Multiple Loops in WordPress. Second loop not resetting

Question

I've created a custom post type with custom fields inside Wordpress. I created a new page template that runs through a loop and that works great. I'm trying to add a similar loop to the home page's sidebar but it doesn't work correctly.

First, the working code on my own page template.

<h2>Upcoming Events</h2>
<?php $todaysDate = date('Y/m/d');
$event_query = new WP_query('post_type=events&posts_per_page=-1&post_status=publish&meta_key=event_date&meta_compare=>=&meta_value=' . $todaysDate . '&orderby=meta_value&order=ASC');
?> 

<ul id="featured_event_list">
<?php if ($event_query->have_posts()): ?>
<?php while ($event_query->have_posts()) : $event_query->the_post(); ?>
<li>
    <h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3>
    <p>
    <?php if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_featuring', true) ) : ?>
        <strong>Featuring:</strong> <?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_featuring', true) ?><br />
    <?php endif; ?>
    <?php if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_date', true) ) : ?>
        <?php $event_date = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_date', true);
        $new_event_date = date("F j, Y",strtotime($event_date)); ?>
        <strong>Date:</strong> <?php echo $new_event_date ?>
        <?php endif; ?>
        <?php if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_end_date', true) ) : ?>
        <?php $event_end_date = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_end_date', true);
        $new_event_end_date = date("F j, Y",strtotime($event_end_date)); ?>
        - <?php echo $new_event_end_date ?>
    <?php endif; ?>
        <br />
    <?php if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_time', true) ) : ?>
        <strong>Time:</strong> <?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_time', true) ?><br />
    <?php endif; ?>
    <?php if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_location', true) ) : ?>
        <strong>Location:</strong> <?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_location', true) ?>
    <?php endif; ?>
    </p>
    <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
</li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else: ?>
<li>Sorry, no upcoming events.</li>
<?php endif; ?>
</ul>

That works fine, but when I put a modified version of that code as a widget inside of functions.php, it doesn't work:

<?php
function eventsWidget() { ?>
    <div class="uwf_widget">
        <h3 class="events"><span>Featured Events</span></h3>
        <ul>
<?php
        $todaysDate = date('Y/m/d');
        $event_widget_query = new WP_query('post_type=events&posts_per_page=2&post_status=publish&meta_key=event_date&meta_compare=>=&meta_value=' . $todaysDate . '&orderby=meta_value&order=ASC');
?> 
        <?php if ($event_widget_query->have_posts()) :?>
        <?php while ($event_widget_query->have_posts()) : $event_widget_query->the_post(); ?>
            <?php $event_date = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_date', true);
            $new_event_date = date("F j",strtotime($event_date)); ?>
            <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?> - <?php echo $new_event_date; ?> &nbsp;&raquo;</a></li>
        <?php endwhile; else: ?>
            <li>Sorry, no upcoming events.</li>
        <?php endif; ?>
        </ul>
            <p class="more"><a href="/about-us/events/">more events &raquo;</a></p>
        </div>
<?php } ?>

Now, if I put that code inside the normal sidebar (instead of on the homepage) - it works fine. So, clearly there is something wrong with multiple loops on the home page and the sidebar. If I simplify the widget so it only grabs 2 "events" it will grab two posts (regardless of the post_type). I've tried rewind_posts and wp_reset_query, so I'm not sure what else to try?

Answer 1

I finally solved this. I used get_posts and built an array and for some reason it now works on the home page.

<?php
function eventsWidget() {?>
    <div class="uwf_widget">
        <h3 class="events"><span>Featured Events</span></h3>
        <ul>
<?php
        global $post;
        $todaysDate = date('Y/m/d');
        $event_args = array('post_type' => 'events', 
                            'numberposts' => 2,
                            'meta_key' => 'event_date',
                            'post_status' => 'publish',
                            'meta_compare' => '>=',
                            'meta_value' => $todaysDate,
                            'orderby' => 'meta_value',
                            'order'=> 'ASC');
        $event_widget_query = get_posts( $event_args );
        foreach ($event_widget_query as $post) : setup_postdata($event_widget_query); ?>
            <?php $event_date = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'event_date', true);
            $new_event_date = date("F j",strtotime($event_date)); ?>
            <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?> - <?php echo $new_event_date; ?> &nbsp;&raquo;</a></li>
        <?php endforeach; ?>
        </ul>
            <p class="more"><a href="/about-us/events/">more events &raquo;</a></p>
        </div>
        <?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
<?php } ?>