Quick Plugin Made for Cleveland GiveCamp 2018 & Updated for 2019 | Usage: [events] | Requires The Events Calendar to be installed and activated.

cgc-upcoming-events.php

<?php
/*
 * Plugin Name: TCBA Events Shortcode
 * Plugin URI: https://gist.github.com/megmorsie/f3f3b51adfa677dc243a147a26090740
 * Description: Sets up a shortcode [events] to be used to display an unordered list of upcoming events (set to 5).
 * Version: 1.0
 * Author: Cle GiveCamp
 * Author URI: http://clevelandgivecamp.org
 * License: GPL2
 * Text Domain: cle_givecamp
 */

// Supporting Documentation for This Plugin's Functionality:
// https://support.theeventscalendar.com/666307-Using-tribe_get_events

add_shortcode('events', 'cgc_return_event_list_shortcode');

function cgc_return_event_list_shortcode() {

	if ( function_exists('tribe_get_events') ) {

		// Patch found here: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/tribe_get_events-stopped-returning-eventstartdate-and-eventenddate-by-default/
		add_filter( 'tribe_get_events', 'mdw_add_back_EventEndDate', 5, 1 );
		function mdw_add_back_EventEndDate($events) {
			$updated_events = array();
			foreach($events as $event):
				$event->EventStartDate = tribe_get_start_date( $event, false, 'Y-m-j g:i a');
				$event->EventEndDate = tribe_get_end_date( $event, false, 'Y-m-j g:i a');
				$updated_events[]=$event;
			endforeach;
				
			return $updated_events;
		}

		$event_list = 'No upcoming events available.';
	 
		$five_events = tribe_get_events( array(
			'posts_per_page' => 5,
			'start_date'     => 'now'
		) );

		if ( $five_events ) {
			$event_list = '<ul>';
			foreach ( $five_events as $event ) {
				setup_postdata( $event ); 

				$event_title = $event->post_title;
				$event_id = $event->ID;

				$event_permalink = get_post_permalink($event_id);

				$event_date = $event->EventStartDate; 
				$event_date = new DateTime($event_date); 
				$long_date = $event_date->format('F j, Y \a\t g:i a');

				$event_list .= "<li class='event-list-item'>
					$long_date - <a href='$event_permalink'>$event_title</a>
				</li>";
			}
			$event_list .= '</ul>';
		
		}
	} else {
		$event_list = 'Please ensure The Events Tribe Plugin is active.';
	}

	return $event_list;
}