EPCOT Food & Wine Festival 2023 Preview: What’s Returning? What’s New?

The 2023 EPCOT International Food Festival is happening from July 27 through November 18, 2023. The Festival will include the typical components of every EPCOT festival: commemorative merchandise, themed entertainment, educational elements, park decor, and, of course, food booths. We’ll run down each of them in turn below, as well as what to look for if you’re attending the Festival with kids.

Merchandise

This year’s festival will have four lines of merchandise: the Festival Event Logo Collection, the Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse Picnic Collection, the Disney Encanto Collection, and the Figment Annual Passholder Collection. You’ll be able to find dozens of items decorated with variations on these designs including clothing, housewares, toys, and more.

In addition to the Disney-branded merchandise, there will be booths along the World Showcase walkways featuring non-Disney vendors offering general food-related merchandise such as kitchen tools, glassware, or painted wine bottles.

Themed Entertainment

The main Food & Wine festival entertainment is the Eat to the Beat concert series. The featured artists are:

• July 27 – Funkafied
• July 28-29 – Orianthi (NEW)
• July 30-31 – For King & Country (NEW)
• Aug 1-3 – Funkafied
• Aug. 4-5 – Southern Avenue
• Aug. 6-7 – Tiffany
• Aug. 8-10 – Champagne
• Aug. 11-12 – Ruben Studdard with Haley Reinhart
• Aug. 13-14 – The Bacon Brothers (NEW)
• Aug. 15-17 – M-80s
• Aug. 18-21 – Joey Fatone & Friends
• Aug. 22-24 – The Female Collective
• Aug. 25-26 – Ayron Jones (NEW)
• Aug. 27-28 – Phillip Phillips (NEW)
• Aug. 29-31 Element
• Sept. 1-2 – Baha Men
• Sept. 3-4 – MercyMe
• Sept. 5-7 – Foreigners Journey
• Sept. 8-9 – Ray Parker Jr.
• Sept. 10-11 – TobyMac
• Sept. 12-14 – Hooligans
• Sept. 15 – Monsieur Perine
• Sept. 16-17 – Raul Acosta and Oro Solido (NEW)
• Sept. 18 – TBA
• Sept. 19-21 – Audio Exchange
• Sept. 22-24 – Los Amigos Invisibles
• Sept. 25-26 – 98°
• Sept. 27-28 – Latin Ambition
• Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 – Boyz II Men
• Oct. 3-5 – Wise Radio
• Oct. 6-7 – Mark Wills
• Oct. 8-9 – Sugar Ray
• Oct. 10-12 – Icon Party Band
• Oct. 13-14 – Hoobastank
• Oct. 15-16 – Air Supply
• Oct. 17-19 – Evolution Mowtown
• Oct. 20-21 – Taylor Dayne
• Oct. 22-23 – Billy Ocean
• Oct. 24-26 – Sound Up
• Oct. 27-30 – Hanson
• Oct. 31- Nov. 2 – Rexine
• Nov. 3-4 – We The Kings (NEW)
• Nov. 5-6 – Sheila E.
• Nov. 10-11 – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• Nov. 12-13 – 38 Special

Performances are held thrice daily at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m., and 8 p.m. at the America Gardens Theatre, and booking for Eat to the Beat dining packages is now available. If your snacking plans don’t line up with the weekends, don’t worry — the schedule isn’t published but local bands take the stage to provide music in the evenings on Tuesdays through Thursdays.

Educational Elements

There may be booths around the World Showcase area with some minor cooking demonstrations.

Prior to the current major construction project at Epcot, there were dozens of food-related presentations such as celebrity chef meet & greets, cooking demonstrations, or wine-tasting lessons. We have not seen word that these are returning, but there’s still hope for future years.

Park Decor

The Food & Wine Festival Decor is not as immersive as the plantings and topiaries that you’ll find at the spring EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival, but you’ll still see colorful signage throughout the park, well worthy of several selfies. And don’t forget to look for my favorite Food & Wine decor – the teeny banners on the lamp posts in the Germany pavilion train display. So cute!

Outdoor Kitchens (aka Food Booths)

Food booth menus are now out! Check out our menus post for complete details on this year’s festival offerings.

Some highlights from this year’s menus that we look forward to tasting:

• A new plant-based Impossible Moussaka at the Greece booth.
• Several new items at the Japan booth, including the Fire Taiko Roll (Sushi Roll with Spicy Tuna, Cucumber, and Pickled Daikon Radish served with Spicy Sauce) and Beef Wa-Gyu Don (Traditional Japanese Rice Bowl with American Wagyu Beef over Steamed White Rice)
• Several new items the Flavors of Americas booth, including Italian Hot Beef Sandwich with Shaved Beef, Spicy Giardiniera, and Au Jus on a French Roll; Cioppino (Seafood Stew with Saffron-infused Tomato-Fennel Broth and Sourdough Crostini), and Chilaquiles (Corn Tortilla Chips tossed in Salsa Verde with Ranchero Chicken, Queso Fresco, Cilantro-Lime Crema, and a Soft-Poached Egg)
• Several new items at the Italy booth, including Focaccia Ripiena (Freshly Baked Focaccia, Beef Meatballs, Tomato Sauce and Burrata Cheese), Cavatelli with Sweet Sausage Ragout and Crispy Applewood-Smoked Bacon, and Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Vanilla Cream and Strawberry Compote
• Several new items at the Mexico booth, including Tostada de Carnitas (Braised Pork on a Fried Corn Tortilla with Black Beans, Avocado Mousse, Queso Fresco, and Chives), Taco de Costilla (Slow-braised Beef Short Rib on a Corn Tortilla with Salsa de Chile Morita, Avocado Mousse, and Spring Onions), and Pastel Impossible (Layers of Traditional Mexican Flan and Tres Leches with Guava and Cajeta)
• New items at the Flavors from the Fire booth, including Chimichurri Marinated Skirt Steak Taco with Crushed Avocado, Grilled Corn Salsa, Pickled Red Onions, Queso Fresco and Cilantro-Lime Cream and Spiced Chocolate Tart with BBQ Potato Chip Crust, Salted Whisky-Caramel, and Smoked Sea Salt
• A Cinnamon-Sugar Beaver Tail at the Refreshment Port
• A Candied Bacon Funnel Cake at the Funnel Cake stand.
• There will be FOUR all-new booths: Char & Chop, Wine & Wedge, Bubbles & Brine, and Swirled Showcase
• Six booths (Hawaii, The Noodle Exchange, and the four new booths) will not be open during the first several weeks of the Festival.
• AND there will be a Muppet Labs theme at Brew-Wing at the Odyssey!

Do you need an app to help you keep track of all the yumminess? See our review: Track Your Eats! An EPCOT Festival App for Your Phone

Also look for Emile’s Fromage Montage to find cheese-based dishes throughout the Festival. If you buy five cheese dishes and have your Festival passport (available free at park entrances) at the point of purchase, you’ll qualify for a free Strawberry Cheesecake Soft Serve topped with a Mini Cheesecake and Graham Cracker Crumbs in a souvenir dish.

And remember that Disney Gift Card wristlets can be an easy way to pay for your sips and snacks without having to dig for a card in your wallet repeatedly.

Fun for Kids

The festival won’t forget kids, look for a special playground and scavenger hunt. The hunt is called Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak. Families may purchase a map and stickers, then kids look for small Remy figurines throughout the parks and win a prize for finding all the rats.

For four weeks in the middle of the festival, kids (and adults) may also participate in Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit. From September 29 to October 31 (or while supplies last), purchase a game board and stickers at select merchandise locations. Then hunt for hidden decorative pumpkins themed to Disney characters. Once you’ve found a character, place the corresponding sticker on your game board. When you’re all stickered up, return your game board to Disney Traders—located at the entrance to World Showcase or World Traveler at International Gateway—for a spooky surprise.

Are you planning a visit to the Food & Wine Festival this year? What are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments!