The 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will take place at EPCOT from 27th August 2026 through to 21st November 2026, continuing the now familiar pattern of a late summer start and running well into autumn.
This makes it one of the longest-running festivals at Walt Disney World, lasting close to three months and giving visitors a wide window to experience it.
First Taste of the 2026 Food & Wine Festival Menu
With the 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival now just days away, Disney has given guests a first taste of some of the food and drinks coming to this year’s festival.
The festival begins on 27th August and runs through 21st November 2026, and this year is particularly significant as the event celebrates its 30th anniversary. Disney is bringing back a selection of popular festival favourites alongside new dishes and drinks across the Global Marketplaces.
Among the first dishes revealed are five that give a good idea of the variety coming to EPCOT this year.
The Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse Trifle is returning to Festival Favorites from 9th September. Originally introduced in 2011, the dessert combines pumpkin cheesecake mousse with spice cake and citrus sauce, finished with cranberry granola. It is one of the returning dishes being brought back as part of the festival’s 30th-anniversary celebration.
Over at the Brew-Wing Lab at The Odyssey, guests will find Dill Buffalo Chicken Wings. The returning wing concept gets a pickle-inspired twist, with the buffalo wings served alongside house-made ranch.
The Wedge, the new cheese-focused marketplace inside CommuniCore Hall, is also bringing one of the more indulgent drinks of the festival: the Cannoli Milkshake. The vanilla shake combines ricotta mascarpone and cinnamon before being topped with a cannoli shell, chocolate shavings and a maraschino cherry.
Also returning to The Wedge is the Crab and Corn Macaroni and Cheese, a popular festival dish that is being brought back for 2026. The Wedge will feature a range of cheese-focused dishes and drinks as part of the festival’s expanded culinary offering.
For dessert, Swirled Showcase will once again serve its Liquid Nitrogen Almond Truffle Mousse. The rich dessert returns with whiskey caramel sauce and sugared almonds, adding another theatrical sweet option to the festival lineup.
These early reveals are only part of the 2026 lineup. The complete Global Marketplace menus have now been released, with the festival featuring returning favourites, new creations and 30 dishes celebrating three decades of EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival. Some offerings will also arrive later in the festival rather than on opening day, so guests visiting at different points during the autumn may find that the food lineup changes.
For anyone planning a visit, this means the 2026 festival is shaping up to offer considerably more than the handful of preview dishes initially announced. From the new Wedge marketplace and its cheese-focused menu to returning favourites spread throughout World Showcase, there will be plenty to sample across the festival’s nearly three-month run.
What is EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival?
The festival itself is built around the idea of “eating and drinking around the world”. Throughout EPCOT, temporary food stalls known as Global Marketplaces are set up across areas like World Showcase and the park’s newer neighbourhoods. Each marketplace focuses on a specific country, cuisine, or theme, allowing guests to try small dishes and drinks inspired by international flavours.
The full 2026 Global Marketplace menus have now been revealed, with EPCOT offering a wide range of food and drink across the park. The 30th-anniversary festival brings back a selection of dishes from previous years alongside new creations, while some marketplaces and individual offerings will debut later in the festival. This gives guests plenty of reasons to return throughout the season, particularly as some of the more seasonal offerings arrive later in September and October.
A few preview menu items have already been teased for 2026, including street corn-style dumplings, a bushberry-spiced shrimp skewer, and other returning favourites, giving an early sense of the mix between creative new dishes and popular returning ones.
With the festival now approaching, the major details for 2026 have been revealed, including the Global Marketplace menus, Eat to the Beat lineup and a range of returning and new festival experiences. Further changes and additions can still be made during the festival season, particularly with some food offerings launching later in the run
Entertainment
Beyond food, the festival includes a strong entertainment offering. The Eat to the Beat Concert Series will return, with live performances held daily at the America Gardens Theatre. These concerts are included with standard park admission, though seating is typically first come, first served, and dining packages are usually released later for guaranteed spots.
Music is a major part of the atmosphere, with acts from a mix of decades and genres, making the evenings especially lively. There are also interactive activities that form a core part of the experience. One of the most popular is Remy’s Hide and Squeak scavenger hunt, inspired by the film Ratatouille, where guests search for hidden Remy figures around the park. This is particularly aimed at families and adds a playful element beyond food sampling.
Another returning feature is Emile’s Fromage Montage, a themed food trail focused on cheese dishes. Guests collect stamps as they try participating items, and completing the trail earns a small reward. This encourages exploring multiple booths rather than sticking to just a few.
The announcement itself focuses mainly on confirming the dates and the return of key elements rather than revealing full menus or line-ups. More detailed information, including the complete list of marketplaces, menus, concert performers, and special event bookings, is expected to be released closer to the start of the festival in summer 2026.
Pricing
Pricing typically follows a small-plate model, where dishes are designed to be sampled rather than eaten as full meals, encouraging guests to try multiple items throughout the day.