diff --git a/app/controllers/calendars_controller.rb b/app/controllers/calendars_controller.rb
index da8ab164999..e7d1974e595 100644
--- a/app/controllers/calendars_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/calendars_controller.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,12 @@ class CalendarsController < ApplicationController
       return redirect_to(calendar_url_for([@context]))
     end
     get_all_pertinent_contexts(true) # passing true has it return groups too.
-    build_calendar_dates
+    if params[:event_id]
+      event = CalendarEvent.find_by_id(params[:event_id])
+      event = nil if event && event.start_at.nil?
+      @active_event_id = event.id if event
+    end
+    build_calendar_dates(event)
 
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html do
@@ -149,7 +154,7 @@ class CalendarsController < ApplicationController
   end
   protected :calendar_events_for_request_format
 
-  def build_calendar_dates
+  def build_calendar_dates(event_to_focus)
     @today = Time.zone.today
 
     if params[:start_day] && params[:end_day]
@@ -165,10 +170,16 @@ class CalendarsController < ApplicationController
       end
       @current = Date.new(y = @year, m = @month, d = 1)
     else
-      @month = params[:month].to_i
-      @month = !@month || @month == 0 ? @today.month : @month
-      @year = params[:year].to_i
-      @year = !@year || @year == 0 ? @today.year : @year
+      if event_to_focus
+        use_start = event_to_focus.start_at.in_time_zone
+        @month = use_start.month
+        @year = use_start.year
+      else
+        @month = params[:month].to_i
+        @month = !@month || @month == 0 ? @today.month : @month
+        @year = params[:year].to_i
+        @year = !@year || @year == 0 ? @today.year : @year
+      end
 
       @first_day = Date.parse(params[:start_day]) if params[:start_day]
       @last_day = Date.parse(params[:end_day]) if params[:end_day]
diff --git a/app/views/calendars/_calendar.html.erb b/app/views/calendars/_calendar.html.erb
index 33c2c381ea8..2b9fadf6bb6 100644
--- a/app/views/calendars/_calendar.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/calendars/_calendar.html.erb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <%
+  js_env :CALENDAR => { :ACTIVE_EVENT => @active_event_id }
   js_bundle :calendar
   jammit_css :calendar
   @body_classes << "full-width"
diff --git a/public/javascripts/calendar.js b/public/javascripts/calendar.js
index 3d533b64237..e2ea9d7d23a 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/calendar.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/calendar.js
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 define([
   'INST' /* INST */,
+  'ENV',
   'i18n!calendars',
   'jquery' /* $ */,
   'compiled/userSettings',
@@ -38,9 +39,10 @@ define([
   'jqueryui/resizable' /* /\.resizable/ */,
   'jqueryui/sortable' /* /\.sortable/ */,
   'jqueryui/tabs' /* /\.tabs/ */
-], function(INST, I18n, $, userSettings, calendarMonths) {
+], function(INST, ENV, I18n, $, userSettings, calendarMonths) {
 
   window.calendar = {
+    activateEventId: ENV.CALENDAR.ACTIVE_EVENT,
     viewItem: function(context_string, item_id, item_type) {
     },
     showingUndatedEvents: false,
@@ -624,6 +626,15 @@ define([
     if($("#" + groupId).length > 0) {
       $event.showIf($("#" + groupId).attr('checked'));
     }
+
+    // After loading the data, if have an event to activate and the event was just updated, show it.
+    if (event.id == calendar.activateEventId && calendar.activateEventId) {
+      $day = $event.parents(".calendar_day");
+      // Remove the ID from being automatically activated on the next data refresh
+      calendar.activateEventId = null;
+      showEvent($event, $day);
+    }
+
     return id;
   }
   function refreshCalendarData(cache) {
diff --git a/spec/selenium/calendar_spec.rb b/spec/selenium/calendar_spec.rb
index f7d09be4a1d..45992ff97dc 100644
--- a/spec/selenium/calendar_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/selenium/calendar_spec.rb
@@ -211,5 +211,18 @@ describe "calendar" do
       ff('.mini_calendar_day .day_number')[10].click
       keep_trying_until { f('.calendar_month .month_name').text.should == f('.mini-cal-month-and-year .month_name').text }
     end
+
+    it "should open an event dialog on calendar from URL" do
+      event_title = 'Test Event 123'
+      start_time = 3.months.ago
+      end_time = start_time + 1.hour
+      calendar_event_model(:title => event_title, :start_at => start_time, :end_at => end_time)
+
+      get "/calendar?event_id=#{@event.id}&include_contexts=course_#{@course.id}"
+      wait_for_ajax_requests
+
+      keep_trying_until { fj(".ui-dialog").should be_displayed } #using fj to bypass selenium cache
+      fj(".ui-dialog .title").text.should == event_title
+    end
   end
 end