This is intriguing, but I’ve not tested it. Check the 2 links given with this solution at the source link.
<?php $period = date("Y-m-d"); $args = array( 'post_type'=>'event', 'posts_per_page'=> -1, 'order'=> 'DESC', 'orderby'=> 'meta_value', 'meta_key'=>'event_start_date' 'meta_value' => $period, ) $events = new WP_Query( $args ); if ($events->have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); the_title(); // (etc.) endwhile; endif; ?>