diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index e640ff5..74ff6d3 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ repos:
       - id: docformatter
         args: [--in-place, --pre-summary-newline, --make-summary-multi]
   - repo: https://github.com/myint/autoflake
-    rev: v1.4
+    rev: v1.5.1
     hooks:
       - id: autoflake
         args: ['--in-place', '--remove-all-unused-imports', '--remove-unused-variable']
diff --git a/hvpy/__init__.py b/hvpy/__init__.py
index dbb1156..6fe14b1 100644
--- a/hvpy/__init__.py
+++ b/hvpy/__init__.py
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 from .datasource import *
 from .event import *
 from .facade import *
-from .utils import create_layers
+from .utils import create_layers, create_events
 from .version import __version__
diff --git a/hvpy/tests/test_utils.py b/hvpy/tests/test_utils.py
index 7f3d93a..78a335d 100644
--- a/hvpy/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/hvpy/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -1,18 +1,22 @@
 import pytest
 
-from hvpy import DataSource
-from hvpy.utils import _create_layer_string, _to_datasource, create_layers
+from hvpy import DataSource, EventType
+from hvpy.utils import (
+    _create_events_string,
+    _create_layer_string,
+    _to_datasource,
+    _to_event_type,
+    create_events,
+    create_layers,
+)
 
 
 def test_create_layers():
     assert create_layers([(9, 100), (11, 50)]) == "[9,1,100],[11,1,50]"
-
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="999 is not a valid DataSource"):
         create_layers([(9, 100), (999, 100)])
-
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be between 0 and 100"):
         create_layers([(9, 101), (14, 100)])
-
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be between 0 and 100"):
         create_layers([(9, 100), (14, -1)])
 
@@ -30,3 +34,34 @@ def test_create_layers_string():
         _create_layer_string(DataSource.AIA_131, 101)
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be between 0 and 100"):
         _create_layer_string(DataSource.AIA_131, -1)
+
+
+def test_to_event_type():
+    assert _to_event_type(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION) == _to_event_type("AR") == EventType.ACTIVE_REGION
+
+
+def test_create_events():
+    assert create_events(["ER"]) == "[ER,all,1]"
+    assert create_events([EventType.ACTIVE_REGION]) == "[AR,all,1]"
+    assert create_events([(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, "SPoCA;NOAA_SWPC_Observer")]) == "[AR,SPoCA;NOAA_SWPC_Observer,1]"
+    assert create_events([EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, EventType.CORONAL_DIMMING]) == "[AR,all,1],[CD,all,1]"
+    assert (
+        create_events([(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, "ZXCV"), (EventType.CORONAL_DIMMING, "ZXCV")])
+        == "[AR,ZXCV,1],[CD,ZXCV,1]"
+    )
+    assert create_events([EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, (EventType.CORONAL_DIMMING, "ASDF")]) == "[AR,all,1],[CD,ASDF,1]"
+    assert create_events([(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, "ASDF"), EventType.CORONAL_DIMMING]) == "[AR,ASDF,1],[CD,all,1]"
+    assert (
+        create_events([(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, "SPoCA"), ("ER", "NOAA_SWPC_Observer")])
+        == "[AR,SPoCA,1],[ER,NOAA_SWPC_Observer,1]"
+    )
+    assert create_events([("AR", "SPoCA"), ("ER", "NOAA_SWPC_Observer")]) == "[AR,SPoCA,1],[ER,NOAA_SWPC_Observer,1]"
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="XYZ is not a valid EventType"):
+        create_events(["XYZ"])
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="is not a EventType or str or two-length tuple"):
+        create_events([("AR", "SPoCA", 123)])
+
+
+def test_create_events_string():
+    assert _create_events_string(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION) == "[AR,all,1]"
+    assert _create_events_string(EventType.ACTIVE_REGION, "xyz") == "[AR,xyz,1]"
diff --git a/hvpy/utils.py b/hvpy/utils.py
index 4956f39..fcc2469 100644
--- a/hvpy/utils.py
+++ b/hvpy/utils.py
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
-from typing import Any, Union, Callable
+from typing import Any, List, Union, Callable
 from datetime import datetime
 
 from hvpy.datasource import DataSource
+from hvpy.event import EventType
 
 __all__ = [
     "convert_date_to_isoformat",
     "convert_date_to_unix",
     "create_layers",
+    "create_events",
 ]
 
 
@@ -75,3 +77,53 @@ def create_layers(layer: list) -> str:
     '[3,1,50],[10,1,50]'
     """
     return ",".join([_create_layer_string(_to_datasource(s), o) for s, o in layer])
+
+
+def _to_event_type(val: Union[str, EventType]) -> EventType:
+    """
+    Validates the input and converts it to a EventType enum.
+    """
+    # This is an undocumented attribute of Enums
+    if isinstance(val, str) and val in EventType._value2member_map_:
+        return EventType(val)
+    elif isinstance(val, EventType):
+        return val
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(f"{val} is not a valid EventType")
+
+
+def _create_events_string(event_type: EventType, recognition_method: str = "all") -> str:
+    """
+    Generates a string of the form "[event_type,recognition_method,1]" for a
+    event.
+    """
+    return f"[{event_type.value},{recognition_method},1]"
+
+
+def create_events(events: List[Union[EventType, str, tuple]]) -> str:
+    """
+    Creates a string of events separated by commas.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    events
+        Either a `list` of `tuple` of the form (``event_type``, ``recognition_methods``),
+        or a `list` of `str` or `~hvpy.EventType`, e.g., ``["AR", EventType.CORONAL_CAVITY]``
+        If ``recognition_methods`` is missing, it will use "ALL".
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    >>> from hvpy import create_events
+    >>> create_events(["AR", ("ER", "SPoCA;NOAA_SWPC_Observer")])
+    '[AR,all,1],[ER,SPoCA;NOAA_SWPC_Observer,1]'
+    """
+    constructed_events = ""
+    for event in events:
+        if isinstance(event, (str, EventType)):
+            constructed_events += _create_events_string(_to_event_type(event)) + ","
+        elif isinstance(event, tuple) and len(event) == 2:
+            constructed_events += _create_events_string(_to_event_type(event[0]), event[1]) + ","
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(f"{event} is not a EventType or str or two-length tuple")
+    # Strips the final comma
+    return constructed_events[:-1]