diff --git a/static/js/calendar.js b/static/js/calendar.js
index bea1ca0..31a4423 100644
--- a/static/js/calendar.js
+++ b/static/js/calendar.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   CAL_PALETTE, CAL_COLORS, _CAL_CUSTOM_GRADIENT, _TYPE_PALETTE,
   _trashIcon, _moreIcon, _bellIcon,
   _isCalBgImage, _calBgImageUrl, _calBgCss,
+  _calReadableTextColor,
   _ds, _addDays, _shiftDT, _tzOffset, _localDateOf,
 } from './calendar/utils.js';
 
@@ -371,6 +372,10 @@ function _calColor(ev) {
   return c?.color || 'var(--accent)';
 }
 
+function _calEventFg(ev) {
+  return _calReadableTextColor(_calColor(ev));
+}
+
 // Extra inline style for an event row when the event has a custom BG image.
 // Returns '' for normal solid-color events.
 function _calItemBgStyle(ev) {
@@ -975,7 +980,7 @@ async function _renderMonth() {
       const startColInt = Math.round(startCol);
       const endColInt = Math.round(endCol);
       const span = endColInt - startColInt + 1;
-      h += `<div class="cal-multiday" style="--col:${startColInt};--span:${span};--slot:${barSlot};background:${_calColor(md)}" draggable="true" data-uid="${_e(md.uid)}" title="${_e(md.summary)}">${_e(md.summary)}</div>`;
+      h += `<div class="cal-multiday" style="--col:${startColInt};--span:${span};--slot:${barSlot};background:${_calColor(md)};--cal-event-fg:${_calEventFg(md)}" draggable="true" data-uid="${_e(md.uid)}" title="${_e(md.summary)}">${_e(md.summary)}</div>`;
       barSlot++;
     }
     h += '</div>';
@@ -1141,7 +1146,7 @@ async function _renderWeek() {
     // All-day strip
     colsHtml += `<div class="cal-wk-allday">`;
     for (const ev of allDayEvents) {
-      colsHtml += `<div class="cal-wk-allday-event" data-uid="${_e(ev.uid)}" style="background:${_calColor(ev)};" title="${_e(ev.summary)}">${_e(ev.summary)}</div>`;
+      colsHtml += `<div class="cal-wk-allday-event" data-uid="${_e(ev.uid)}" style="background:${_calColor(ev)};--cal-event-fg:${_calEventFg(ev)};" title="${_e(ev.summary)}">${_e(ev.summary)}</div>`;
     }
     colsHtml += `</div>`;
     // Hour-grid body
diff --git a/static/js/calendar/utils.js b/static/js/calendar/utils.js
index a688852..66d30f7 100644
--- a/static/js/calendar/utils.js
+++ b/static/js/calendar/utils.js
@@ -74,6 +74,42 @@ export function _calBgCss(c, fallback) {
   return c || fallback || 'var(--accent)';
 }
 
+function _hexToRgb(c) {
+  if (typeof c !== 'string') return null;
+  const m = c.trim().match(/^#([0-9a-f]{3}|[0-9a-f]{6})$/i);
+  if (!m) return null;
+  const hex = m[1].length === 3
+    ? m[1].split('').map(ch => ch + ch).join('')
+    : m[1];
+  return {
+    r: parseInt(hex.slice(0, 2), 16),
+    g: parseInt(hex.slice(2, 4), 16),
+    b: parseInt(hex.slice(4, 6), 16),
+  };
+}
+
+function _relativeLuminance({ r, g, b }) {
+  return [r, g, b].map(v => {
+    const c = v / 255;
+    return c <= 0.03928 ? c / 12.92 : Math.pow((c + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);
+  }).reduce((sum, c, i) => sum + c * [0.2126, 0.7152, 0.0722][i], 0);
+}
+
+function _contrastRatio(a, b) {
+  const light = Math.max(a, b);
+  const dark = Math.min(a, b);
+  return (light + 0.05) / (dark + 0.05);
+}
+
+export function _calReadableTextColor(bg) {
+  const rgb = _hexToRgb(bg);
+  if (!rgb) return 'var(--fg)';
+  const lum = _relativeLuminance(rgb);
+  const white = _contrastRatio(lum, 1);
+  const ink = _contrastRatio(lum, 0.006);
+  return ink >= white ? '#111820' : '#ffffff';
+}
+
 // ── date helpers ──
 
 // `YYYY-MM-DD` string from a Date.
diff --git a/static/style.css b/static/style.css
index a10b6c9..e77c84b 100644
--- a/static/style.css
+++ b/static/style.css
@@ -33129,7 +33129,7 @@ button.cal-view-btn {
   line-height: 11px;
   padding: 0 4px;
   border-radius: 3px;
-  color: #fff;
+  color: var(--cal-event-fg, #fff);
   white-space: nowrap;
   overflow: hidden;
   text-overflow: ellipsis;
@@ -33355,7 +33355,7 @@ button.cal-view-btn {
   font-weight: 500;
   padding: 2px 5px;
   border-radius: 3px;
-  color: var(--fg);
+  color: var(--cal-event-fg, var(--fg));
   cursor: pointer;
   white-space: nowrap;
   overflow: hidden;
diff --git a/tests/test_calendar_event_contrast.py b/tests/test_calendar_event_contrast.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1558551
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_calendar_event_contrast.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import json
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+CALENDAR_JS = ROOT / "static" / "js" / "calendar.js"
+STYLE_CSS = ROOT / "static" / "style.css"
+UTILS_JS = ROOT / "static" / "js" / "calendar" / "utils.js"
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(not shutil.which("node"), reason="node binary not on PATH")
+
+
+def _node_eval(source: str):
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["node", "--input-type=module", "-e", source],
+        cwd=ROOT,
+        check=True,
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+    )
+    return json.loads(result.stdout)
+
+
+def test_calendar_readable_text_color_prefers_dark_ink_for_pastels():
+    values = _node_eval(
+        """
+        import { _calReadableTextColor } from './static/js/calendar/utils.js';
+        console.log(JSON.stringify({
+          blue: _calReadableTextColor('#b0d7f7'),
+          yellow: _calReadableTextColor('#f2dfbd'),
+          shortHex: _calReadableTextColor('#abc')
+        }));
+        """
+    )
+
+    assert values == {
+        "blue": "#111820",
+        "yellow": "#111820",
+        "shortHex": "#111820",
+    }
+
+
+def test_calendar_readable_text_color_keeps_light_text_for_dark_colors():
+    values = _node_eval(
+        """
+        import { _calReadableTextColor } from './static/js/calendar/utils.js';
+        console.log(JSON.stringify({
+          navy: _calReadableTextColor('#1f3552'),
+          red: _calReadableTextColor('#78252d'),
+          variable: _calReadableTextColor('var(--accent)')
+        }));
+        """
+    )
+
+    assert values == {
+        "navy": "#ffffff",
+        "red": "#ffffff",
+        "variable": "var(--fg)",
+    }
+
+
+def test_calendar_event_surfaces_use_computed_foreground_variable():
+    calendar_js = CALENDAR_JS.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    style_css = STYLE_CSS.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    utils_js = UTILS_JS.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert "_calReadableTextColor" in utils_js
+    assert "function _calEventFg(ev)" in calendar_js
+    assert "--cal-event-fg:${_calEventFg(md)}" in calendar_js
+    assert "--cal-event-fg:${_calEventFg(ev)}" in calendar_js
+    assert "color: var(--cal-event-fg, #fff);" in style_css
+    assert "color: var(--cal-event-fg, var(--fg));" in style_css