It’s time to start thinking about all things yummy eats in EPCOT!
Nitro Cake Pop at the 2023 Food and Wine Festival
Yep, we just got some BIG news about this year’s Food and Wine Festival. In 2024, EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival runs through May 27th, but Disney is already getting prepared for the NEXT festival that’ll hit the park — the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival! Complete with outdoor food kitchens, the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, and much more, this is one of the BIGGEST Disney World events of the year. This year, the 2024 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival will officially begin on August 29th and run through November 23rd, 2024! Wait a minute…
This is a later start than the past few years, y’all! For example, in 2023, the festival dates were July 27th through November 18th.Â
Food and Wine Festival 2023
This year, the Food and Wine festival is starting over a month LATER.
2023 Festival Passport
This festival timeline is more consistent with the timeline from before the COVID-19 related closures. In 2019, the Food and Wine Festival ran from August 29th through November 23rd, after the Flower and Garden Festival ran from March 6th to June 3rd.Â
Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
You’ll notice the dates for this year are exactly the same as 2019! When the Food and Wine Festival returned after the COVID 19-related closures, Disney moved the dates up to a July start. Why? Well, probably because festivals are Disney’s way of bringing in people during slower times in EPCOT, and it took awhile for the travel industry to bounce back after everyone was told to stay home. Over the past year, we’ve seen a return to normalcy in Disney World — the seasons we used to expect to be busy are the busiest, and we see lulls in the crowds when we used to. So it seems Disney is returning back to its normal calendar, as well.
Moet & Chandon Imperial at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival
The good news is that the festival will begin when the temperatures are just about to start dropping. So, you won’t have to be all sweaty and full of yummy food walking around EPCOT. The bad news is that we have almost an entire month LESS of that yummy food!
So… what’s gonna happen in all that empty space?! From May 27th until August 29th, there will be no festival booths in EPCOT, at least not that we know of, even though CommuniCore Hall and Plaza (EPCOT’s new festival area) is opening on June 10th. Could a 5th festival be coming to EPCOT to fill in that gap?! I mean, that’s a possibility, too. Especially since Disneyland just added a summer festival — Pixar Fest — which starts on April 26th and runs through August 4th!
Tofu Ramen with shiitake mushrooms, pickled carrots and daikon radish, shaved peppers, and baby bok choy in citrus-sesame broth
But maybe we’re just wishing upon a star with new festival hopes and dreams!
We do know the Eat to the Beat Concert Series will be back, bringing popular bands to the America Gardens Theatre. The Eat to the Beat Dining Packages are also expected to return in 2024, though details have not yet been released. Subscribe to our newsletter so you get the latest updates once we’ve got all that info!
You can score reserved seat by buying an Eat to the Beat dining package!
Based on the details listed on the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival website, it seems we can also expect to see the return of the Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak scavenger hunt (what will the prize be?!) and Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit (as a special treat during the Halloween season). These activities (which you can participate in for a small fee) typically give you the chance to find characters hidden throughout the park and claim a prize.
Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit
Plus, it appears Emile’s Fromage Montage is likely to return as well. This is a food challenge that allows you to claim a FREE prize if you buy certain qualifying foods. This challenge is alllllll about the cheese so those who love cheeses will absolutely want to check this out.
Emile’s Fromage Montage in 2023
Don’t forget to check out our BOOK GUIDES to the Food & Wine Festival! It has everything you need to know about the festival from start to finish.
And stop by our DFB Store to pick up a Food & Wine Festival shirt or two — it’s never too early to be prepared!
Check back with DFB for Food & Wine Festival menus when they are released, and all the latest news!
Click here to visit our FULL PAGE on the Food & Wine Festival!
IT'S WINE & DINE TIME!
Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience.
If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU!
Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival!
Food and Wine Festival 101Eat to the Beat Concert Updates
EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page
Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details
Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival
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Are you headed to this year’s Food and Wine festival? Let us know in the comments!Â
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Oh please, not another new festival.
Perhaps we’ll see the return of a real food and wine festival instead of a food trucks (without wheels) festival?
I like these dates better. July is brutal but I know those that can only be here in the summer may be disappointed
Could it have seomthing to do with the free meal plan that was offered to Disney+ subsribers for the summer months? No free food during the festival!
So I’m guessing they’ll move it the date up again next year when they have the opening of Epic Universe to contend with! LOL
Bring back the Cooking Demos and Food Seminars! Not to mention Celebrity Chefs and special events! THAT is what made the F&W fest.
These festivals have become a walk around the lake and try few over priced snacks over and above the gate ticket and parking if applicable. The on;y thing the outside food has over the inside food is that it is quicker to get.
I do hope they make it like it used to be. Food demos and a festival center to enjoy learning about wines & meeting chefs. The way it’s been the last few years just isn’t the same. Definitely not as memorable. There are many recipes, food products & wines that we still use today because we first sampled at F&W. Also, the same foods at certain booths, many years in a row gets pretty boring.
I am SO sad they got rid of Food and Wine in August this year! Last year was the first time we ever got to participate since we work in education field. We are coming this year and were looking forward to this, only to see it isn’t happening. What a tease, Disney!!!