How can I display a "pending" entry in my "_entry" template? I have an event site with dates in the future and past.  

I know how to display future entries as a listing: 

{% set entries = craft.entries.section('mySection').status('pending') %}


But how do you display an entry with status "pending" on the "_entry" template?
In my case nothing displays?
I'm assuming that when you defined your section, you checked the box which says this:


  Entries in this section have their own URLs


... and then filled out the relevant Entry URL Format and Entry Template values. The great thing about this technique is that it automatically populates the entry variable in your target template. Typically, this is the best way to go!

But there are occasions where this isn't the suitable solution. There are certain circumstances in Craft which, by default, can prevent non-active entries from being included. I suspect this is one of those situations.

Here is what I would suggest instead...


Uncheck the box which says "Entries in this section have their own URLs", and save.
Setup a dynamic route. This is basically what the aforementioned checkbox was doing for you.
Declare your route using the same pattern that you had previously setup in your section definition.
Within your template, manually set the entry value, based on the parameters passed through in the URL.

{% set slug = craft.request.getSegment(2) %}
{% set entry = craft.entries.slug(slug).status(null).first %}



Here's where this manual method differs from the automatic method... Specifying null as the status will return that entry regardless of what its status is. Otherwise, only an active entry could be returned.

Because you are now manually setting the entry value, you have enough control to specify that you really do want this entry, despite the fact that it's not currently active.