[Plugin] The Events Calendar - Programatically set events as "Featured" when meeting some custom criteria

functions.php

<?php
/**
 * 
 * Custom function setting events as Featured Event when meeting your custom criteria
 * 
 * @link https://theeventscalendar.com/knowledgebase/k/using-tribe_get_events/
 * 
 * Note that you can use all arguments available on WP_Query class => http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query
 * The Events Calendar exposes some additional arguments that are not normally available but which make life easier when working with events:
 * start_date is used to indicate the start of the date range you are interested in
 * end_date is of course what you would use to indicate the end of the date range you are interested in
 * 
 */

// Check if the Events Calendar plugin is active
function ga_events_calendar_conditional_featured(){
    if (is_plugin_active('the-events-calendar/the-events-calendar.php')) {
        // Example: Retrieve all events in October 2014
        $events = tribe_get_events( [
        'start_date'   => '2020-10-01 00:01',
        'end_date'     => '2020-10-31 23:59',
        ] );

         // For each event meeting the criteria, set it as FEATURED EVENT
        foreach ($events as $event){
            tribe( 'tec.featured_events' )->feature( $event->ID );
        }
    }
}

add_action('after_setup_theme', 'ga_events_calendar_conditional_featured');