26 holiday falls on a weekend, so it adds nothing.
How to use this tool
- Choose Forward from Start and enter a start date, or Backward from Deadline and enter the deadline. The start date opens on today and the deadline on 90 days from today.
- Name each milestone and give its length in working days (0.5 to 365, in steps of 0.5). Add up to 30, or press Load event presets for six example milestones (venue, guest list, invitations, catering, decorations, walk-through), whose lengths are only placeholders to edit. Loading them also switches the plan to Backward from Deadline.
- Set the buffer (0 to 30 working days between milestones), whether weekends are skipped, the working days per week and a holiday region or custom dates.
- Read Plan Ends (forward) or the recommended start date (backward), the table and the Gantt bars. The planner saves nothing in the browser, so copy the share link to keep the plan or send it to someone, or press Download calendar (.ics) to add it to a calendar.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I plan an event backward from a deadline?
- Choose Backward from Deadline and enter the deadline. The last milestone ends on that day, or on the last working day before it, and each earlier milestone is placed before the next one with the buffer between them. For the default milestones (3 and 5 days, 1-day buffer) and a deadline of Friday, December 18, 2026, the recommended start is Tuesday, December 8, 2026. If the plan would have to start before today, the page says the milestones do not fit and asks you to shorten them or move the deadline.
- Does a 5-day milestone end five days after it starts?
- It occupies five working days counting its start day, so five days from Monday, October 19, 2026 ends Friday, October 23, not the following Monday. The next milestone starts on the next working day, and the buffer adds that many working days between milestones.
- Which holidays does the event planner skip?
- None until you choose a region; the 2026 dates each region counts are in the first table. The lists are national only: United States federal, England and Wales, Australia national, and for the EU five dates that most member states observe nationally (January 1, Easter Monday, May 1, December 25 and 26). Each country sets its own list, and not every country has all five: among others, December 26 is not a national holiday in Belgium, France, Spain or Portugal, and Easter Monday is not one in Spain or Portugal, so to plan for one country, choose Custom dates and enter that country’s list. A holiday on a weekend is not moved: July 4, 2026 is a Saturday, and the planner does not treat Friday, July 3 as a holiday, although the US Office of Personnel Management observes it. The same goes for the UK substitute day of Monday, December 28, 2026. Use Custom dates to add days like these.
- Can I schedule half days?
- Yes. Durations go in steps of 0.5 from 0.5 to 365 days. Two milestones of 0.5 days with no buffer both land on Monday, October 19, 2026, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
- What happens if the start date is a weekend or a holiday?
- With weekends skipped, the first milestone starts on the next working day: a start on Saturday, October 17, 2026 begins on Monday, October 19. A holiday in the chosen region is passed over the same way. Working Days / Week (1 to 7, counted from Monday) changes which days count: with a 4-day week, 5 days from Monday, October 19 ends on Monday, October 26.
- Can I add the plan to my calendar?
- Yes. Download calendar (.ics) saves event-plan.ics, a standard iCalendar file. It holds one all-day event per milestone, spanning its first to its last day, plus one all-day event on the deadline (backward) or on the day the plan ends (forward). Calendar apps that import .ics files show them as ordinary events. The file is built in the page when you press the button.
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