What is considered Walt Disney World’s biggest event, Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, takes over Epcot every year in the fall. This year is once again the longest year ever, Disney is constantly trying to top themselves. In 2019 the festival will run from August 29 to November 23 and will be the longest Food & Wine Festival in Epcot’s history at 87 days. If you look back to three years ago the event is now a whole month longer!
What is Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival?
The Epcot Food and Wine Festival is an event held every fall here at Walt Disney World. The festival includes food booths, special events, chef demos, and live concerts! It’s a highly attended event and you should be prepared for a very crowded Epcot especially on the weekends when the locals tend to flood in.
Food Booths at Epcot Food and Wine
In 2019, the Epcot Food and Wine Festival features 30 different food booths scattered across World Showcase and Future World at Epcot. The booths specialize in cuisine from different locations around the world.
Each booth offers up local selections from that country. Each menu item is small, think tapas or a mini appetizer. The items range in price from $4.00 – $8.00 and drinks ranging from $3-$6.
For the full menu listings, be sure to check out our menu page which will be updated throughout the entire festival.
Eat to the Beat Concert Series
The Eat to the Beat Concert Series will run August 29 – November 19 and will feature a lineup of pop, rock, R&B, country, Christian, swing, and Latin artists.
Three times nightly you can catch a concert, 249 concerts in all! These shows will rev up fans at the America Gardens Theatre stage with the biggest musical menu of top talent in the festival’s history, including new acts Lauren Daigle (contemporary Christian), Kris Allen (pop, alt-rock), Sawyer Brown (country) and Boyce Avenue (rock, pop).
Returning festival favorites spanning a broad range of eras and genres include Plain White T’s, Sugar Ray, Hanson, Sheila E. and Boyz II Men. Showtimes Sundays through Thursdays will be 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday shows are slated for 6:30, 7:45 and 9 p.m.
Note that this is a couple of weeks shorter than the actual festival. This is so they can set up and prepare for the Candlelight Processional.
Festival Events
Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak Scavenger Hunt
Journey around world showcase and try to find all the hidden Remys! Once you find them you place the stickers on your map. When you complete, return for a special prize! If you are familiar with the scavenger hunt for Easter it is the exact same thing just new figures to find.
No-Cost Seminars
If you are looking to attend one of the talks be prepared to arrive early. These seminars have been trickier to get into in recent years. With the locals flooding in and taking up all the seats, Disney had to make some changes to level out the playing fields. So now most seminars are offered at a upcharge.
If you are looking to attend one of these free seminars be sure to check the daily time’s guide.
Low-Cost Culinary Demonstrations at Food and Wine
At $17 a person plus tax for these seminars you just can’t go wrong! Since these are paid you can expect that your samples are going to be much better than the freebies. You may want to consider one of these instead of sampling out at the booths, often times it’s a better value.
The schedule of the culinary demos, and advance booking info can be found on Disney’s Food & Wine Festival Culinary Demos page.
Premium Food and Wine Seminars
Disney also has pricey seminars that are more like special events. And when I say pricey I mean it, you can expect to pay well over $100 per person. They are the perfect thing to splurge on if you are celebrating or looking to surprise a foodie on your trip.
Here are some of the premium special events:
- $39 per person plus tax, “Mix It, Make It Celebrate It” is a hands-on workshop gives guests the opportunity to learn from professional chefs in cake decorating, garnishing, cocktail mixing, and other culinary activities.
- $89 per person plus tax, “Cheese Seminars” – 90-minute seminars where cheesemakers will explain the major aromas, textures and flavor levels of popular cheeses. You can sample artisanal selections paired with complementary wines, craft beers and other beverages while learning about the distinct nature of each featured region.
- Party for the Senses will be September 22nd, October 6th, 13th & 20th and November 10th.
- “Sunday Brunch with the Chef” features some of the country’s top celebrity chefs, this two hour event begins with a breakfast and sparkling wine toast. The chefs answering questions from the audience and sharing their anecdotes. The event is followed by a meet and greet.
Merchandise for 2018 Epcot Food and Wine Festival
Of course, we have to take a look at the merchandise for this year’s Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. There is so much in the festival center I just have a small sampling pictured for you below.
This year the ears of the party are wine inspired! The fabric is a beautiful cork print with the different countries featured at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival.
I, unfortunately, do not like beer but this is the coolest souvenir I have seen! You can put your bottle cap collection in the brews sign at the bottom of the picture above. Such a great way to capture memories from your Disney World trip.
Beautiful glass Christmas ornament for this year’s Food and Wine Festival.
Annual Passholder Food and Wine Festival Gift
If you are a Disney World Annual Passholder you don’t want to miss out on this FREE gift. Take home Chef Mickey-inspired gifts on your first and fourth visits to the Festival in 2018. On your first visit, receive a complimentary Passholder magnet to add to your collection. And on your fourth visit, take home a complimentary, Passholder-exclusive cutting board.
To redeem this offer and pick up your complimentary gifts, please visit the theatre across from The Chocolate Experience: From Bean to the Bar, hosted by Ghirardelli® Chocolate Company. This is located in the Festival Center at Epcot.
Plus all new this year, Thank You Thursdays. As a Disney World Passholder you can attend special, early access shopping events at Epcot on select Thursdays during the Festival. At these V.I.PASSHOLDER events, you can be among the first to purchase the newest releases of Passholder-exclusive merchandise at The Festival Center and at Mouse Gear.
Thank You Thursdays will be held on the following dates:
- August 30, 2018
- September 20, 2018
- October 18, 2018
Final Thoughts on Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival
If you like food or drinking you are bound to enjoy this event. My husband and I look forward to attending this event each year. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon and to try out new food and catch a free concert.
On the other hand, this event brings in loads of people and causes Epcot to be a non-stop packed house for the duration of the festival. Watch out for the weekends, when the locals drop in and make everything extra packed.
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