diff --git a/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/app.nim b/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/app.nim
index 1cac38f15..b3ecd15c1 100644
--- a/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/app.nim
+++ b/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/app.nim
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ type
     textColor*: Color
     timeColor*: Color
     titleColor*: Color
+    startWithToday*: bool
 
   App* = ref object of AppRoot
     appConfig*: AppConfig
@@ -36,17 +37,21 @@ proc get*(self: App, context: ExecutionContext): string =
   let time = &"^({self.appConfig.baseFontSize},{self.appConfig.timeColor.toHtmlHex()})"
   let events = self.appConfig.events
   let timezone = self.getTimezone(events)
-  let todayTs = epochTime().Timestamp
-  let today = format(todayTs, titleFormat, tzName = timezone)
 
   proc h1(text: string): string = &"{title}{text}\n{normal}\n"
   proc formatDay(day: string): string = format(parseTs("{year/4}-{month/2}-{day/2}", day), titleFormat)
 
-  var currentDay = format(todayTs, "{year/4}-{month/2}-{day/2}", tzName = timezone)
+  let noEvents = events == nil or events.kind != JArray or events.len == 0
 
-  result = h1(today)
+  result = ""
 
-  if events == nil or events.kind != JArray or events.len == 0:
+  var currentDay = ""
+  if self.appConfig.startWithToday or noEvents:
+    let todayTs = epochTime().Timestamp
+    result &= h1(format(todayTs, titleFormat, tzName = timezone))
+    currentDay = format(todayTs, "{year/4}-{month/2}-{day/2}", tzName = timezone)
+
+  if noEvents:
     result &= &"No events found\n"
     return
 
@@ -61,10 +66,9 @@ proc get*(self: App, context: ExecutionContext): string =
     let withTime = "T" in startDay
     let startDate = startDay.split("T")[0]
 
-    if startDate > currentDay:
-      if not hasAny:
+    if startDate != currentDay: # new day, past or future
+      if not hasAny and startDate != currentDay and self.appConfig.startWithToday:
         result &= "No events today\n"
-
       result &= "\n" & h1(formatDay(startDate))
       currentDay = startDate
 
diff --git a/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/config.json b/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/config.json
index b23428b38..9ad9efea8 100644
--- a/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/config.json
+++ b/frameos/src/apps/data/eventsToAgenda/config.json
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@
       "value": "#FF0000",
       "required": true,
       "label": "Time color"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "startWithToday",
+      "type": "boolean",
+      "value": "true",
+      "required": true,
+      "label": "Always start with today's date"
     }
   ],
   "output": [
diff --git a/frameos/src/frameos/config.nim b/frameos/src/frameos/config.nim
index 5b13d2ad1..f044fc7ba 100644
--- a/frameos/src/frameos/config.nim
+++ b/frameos/src/frameos/config.nim
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ proc setConfigDefaults*(config: var FrameConfig) =
   if config.frameHost == "": config.frameHost = "localhost"
   if config.frameAccess == "": config.frameAccess = "private"
   if config.name == "": config.name = config.frameHost
-  if config.timeZone == "": config.timeZone = findSystemTimeZone()
+  if config.timeZone == "": config.timeZone = detectSystemTimeZone()
 
 proc loadSchedule*(data: JsonNode): FrameSchedule =
   result = FrameSchedule(events: @[])
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ proc loadConfig*(filename: string = "frame.json"): FrameConfig =
     saveAssets: if data{"saveAssets"} == nil: %*(false) else: data{"saveAssets"},
     logToFile: data{"logToFile"}.getStr(),
     debug: data{"debug"}.getBool() or commandLineParams().contains("--debug"),
-    timeZone: data{"timeZone"}.getStr("UTC"),
+    timeZone: data{"timeZone"}.getStr(""),
     schedule: loadSchedule(data{"schedule"}),
     gpioButtons: loadGPIOButtons(data{"gpioButtons"}),
     controlCode: loadControlCode(data{"controlCode"}),
diff --git a/frameos/src/lib/tz.nim b/frameos/src/lib/tz.nim
index 2b5ee294d..029c40b38 100644
--- a/frameos/src/lib/tz.nim
+++ b/frameos/src/lib/tz.nim
@@ -8,14 +8,26 @@ proc initTimeZone*() =
   const tzData = staticRead("../../assets/compiled/tz/tzdata.json")
   loadTzData(tzData)
 
-proc findSystemTimeZone*(): string =
-  let filename = "/etc/timezone"
 
+proc detectSystemTimeZone*(): string =
+  ## Returns e.g. "Europe/Brussels"; never raises.
+  const zoneinfoPrefix = "/usr/share/zoneinfo/"
   try:
-    if fileExists(filename):
-      let line = readFile(filename).strip()
-      if line != "":
-        return line
-  except:
-    discard
-  return "UTC"
+    # Works whenever /etc/localtime is a symlink (systemd-managed distros)
+    let tgt = expandSymlink("/etc/localtime")
+    if tgt.startsWith(zoneinfoPrefix):
+      result = tgt[zoneinfoPrefix.len .. ^1] # strip the prefix
+  except OSError: discard
+
+  # Debian/Raspberry-Pi fallback: /etc/timezone is a plain text copy
+  if result.len == 0 and fileExists("/etc/timezone"):
+    result = readFile("/etc/timezone").strip()
+
+  # Last-ditch: stay explicit
+  if result.len == 0:
+    result = "UTC"
+
+  # check if result is a valid timezone
+  if not valid(findTimeZone(result)):
+    echo "Warning: Detected timezone is not valid: ", result
+    result = "UTC"