Event QR Code — Scan to Add to Calendar Instantly
You've designed a great poster or printed beautiful tickets, but getting attendees to actually block the date in their calendar requires them to manually type the details — and most won't bother until the day before, if at all. An event QR code encodes your title, date, time, location, and description in the iCalendar format: one scan drops a pre-filled calendar event onto the attendee's phone, ready to save in one tap. Use it on conference posters, festival flyers, event tickets, or email banners to cut the drop-off between 'interested' and 'on the calendar.'
How it works
Enter your event details
Fill in the event title, start date/time, end date/time, location, and an optional description. Date and time are entered in the format YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ (for example, 20260701T090000Z means July 1, 2026 at 09:00 UTC). Use a UTC timestamp or your local time with the correct offset — the calendar app will convert to the attendee's local time zone automatically.
Customize the QR code to match your event branding
Select foreground and background colors that complement your event artwork. Add a logo or icon in the center — a festival logo, a company mark, or a simple calendar icon works well. Keep enough contrast so the code scans reliably even when printed small on a flyer.
Download and embed in your materials
Export as SVG or PDF for high-quality print on posters, banners, and physical tickets. Export PNG for digital use — email campaigns, social media posts, or digital ticket PDFs. The QR code can be reproduced at any size without losing quality when you use the SVG format.
Attendees scan — calendar event appears, ready to save
When an attendee points their phone camera at the code, the native calendar app opens with all your event details pre-filled: title, date, time, location. They tap 'Add to Calendar' and it's done. Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Samsung Calendar, Outlook, and any app that accepts iCalendar (.ics) files.
FAQ
Enter dates in iCalendar format: YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ. For example, 20260701T090000Z is July 1, 2026 at 09:00:00 UTC. The trailing 'Z' indicates UTC. If your event is in a specific time zone and you want to avoid confusion, convert the local start and end times to UTC before entering them — most calendar apps display the event in the attendee's local time zone automatically. For all-day events, use the date-only format YYYYMMDD (e.g., 20260701) without a time component.
The event QR code generates a standard iCalendar (RFC 5545) format, which is supported by Apple Calendar (iOS & macOS), Google Calendar (Android & web), Microsoft Outlook, Samsung Calendar, and virtually every other calendar application. On iOS 11+, the native camera app recognizes the event and shows a banner to add it directly. On Android 8+, scanning triggers a calendar app prompt. No third-party scanner app is needed.
Yes, if you provide the time in UTC (with the Z suffix). The iCalendar standard is timezone-aware — when you enter a UTC time, each attendee's calendar app converts it to their local timezone automatically. For a conference in Tokyo at 10:00 JST, enter 20260701T010000Z (01:00 UTC, which equals 10:00 JST). An attendee in New York will see it displayed as 9:00 PM Eastern Time the night before, which is correct.
The event QR code only adds a calendar entry — it does not handle ticket sales or registration. For registration, use a separate URL QR code that links to your Eventbrite, Luma, or ticketing page. Many event organizers pair both: a URL QR code for registration on the website or social media, and an event QR code on the printed ticket confirmation so confirmed attendees can save the date.
The current generator creates single-occurrence events. The iCalendar format does support RRULE (recurrence rules), but encoding complex weekly or monthly series in a QR code is unusual and not supported in this tool. For recurring meetups or class series, the standard approach is to link a URL QR code to a page where attendees can subscribe to a full calendar feed (.ics subscription URL), which will push all future occurrences automatically.
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