Display Upcoming Events/Related photos

<?php $the_query = new WP_Query( array( 'meta_key' => 'event_venue', 'meta_value' => $mix_venue ) ); // Query database where $event_value matches $mix_value of current post ?>

        <?php

            // The Loop for displaying upcoming events...

            if ($the_query->have_posts()){ // Check if the query has post to display, if it does, then.....

                while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) :
                $the_query->the_post();
                $event_date = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'event_date', true);

            // Convert input date to UNIX timestamp for use with Upcoming vs Past events

                if (!empty($event_date)){ // Check if event_date has been set through admin panel

                $event_day = substr($event_date, 1,2 );
                $event_month = substr($event_date, 4,5);
                $event_year = substr($event_date, 6,10);
                $timestamp = mktime(0,0,0,$event_day,$event_month,$event_year);
                $formateddate = date("l, F jS Y" ,$timestamp);
                $event_status = '';

                    if (strtotime($formateddate) < time() ) {
                                $event_status = 'Past Event';
                        }
                            else
                                $event_status = 'Upcoming';
                }

                    else

                    $event_status = '';



            if ($event_status == 'Upcoming'){ // Check $event_status so we only show upcoming events, rather than past events, for now...?>

            <div class="inner-title"><h2 class="entry-title">Upcoming events @ <?php echo $mix_venue ?></h2></div>
            <div id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?>>
            <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
                <tr>
                    <td width="20%" align="left" valign="top"><?php // check if the post has a Post Thumbnail assigned to it.
                        if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { the_post_thumbnail( array(100,100) ); } ?></td>
                    <td width="83%"><h2 class="entry-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php echo esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>

            <div class="entry-meta">
            <?php include 'event_info.php' // Get and display event info such as venue, dresscode, time, etc ?>
            </div><!-- .entry-meta -->

            <div class="summary">
                <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
            </div><!-- .entry-summary -->

</td>
  </tr>
</table>


        </div><!-- #post-## -->
        <?php } else echo '';
        endwhile; // Ends loop displaying upcoming events


            // Restore original Query & Post Data
            wp_reset_query();
            wp_reset_postdata();


        } else {
        global $up_events; // initialise global variable $up_events
        $up_events = 'none'; // if $the_query has no posts to display, set $up_events to 'none'
        }
        if($up_events =='none'){ // Only if $up_events is set to 'none', display related photos

        include 'related_photos.php'; // Displays photos related to this venue

        } else echo ''; ?>