diff --git a/lib/actions/event.actions.ts b/lib/actions/event.actions.ts
index d3ede59..a594ccb 100644
--- a/lib/actions/event.actions.ts
+++ b/lib/actions/event.actions.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,50 @@ import Event from "@/database/event.model";
 
 const escapeRegex = (text: string) => text.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, '\\$&');
 
-export async function getAllEvents(filters?: { query?: string; mode?: string; tag?: string }) {
+type SortBy = 'date_asc' | 'date_desc' | 'name_asc' | 'name_desc' | 'popularity';
+
+/**
+ * Helper function to add booking count to aggregation pipeline.
+ * Prevents N+1 queries by joining bookings data in a single aggregation stage.
+ * Returns the aggregation pipeline stages needed to attach booking counts.
+ * Note: bookingCount is calculated and included in results, NOT removed.
+ */
+function getBookingCountStages() {
+  return [
+    {
+      $lookup: {
+        from: 'bookings',
+        localField: '_id',
+        foreignField: 'eventId',
+        as: 'bookings',
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      $addFields: {
+        bookingCount: { $size: '$bookings' },
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      $project: { 
+        bookings: 0,  // Remove raw bookings array to keep response size small
+        // bookingCount is kept in the results for display/sorting
+      },
+    },
+  ];
+}
+
+export interface PaginatedEvents {
+  events: any[];
+  total: number;
+  totalPages: number;
+  currentPage: number;
+}
+
+export async function getAllEvents(
+  filters?: { query?: string; mode?: string; tag?: string; sortBy?: SortBy },
+  page = 1,
+  limit = 9
+): Promise<PaginatedEvents> {
   try {
     await connectToDatabase();
     const queryCondition: any = {};
@@ -27,11 +70,146 @@ export async function getAllEvents(filters?: { query?: string; mode?: string; ta
       queryCondition.tags = { $regex: new RegExp(`^${safeTag}$`, 'i') };
     }
 
-    const events = await Event.find(queryCondition).sort({ createdAt: -1 });
-    return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(events));
+    const requestedPage = Math.max(1, isNaN(Number(page)) ? 1 : Number(page));
+    const safeLimit = Math.min(100, Math.max(1, isNaN(Number(limit)) ? 9 : Number(limit)));
+
+    // Get total count for pagination metadata
+    const total = await Event.countDocuments(queryCondition);
+    const totalPages = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(total / safeLimit));
+    const currentPage = Math.min(requestedPage, totalPages);
+    const skip = (currentPage - 1) * safeLimit;
+
+    // Popularity sort — use aggregation pipeline with $lookup on bookings
+    if (filters?.sortBy === 'popularity') {
+      const matchStage = Object.keys(queryCondition).length ? [{ $match: queryCondition }] : [];
+      const results = await Event.aggregate([
+        ...matchStage,
+        ...getBookingCountStages(),
+        { $sort: { bookingCount: -1, createdAt: -1 } },
+        { $skip: skip },
+        { $limit: safeLimit },
+      ]);
+      return {
+        events: JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(results)),
+        total,
+        totalPages,
+        currentPage,
+      };
+    }
+
+    let query = Event.find(queryCondition);
+
+    // Apply sort
+    const sortBy = filters?.sortBy;
+    if (sortBy === 'date_asc') {
+      query = query.sort({ date: 1 });
+    } else if (sortBy === 'date_desc') {
+      query = query.sort({ date: -1 });
+    } else if (sortBy === 'name_asc') {
+      query = query.sort({ title: 1 });
+    } else if (sortBy === 'name_desc') {
+      query = query.sort({ title: -1 });
+    } else if (filters?.query) {
+      // Relevance sort when full-text searching
+      query = query.select({ score: { $meta: 'textScore' } }).sort({ score: { $meta: 'textScore' } });
+    } else {
+      // Default: newest first
+      query = query.sort({ createdAt: -1 });
+    }
+
+    const events = await query.skip(skip).limit(safeLimit);
+    return {
+      events: JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(events)),
+      total,
+      totalPages,
+      currentPage,
+    };
 
   } catch (error) {
     console.error('Error fetching events:', error);
-    return []; 
+    return {
+      events: [],
+      total: 0,
+      totalPages: 1,
+      currentPage: 1,
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Fetches similar events using aggregation pipeline with booking counts.
+ * This prevents N+1 queries by fetching booking data in a single aggregation.
+ * Optimized with $lookup for efficient booking count calculation.
+ */
+export async function getSimilarEventsBySlug(
+  slug: string,
+  tags: string[] = []
+) {
+  try {
+    await connectToDatabase();
+
+    if (!tags.length) {
+      return [];
+    }
+
+    // Use aggregation pipeline to fetch events with booking counts in a single query
+    const events = await Event.aggregate([
+      {
+        $match: {
+          slug: { $ne: slug },
+          tags: { $in: tags },
+        },
+      },
+      ...getBookingCountStages(),
+      // Sort by booking count (popularity) as primary, then by date
+      {
+        $sort: { bookingCount: -1, createdAt: -1 },
+      },
+      {
+        $limit: 3,
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(events));
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Error fetching similar events:', error);
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Fetches recommended events using aggregation pipeline with booking counts.
+ * This prevents N+1 queries by fetching booking data in a single aggregation.
+ * Sorts by popularity (booking count) to show trending events first.
+ */
+export async function getRecommendedEvents(userTags: string[] = []) {
+  try {
+    await connectToDatabase();
+
+    if (!userTags.length) {
+      return [];
+    }
+
+    // Use aggregation pipeline to fetch events with booking counts in a single query
+    const recommendedEvents = await Event.aggregate([
+      {
+        $match: {
+          tags: { $in: userTags },
+        },
+      },
+      ...getBookingCountStages(),
+      // Sort by booking count (popularity) first, then by creation date
+      {
+        $sort: { bookingCount: -1, createdAt: -1 },
+      },
+      {
+        $limit: 3,
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(recommendedEvents));
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Error fetching recommended events:', error);
+    return [];
   }
 }