The 2024 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays is officially here, and we’re bringing you with us to check it all out!

There are plenty of food booths with tasty items, shows and storytellers to watch, souvenirs to grab (of course), and even a cookie stroll to complete. But don’t let it overwhelm you — we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know. Now, it’s time to see exactly what this festival has to offer — so come along with us LIVE!

Festival Dates

The 2024 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays runs from November 29th through December 30th, 2024. And it’s the perfect time to get your fill of holiday eats and more!

Good morning from EPCOT! We’re here for the FIRST DAY of Festival of the Holidays 🎄🌐 Stay tuned as we eat and drink EVERYTHING, check out the entertainment and merch, and explore the fest! pic.twitter.com/uSQSkGCSW2

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

We’re kicking things off on the very first day of this festival and bringing you with us.

Getting Started and the Festival Passport

We got to EPCOT bright and early at opening time, which was 9AM (the park will close at 9:30PM). Guests staying in Disney World hotels were able to enter as early as 8:30AM with Early Theme Park Entry.

We’ll be taking you with us through the entire EPCOT festival, so get ready for TONS of cookie content, food reviews, and merchandise roundups!

Make sure you grab a FREE Festival Passport, which holds all the info you need to navigate the festival successfully! Inside, you’ll find descriptions of each booth, including full menus and a few pictures. There’s also some information about the merchandise available at this year’s festival.

We’ve got our passport, and we’re ready to go for day one of EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays! pic.twitter.com/Ljwz3cSzOw

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

The Festival Passport is a SUPER helpful tool to help make sure you accomplish everything during your day at EPCOT. It’s organized to help you see exactly what’s available and when things are available, so you don’t have to wander the park without a plan.

You’ll also find info about the Cookie Stroll! To participate in the Cookie Stroll, you’ll purchase five cookies from festival marketplaces around EPCOT (there’s a list of several different cookies you can choose from in the passport, along with where you’ll find them) and get your passport stamped at each booth when you buy a cookie.

Once you have 5 stamps, you can show your passport at Holiday Sweets and Treats for a free treat!

Click here to see INSIDE the Festival Passport

Crowds

Most of the Holiday Kitchens do not officially open until around 11AM, but that doesn’t mean that crowds aren’t already waiting to get their hands on some eats! There was a small crowd building ahead of the official park opening, but we’ll be sure to keep our eyes on the crowd level throughout the day.

Thanksgiving Week is typically pretty busy in Disney World anyway, so that, combined with it being the first day of this festival, means many were expecting to see some serious crowds on opening day.

Food Booths

This year, you’ll be able to visit more than 18 festival food kitchens, many of which will bring back some returning favorite food items. However, you’ll find a few new eats, too — and we’ll be bringing you our reviews right here!

OK, we’re too excited not to show off a few of the eats and drinks we’ve tried so far. First, here’s a look at Santa Claus inviting us in to Holiday Hearth Desserts!

Santa himself has welcomed us into Holiday Hearth Desserts in EPCOT for Festival of the Holidays! pic.twitter.com/MwOCJcPHGu

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

The desserts here are so cute!

It wouldn’t be EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays without desserts! 🌐✨

🍪 Salted Caramel Spaceship Earth Cookie
🍎 Apple Caramel Crumb Cake pic.twitter.com/AMByCnEyZ9

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Check out the review for Holiday Hearth Desserts here!

We grabbed a funnel cake right away in the morning! Nothing better than this sweet treat for breakfast, right?

It’s time for our first treat of the day at Festival of the Holidays!

🫚 Gingerbread Funnel Cake: vanilla ice cream, gingerbread crumbs, whipped cream, and red and green sprinkles — $12 pic.twitter.com/eLU3cEhyRi

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Check out our review of the Funnel Cake here!

Next, we stopped at the L’Chaim booth for a pastrami sandwich, smoked salmon potato latke, a cookie, and a frozen New York whiskey sour!

Up next at Festival of the Holidays: L’Chaim!

🥪 Pastrami on Rye with house-made pickles and deli mustard
🐟 Smoked Salmon Potato Latke
🍪 Black and White Cookie (Plant-based) (Cookie Stroll Item)
🥃 Frozen New York Whiskey Sour pic.twitter.com/xzMWTGg7Py

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Read our review of L’Chaim here!

Then we headed over to the Bavaria Holiday Kitchen for the yummy cheese fondue and more!

Bavaria Holiday Kitchen is up next!

🧀 Cheese Fondue in a bread bowl with steamed baby vegetables and marble potatoes
🐷 Pork Schnitzel with mushroom sauce, spätzle, and braised red cabbage
🍪 Hazelnut Linzer Cookie (Cookie Stroll Item)
🍷 Glühwein: House-made hot spiced wine pic.twitter.com/IQgQ4ckpak

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Then we strolled over to American Holiday Table for some classic holiday food!

We just have three words for you: AMERICAN HOLIDAY TABLE!!!

🦃 Slow-roasted Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce — $6.25
🐟 Blackened Catfish with Hoppin’ John and Comeback Sauce — $6.75
🍫 SNICKERS-Doodle Cookie (Cookie Stroll item) — $3.25 pic.twitter.com/GkMY7C1VRr

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

It’s a Hawaiian Christmas over at the Mele Kalikimaka booth!

Mele Kalikimaka is the next stop at EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays!

🐷 Kalua Pork with Okinawa Sucet Potatoes and Mango Salad — $6.00
🐟 Lomi Lomi Salmon — $6.50
☕️ Coffee Mocha Cookie — $3.25
🍈 Melon Breeze — $14.00 pic.twitter.com/3AzBI5CP2y

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Let’s grab some ice cream at Swirled Showcase!

This might be the COOLEST treat at Festival of the Holidays! 🥶

❄️ Holiday Mickey-shaped Liquid Nitrogen Pop pic.twitter.com/5ogE63uzCO

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Festival of the Holidays!

Merchandise

You’ll find plenty of exclusive festival merchandise at this event — like Figment’s holiday sweater!

All of my EPCOT dreams have come TRUE! You can buy Figment’s holiday sweater at Festival of the Holidays!!! pic.twitter.com/bR01WA7a5z

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

There are also Mickey ears…

…a new Spirit Jersey…

…and Lug bag!

The merchandise this year is ADORABLE!

Click here to see a FULL LIST of 2024 Festival of the Holidays merchandise!

Gingerbread Spaceship Earth

This year, there’s a brand-new gingerbread display at CommuniCore Hall of Spaceship Earth! It lights up and plays the Beacon of Light show every 15 minutes.

The gingerbread Spaceship Earth is INCREDIBLE!!! 🌐 pic.twitter.com/4Ue4A07wd3

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 29, 2024

Entertainment

Candlelight Processional

One of the most popular events at the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays is the Candlelight Processional.

You can head to the standby line or book a dining package to reserve your spot at the show. This show tends to attract some LARGE crowds, so be prepared and get there early!

Read more about dining packages by clicking here!

Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Scavenger Hunt

If you want a fun activity the whole family can enjoy, Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Scavenger Hunt is a super fun way to spot hidden statues of Olaf all over EPCOT. Olaf is hiding with various holiday-themed items around the park, and it’s your job to find him!

You can play the game on your own or purchase a gameboard for $9.99, which includes stickers and clues for all the Olaf locations. If you purchase a gameboard, you can return the completed board for a prize!

Storytellers

One of the best parts of the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays is the Storytellers in each country’s pavilion — we love learning about holiday traditions around the world.

We can’t wait to see Barn Santa from Norway, a Chinese Lion Dancer for the Lunar New Year, Pere Noel from France, Hanukkah stories, and more.

Joyful! A Celebration of the Season

Joyful! A Celebration of the Season is also returning to this year’s festival.

This is a show featuring gospel and R&B entertainment that celebrates both Christmas and Kwanzaa!

We had so much fun listening to the performers!

Other Entertainment

Keep your eyes out for the holiday version of Living With the Land!

This attraction is full of festive details that give us a little extra holiday cheer on our ride through The Land Pavilion.

We’ll be updating this post to ALL DAY as we explore the Festival of the Holidays, so keep checking back for more! If you’re interested in more updates, make sure you’re following us on Instagram.

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2023 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

• Learn about the Candlelight Processional and Dining Packages
• Check out ALL of the 2024 Festival of the Holidays booth Menus

And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 DFB Guide to the Holidays at Disney World! See more details about the book below.

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Festival of the Holidays!

Will you be checking out this festival? Tell us in the comments!