Home Assistant Local Calendar: Your Ultimate 2026 Guide to Private, Powerful Automations

Last updated on February 6, 2026

The Home Assistant Local Calendar integration is one of the most powerful, privacy-focused tools you can use to supercharge your automations in 2026. Unlike its cloud-based counterparts, it allows you to create event calendars that live exclusively on your system, guaranteeing fast, reliable operation without ever needing an internet connection.

In this definitive guide, I’ll show you not just how to install it, but how to unlock its full potential with practical examples that will transform your smart home. I’ve found that its real magic isn’t just showing your next event; it’s using its powerful calendar triggers to build complex and fully customized Home Assistant automations.

Local Calendar vs. Cloud Alternatives: Why Local Still Wins

Before we dive into the setup, it’s crucial to understand why, in 2026, the local calendar remains a superior choice for any serious smart home enthusiast. Its philosophy aligns perfectly with Home Assistant’s core principles: local control and privacy first.

This doesn’t mean you have to choose one over the other. The most robust strategy is to use both. Use the Local Calendar for your home’s mission-critical tasks and integrate a cloud calendar for social or shared events.

Setting Up the Local Calendar in Home Assistant

Adding a new local calendar is a dead-simple process handled directly from the Home Assistant UI.

You can add it to your Home Assistant instance via the My Home Assistant button:

Manual Configuration Steps

If the button above doesn’t work for you, you can also perform the following steps manually to set up your Home Assistant Local Calendar:

• Navigate to your Home Assistant instance.
• In the sidebar, click on Settings.
• From the configuration menu, select Devices & Services.
• In the bottom right corner, click the Add Integration button.
• From the list, search for and select “Local Calendar”.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to name your calendar and complete the setup.

Calendar Entity vs. Calendar Trigger: Which One Should You Use?

Once created, you’ll have a new calendar entity (e.g., calendar.household_chores). It’s crucial to understand the two ways it can be used in automations.

The Calendar Entity: Useful, but Limited

The entity itself has a state (`on` or `off`) and attributes that only represent the *next* upcoming event. The state flips to `on` when an event is currently active. While this is helpful for displaying information on your dashboard, it’s very limiting for automations because it can only “see” the next scheduled item.

The Calendar Trigger: The Real Automation Engine

The calendar trigger is the most flexible and powerful way to leverage your calendar events. Instead of watching the entity’s state, it reacts directly to the `start` or `end` of *any* event. This allows you to filter events based on their content (summary, description, etc.). This is where the real power lies.

3 Practical Automation Examples with Local Calendar

Let’s put this into practice with some real-world YAML code you can adapt for your own needs.

Example 1: Smart Trash Day Reminder

This automation sends a notification 10 minutes before the “Take out the trash” event begins and makes an announcement on your smart speakers.

alias: 'Smart Trash Day Reminder'
description: 'Notifies 10 minutes before the trash day event'
trigger:
  - platform: calendar
    event: start
    offset: "-0:10:00"
    entity_id: calendar.household_chores
condition:
  - condition: template
    value_template: "{{ 'trash' in trigger.calendar_event.summary | lower }}"
action:
  - service: notify.mobile_app_my_phone
    data:
      title: "Chore Reminder"
      message: "It's time to take out the trash!"
  - service: tts.google_translate_say
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.all_speakers
    data:
      message: "Reminder, it is time to take out the trash."
mode: single

Example 2: Automatic “Movie Night” Mode

Create an event called “Movie Night.” This automation will dim the lights when it starts and bring them back up when it ends.

alias: 'Automatic Movie Night Mode'
description: 'Controls living room lights for movie night'
trigger:
  - platform: calendar
    event: start
    entity_id: calendar.entertainment
    id: 'movie_starts'
  - platform: calendar
    event: end
    entity_id: calendar.entertainment
    id: 'movie_ends'
condition:
  - condition: template
    value_template: "{{ 'movie night' in trigger.calendar_event.summary | lower }}"
action:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id: 'movie_starts'
        sequence:
          - service: light.turn_on
            target:
              entity_id: light.living_room_lights
            data:
              brightness_pct: 20
              transition: 5
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id: 'movie_ends'
        sequence:
          - service: light.turn_on
            target:
              entity_id: light.living_room_lights
            data:
              brightness_pct: 100
              transition: 5
mode: single

Example 3: Trigger Garden Sprinklers on a Schedule

A perfect use case for a dedicated system-tasks calendar. Create a recurring event for your sprinkler system.

alias: 'Automatic Garden Sprinklers'
description: 'Activates sprinklers based on the garden calendar'
trigger:
  - platform: calendar
    event: start
    entity_id: calendar.garden
condition:
  - condition: template
    value_template: "{{ 'sprinkler' in trigger.calendar_event.summary | lower }}"
action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.garden_sprinkler_valve
mode: single

Advanced Management: Multiple Calendars & Cloud Coexistence

Creating and Managing Multiple Local Calendars

You aren’t limited to a single calendar. You can have as many as you need to organize your events. Simply repeat the “Add Integration” process to create separate calendars like “Household Chores,” “Work,” “System Maintenance,” etc. This allows for cleaner, more specific automations for each context.

The Hybrid Strategy: Local Calendar + Cloud Calendar

As I mentioned earlier, the best strategy in 2026 is a hybrid one:

• Use Local Calendars for: Recurring household chores, device operating schedules (heating, sprinklers), maintenance reminders, and any event that is critical to your home’s operation.
• Use Cloud Calendars for: Events you need to manage on the go or share with others (doctor’s appointments, family gatherings, personal reminders). You can integrate these calendars into Home Assistant so they can also trigger automations if you wish.

In addition to creating events manually, you can use services to programmatically create events in your Home Assistant calendars from other automations or scripts, opening up a world of possibilities.

Conclusion: Your Private, Local Scheduling Powerhouse

The Home Assistant Local Calendar is far more than a simple agenda. It’s a foundational pillar for building a truly autonomous, private, and reliable smart home. By mastering its event triggers, you can schedule nearly any aspect of your digital and physical life, ensuring your house works for you—without depending on external services. It’s undoubtedly an essential integration for any serious Home Assistant setup in 2026.