EPCOT Food & Wine Festival
The 30th EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival runs August 27 through November 21, 2026 — the longest-running of EPCOT's four festivals, with 30+ global marketplace booths, the Eat to the Beat concert series, and a slate of 30 returning “legacy” dishes for the anniversary. Festival entry is included with regular EPCOT admission; you pay per taste. Here's what's confirmed, what it costs, and what our own crowd measurements say about when to go.
EPCOT · Walt Disney World
Quick facts
Source-verifiedverified August 20, 2026- Dates
- August 27 – November 21, 2026 (daily)
- Admission
- Included with EPCOT park admission — no separate festival ticket
- Booths
- 30+ global marketplaces (some open in phases through early October)
- Booth prices
- Most tastes run about $5–$13; flights and cocktails roughly $12–$18
- Eat to the Beat
- Included concerts at America Gardens Theatre (5:30 / 6:45 / 8:00 PM); for guaranteed seats, see the Eat to the Beat dining package page
- Park reservation
- Not required for date-based tickets
Details verified August 20, 2026 against Disney's official pages and may change — always confirm on disney's site before buying.
Dining packages for this festival
Participating restaurants, prices and what’s included are on each package’s own page.
Eat to the Beat Concert Series Dining PackageNot verified
Disney listed August 27 to November 21, 2026 when we checked on 2026-09-16; that check is due for re-review — confirm on Disney's page.
What's actually at the 2026 festival
The core of the festival is the global marketplace booths around World Showcase and Future World — 30-plus kitchens serving tasting-sized plates and drinks, from festival fixtures like Hops & Barley and Flavors from Fire to destinations like The Alps, Hawai'i, and Brew-Wing Lab. For the 30th anniversary, Disney is bringing back 30 legacy dishes from past festivals. Note that not every booth opens on day one: several (including The Wedge, The Alps, Coastal Eats, Earth Eats, and India) open in phases between early September and early October — if a specific booth is your reason for going, check its opening date before booking travel.
- Eat to the Beat concert series is included with admission — the 2026 lineup includes Boyz II Men, The Beach Boys, Hanson, Yellowcard, The Fray, and WDW debuts like Fitz and The Tantrums.
- Eat to the Beat dining packages bundle a meal at a participating EPCOT restaurant with guaranteed concert seating — see the Eat to the Beat dining package page for the participating restaurants and their checked prices.
- Family scavenger hunts: Remy's Ratatouille Hide & Squeak ($11.99 + tax) and Pluto's Pumpkin Pursuit return this fall; the festival passport itself is free.
- Party for the Senses is not part of the 2026 lineup — ignore older guides quoting its dates and prices.
Budgeting: what a festival day really costs
With booth items mostly $5–$13, a realistic grazing lunch is three to five items ($25–$50 per person) before drinks. The festival's best-known money trap is trying to “do the whole thing” in one day — with 30+ booths, most regulars pick one showcase region per visit. If you're planning several festival days, weekday visits also make the popular booths' lines dramatically shorter, which brings us to the crowd data.
What our wait-time data says about festival weekends
The internet's standard advice is “never go to Food & Wine on a weekend.” Our measurements say the effect is real but smaller than the folklore: across the 2025 festival (September–November), EPCOT's average posted wait on Saturdays was about 17 minutes versus about 14 minutes Monday–Thursday — roughly 20% higher, measured from wait-time observations we collect every 1–5 minutes. Weekends are busier, especially in World Showcase in the evening (booth lines, which aren't in posted-wait data, do get long), but a Saturday visit is far from ruined — and November weekdays were the quietest stretch of the whole festival.
We publish this data live: the EPCOT crowd calendar shows a measured crowd level for every festival day, updated daily, so you can pick your date from observations rather than vibes.
The hard part isn't the booths — it's the tables
EPCOT's table-service restaurants book out fast during the festival, and the fireworks dining packages (Rose & Crown, Spice Road Table, Shiki-Sai) sell through their prime slots early — Mickey Alerts monitors those experiences directly, alongside regular dining. Set an alert and get a text the moment a table or package opens for your date and party size.
FAQ: EPCOT Food & Wine Festival
When is the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival in 2026?
August 27 through November 21, 2026, running daily. It's included with regular EPCOT admission — there is no separate festival ticket. Some marketplace booths open in phases between early September and early October.
How much does the Food & Wine Festival cost?
Entry is included with park admission. Food and drinks are à la carte: most booth tastes run about $5–$13, with flights and cocktails roughly $12–$18. A realistic grazing budget is $25–$50 per person per session before alcohol. The festival passport is free; the Remy's Hide & Squeak scavenger hunt is $11.99 plus tax.
Do I need a park reservation for the festival?
Not with a date-based ticket — Disney dropped that requirement in January 2024 and it remains the policy as of August 2026. Annual Passholders and undated tickets may still need a reservation on some dates; check Disney's availability calendar.
How do Eat to the Beat dining packages work?
You book a meal at a participating EPCOT restaurant and get a guaranteed seat at a same-day Eat to the Beat concert. See the Eat to the Beat dining package page for the participating restaurants, their checked prices and how the seating works — if your date is sold out, an experience alert can catch an opening.
Are weekends really that much worse at Food & Wine?
Busier, yes — catastrophic, no. Our measured data from the 2025 festival shows Saturday average posted waits about 20% higher than Monday–Thursday. Booth lines and World Showcase evening congestion are the bigger weekend difference. If you can pick, a weekday in November is the calmest festival experience.