We just got the exciting news that the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival will be returning this year! From August 29th to November 23rd, you can check out everything that this fan-favorite festival has to offer!

From all the yummy food and drinks to entertainment to a scavenger hunt, there is so much to see and do at the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival. Since there is so much to experience during this festival, we put together a “Just Tell Me What to Do” guide for you to follow or reference when the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival officially starts!

EPCOT Festivals can be so much fun and give you a different EPCOT experience, but we know it can be overwhelming to try and figure out everything you want to see, do, and eat! To help, here is our brief guide to tell you what you should do!

Navigating the Festival

At the front of the park, as well as at food booths, you can pick up a copy of the festival’s passport. This passport has so much information that it can help you plan out your day. You can even check out the festival’s passport online using the My Disney Experience app BEFORE you go into EPCOT!

The passport will provide you with all the details of the Festival, including menu items at Global Marketplaces (festival/food booths), where to purchase festival merchandise, and showtimes for the Eat to the Beat Concert Series. 

Global Marketplaces/ Food Booths

One of the best parts about visiting EPCOT is all the food and drinks that you can try! During festivals, there are even more food and drink offerings, and you will want to check them out!

At the festival booths, you can find offerings that are only available during the festival. While these booths are found all around the park, you will mostly find them in the Promenade of EPCOT and near the World Showcase Lagoon in each country. Full menus will be released closer to the festival’s opening day, and we’ll have all the details on the page linked below — so keep checking back!

Click Here to See the Menus for the 2024 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival!

Don’t know what to get? Don’t worry. Here are some of our favorite booths from last year that will be making their return!

Head to Canada at the Canada booth and order the Canadian Cheddar Soup with a Pretzel Roll. We have to get this every year! It is a tradition for us!

Over at the Belgium booth, the Belgian Waffles with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream or Warm Chocolate Ganache will be back!

Craving more sweets? The Germany booth will have the Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce again this year!

As the festival starts, we will make sure to update you on our favorite foods and give you our “Best of the Fest 2024.”

For now, you can check out our 2023 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival Best of the Fest here!

Now that you have a little background about the festival, here is what you must do!

Stay at a Hotel Near EPCOT

Six hotels at Disney World are super close to EPCOT. They are Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, the Walt Disney World Dolphin and Swan, and the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve. You can even stay at hotels with Skyliner access, like Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, and Disney’s Riviera Resort.

If you plan to visit the festival multiple days, staying at a hotel closer to EPCOT can save you a lot of travel time — plus you can enter through the International Gateway Entrance of EPCOT that takes you straight into World Showcase, closer to the festivities! 

Make a Game Plan

Having a game plan and strategy can make your trip to the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival go smoothly.

You can start to prep by checking out all of our EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival tips:

15 Tips to Make Your Visit to the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival Less Stressful!

And watching our video of all the things we enjoyed last year — because many of them will be back for 2024:

But your best bet for making a solid festival game plan is to grab our DFB Food & Wine Festival Guide! We’ve been covering the festival for 15 years — checking out every booth, trying every food and drink offering, attending concertsand seminars … we release a new guide each year with photos and reviews of all the food, all to help you have the best Food and Wine Festival trip!

Study up on the guide, and pick out what booths you want to eat at and what entertainment you want to see and experience. By coming in prepared, you can map out your day and plan how you want to start it.

If you really want to get a head start on the festival, we recommend starting right when the festival booths open at 11 AM. This way, you can start snacking earlier in the day and have more time to try all the booths.

Budget Using a Gift Card

We know that things at Disney World can get expensive, and while food booths tend to have food offerings between $4-$10 and well as drink offerings $5-$14, it can add up when you go visit multiple booths.

View a Realistic Budget for the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival Here!

If you make a game plan to estimate what you plan on buying beforehand, you can start to create a budget. A great way to stay true to this budget is to purchase a gift card to be used, especially at the festival booths.

There are special gift card designs for each festival, and you can even get one with a band to wear on your wrist! This makes it easy to stick to a budget and have easy access to your gift card. 

Don’t worry if your gift card runs out; you can always add more funds (if you can afford to stretch your budget, that is)!

Three Budget Plans for EPCOT Festivals

Check Out the Entertainment

Each Festival has its own featured entertainment at the America Gardens Theatre. For the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, there is the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, and each year, recognizable names play here. 

While the 2024 Eat to the Beat Concert Series line-up has not been announced yet, we checked out Shelia E.’s website, and she has performance dates at Disney World on September 20th and 21st, which falls in line with the festival dates. We will make sure to keep you updated as more details and musicians are announced!

Check Out Last Year’s Eat to the Beat Concert Series Lineup!

If you want to check out the concert, each day, the featured musician plays three sets at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM, and 8:00 PM. These concerts are a great way to take in all that the festival has to offer, as well as get some rest while you digest!

Sometimes, these concerts can be very popular and can only offer standing room, but there are also times when you can come in minutes before the show starts and have no problem finding a seat. 

Besides the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, for a week of the Festival, you can catch ¡Celebración Encanto! on the CommuniCore Hall Plaza Stage until September 6th. 

CommuniCore Hall is set to be the center of EPCOT Festivals and will include a demonstration kitchen, a mixology bar, and exhibition and gallery space. With this new space, we hope that Disney will bring back the popular demonstration, seminars, and book signings the festival used to offer! 

Eat to the Beat Dining Package

As we said above, sometimes seats can be scarce when certain musicians come to perform at the Eat to the Beat Concert Series. However, there is a way to guarantee a seat!

You can make a reservation for the Eat to the Beat Dining Package at certain EPCOT restaurants the same way you usually reserve dining through My Disney Experience. The difference is that you also choose which of the three showtimes you wish to attend: 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM, or 8:00 PM. 

Read More About The Eat to the Beat Dining Package!

On the day of the concert, simply head to your dining reservation, and at the end of the meal you will receive a sticker. This is your official pass to wait in a special line at the America Gardens Theatre to get your guaranteed seat.

While booking a dining reservation during a festival is not our favorite due to all the snacking and yummy food and drinks that you can find at the festival booths, if there is a musician you really want to see, booking an Eat to the Beat Dining Package is a good choice. If you do not care about attending a concert, we think you should SKIP making a dining reservation and enjoy snacking and drinking at all the festival booths instead!

Participate in Emile’s Fromage Montage

We love cheese here at DFB, and we will take any excuse to try different cheeses. During the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, you can partake in a CHEESE CRAWL!

When you pick up your festival passport, you will see the pages for Emile’s Fromage Montage. Simply visit five participating locations and order the featured cheese item. Make sure to show your festival passport to the Cast Member, who will take your order and get your stamp.

Why We LOVE Emile’s Fromage Montage!

Once you get all your stamps, you can redeem your festival passport for a special treat! Last year, we got Strawberry Cheesecake Soft Serve topped with a Mini Cheesecake and Graham Cracker Crumbs in a Specialty Cup. It was delicious and so worth completing Emile’s Fromage Montage!

Not only is this activity fun to try all the different cheeses at the Festival, but you also get a souvenir to remember all the fun you had!

Participate in Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak Scavenger Hunt

Each Festival has a themed scavenger hunt. At the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, you can search for hidden Remy’s all around EPCOT in Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak Scavenger Hunt.

Simply purchase a map at a participating gift shop, and you will be on your way! Once you find Remy, you place the coordinating sticker to its place on the map. When you are all done, you can redeem your map at participating locations for a small prize!

Don’t Visit on the First or the Last Day

EPCOT can get crowded, especially on the first and last days of the festival. People want to try all the different foods and drinks that are offered, which means that on the first day of the festival, people are going to be eager to be some of the first to see what the festival has to offer.

Read About More Festival Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Due to this, we recommend not checking out the festival on the first day. The same goes for the last day of the festival. People will either want to have some of their favorite foods for the last time, or it could be the only day that they can check out the festival. 

The moral of the story is that you may want to avoid visiting the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival on its first and last day.

Eight Tricks Pros Use at the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival

Overview

Whew! That was a lot! Here is a little recap to help you know what to do when you visit the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival.

• Stay at a resort near EPCOT if you plan to attend the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival multiple days during your visit.
• Make a game plan! You can start planning your Festival day BEFORE you even start your trip. Look at resources on our Blog and YouTube Channel. And grab our DFB Guide to the Food and Wine Festival right here!
• Arrive at EPCOT right before 11 AM to be there as soon as the booths open.
• Budget using a Disney gift card. You can even pick out a cute design!
• Check out the festival entertainment like the Eat to the Beat Concert Series.
• Book the Eat to the Beat Dining Package if you want guaranteed seats to a show.
• Do the cheese crawl and participate in Emile’s Fromage Montage for yummy cheeses and a prize!
• Buy a map and participate in Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak Scavenger Hunt for a fun prize!
• Don’t visit on crowded days, such as the first and last day of a Festival.
• Have a great time!

By following this guide, we are sure you are going to enjoy your day at the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival!

Want More Tips? Check Out Our EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival 101 Page!

Are you excited for this year’s EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival? Let us know in the comments!

The post The “Just Tell Me What to Do” Guide for the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival first appeared on the disney food blog.