diff --git a/src/pages/events/EventListPage.tsx b/src/pages/events/EventListPage.tsx
index eacded5..7068a68 100644
--- a/src/pages/events/EventListPage.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/events/EventListPage.tsx
@@ -116,11 +116,19 @@ const EventListPage: React.FC = () => {
     const { viewMode, setViewMode } = useExploreView();
     const [preview, setPreview] = useState<ExplorePreviewTarget>(null);
     const [searchDraft, setSearchDraft] = useState('');
-    const [params, setParams] = useState<EventListParams>({
-        limit: getSavedPageSize(TABLE_KEY),
-        offset: 0,
-        sort: 'id',
-        order: 'asc',
+    // Backend defaults to ±30 days on start_time when from/to omitted — empty list
+    // for seed/stage data outside that window while stats still show totals.
+    const [params, setParams] = useState<EventListParams>(() => {
+        const now = Date.now();
+        const yearMs = 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+        return {
+            limit: getSavedPageSize(TABLE_KEY),
+            offset: 0,
+            sort: 'created_at',
+            order: 'desc',
+            from: new Date(now - 5 * yearMs).toISOString(),
+            to: new Date(now + 2 * yearMs).toISOString(),
+        };
     });
     const { data, isLoading } = useEvents(params);
     const { data: stats } = useEventStats();