Epcot: International Food & Wine Festival 2023

Updated: Sep 30

***Update: Coming in 2024: August 29, 2024 through November 23, 2024.

One of our favorite things to check out and enjoy while visiting Walt Disney World are the Epcot Festivals. The park gets a whole new vibe with each festival, from the colorful art in every direction during the Festival of the Arts, to the glorious sights and smells during the Flower and Garden Festival, to the dazzling decorations and festive cheer during the Festival of the Holidays. Then there is the OG festival, the one that started them all and still draws some of the biggest crowds to experience the culinary delights of the Food and Wine Festival. This last one is currently happening at Epcot now through November 18th and we are Disney bound in a few days to explore this festival for our very first time. In that vein, while planning out what food booths we want to hit up and the optimal order (we are planners) we decided to put together a festival map and share it and some of the festival highlights we are most looking forward to.

Food Booths

All of the festivals have food booths but the Food and Wine Festival takes it up a notch offering 32 different locations with well over 100 unique food and drink items to choose from in 2023. That’s because, as the name suggests, food and drinks are the star of the show here. This festival in particular provides a great opportunity to sample cuisine from a variety of cultures and try out dishes you might not normally be brave enough to order. You can try out Chicken Tikka Masala from the India booth, Tofu in the Ramen with Tofu, over at The Noodle Exchange, Falafels at Tangierine Cafe, Poutine at the Refreshment Port, and on and on.

The festival is also a great place to sample a variety of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. We are really looking forward to trying out a few of the more interesting cocktails and maybe a flight or two of something. There are wine, sangria, mimosa, cider, and beer flights scattered around at the different booths.

Then there are the truly unique, and some might say wacky festival items. The big draw this year is the Pickle Milkshake over at the Brew-Wing Lab (yes we will be joining the fad and trying it out), which some people say is delightful and others pull a face at. Regardless of where you stand, it sure is taking social media by storm.

***Update: The sneak-peak for 2024 seems to indicate all of these plus more will be heading our way!

Emile’s Fromage Montage **update returning for 2024

Who doesn’t want an excuse to eat more cheese? Disney lumps this in the scavenger hunt category but we feel it is more of a crawl, a cheese crawl, going to various booths to try out cheesy items and get a prize at the end for doing it. For this cheese crawl you’ll use your Festival Passport - which can be picked up all over the park - to find select menu items at a variety of food booths all over the park. For ease of finding the specified cheese, we marked the relevant food booths on our map with a little cheese icon. You will then track down and purchase any 5 of the featured dishes (make sure to get your stamp with each purchase). Once you have 5 stamps, you can go to Shimmering Sips - located on the World Showcase Plaza near the Port of Entry - to present your stamps and get a specialty food item as a prize. If you are a cheese lover like us, this is a great excuse to try out a bunch of different cheese themed dishes.

Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak **update returning for 2024

We love participating in the festival scavenger hunts, looking for Spike the Bee during Flower and Garden or sussing out the cleverly hidden Figments in art work during Festival of the Arts are highlights of our past festival trips. For the Food & Wine Festival Remy can be found all over the World Showcase preparing different ingredients. Scavenger hunt maps can be purchased for $9.99 at Disney Traders, Port of Entry, Creations Shop, World Traveler, or most festival merchandise kiosks. You’ll need to identify which ingredient he is with in what country to finish the hunt. Once done you can return it to select locations - Disney Traders, Gateway Gifts, or World Traveler - for a prize.

Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit **update returning for 2024

Starting September 29th, and running through October 31st, you will also be able to hunt for themed pumpkins throughout the park. You’ll purchase a game board - available at Disney Traders, Creations Shop, Port of Entry, World Traveler, and most festival merchandise kiosks - and then start your quest to locate all the festive pumpkins. Once all the pumpkins are found, you can return your game board to Disney Traders or World Traveler for a prize.

Eat to the Beat Concert Series **update returning for 2024

Another constant from festival to festival is the live entertainment available most nights at the American Gardens Theater in the American Pavilion. Eat to the Beat sees a range of bands performing for guests throughout the festival. This includes both local bands showcasing their talents and more renown bands like The Fray, TobyMac, 98°, and Sugar Ray. While we are there Boys II Men will be performing, which will be a lot of fun.

Below is a list of the performers and dates for the 2024 International Food & Wine Festival.

Aug. 29 – Finesse
Aug. 30-31 – The Fray
Sept. 1-2 – Sugar Ray
Sept. 3-5 – Finesse
Sept. 6-7 – Hoobastank
Sept. 8-9 – Yellowcard (New for 2024)
Sept. 10-12 – Hooligans
Sept. 13-14 – Tiffany
Sept. 15-16 – MercyMe
Sept. 17-19 – Foreigners Journey
Sept. 20-21 – Sheila E.
Sept. 22-23 – The Wanted (New for 2024))
Sept. 24-26 – Dian Diaz
Sept. 27 – Luis Figueroa
Sept. 28-29 – Mau Y Ricky (New for 2024))
Sept. 30 – Jesse & Joy (New for 2024))
Oct. 1-3 – Latin Ambition
Oct. 4-5 – Aloe Blacc (New for 2024))
Oct. 6-7 – Joey Fatone & Friends
Oct. 8-10 – Funkafied
Oct. 11-12 – We The Kings
Oct. 13-14 – Switchfoot
Oct. 15-17 – Gilly and the Girl
Oct. 18-19 – David Archuleta (New for 2024))
Oct. 20-21 – Billy Ocean
Oct. 22-24 – Hayfire
Oct. 25-28 – Hanson
Oct. 29-31 – Evolution Motown
Nov. 1-2 – Haley Reinhart featuring Emily Estefan, Casey Abrams and Janel Parrish (NEW)
Nov. 3-4 – Boyz II Men
Nov. 5-7 – Sugar Vibe
Nov. 8-9 – Magic! (New for 2024))
Nov. 10-11 – Parmalee (New for 2024)
Nov. 12-14 – M-80s
Nov. 15-16 – Smash Mouth
Nov. 17-18 – 98 Degrees

2023 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Map

When planning out our own Festival Experience we spent some time looking for the perfect map to tell us where the different booths were for our libations and snacking, and also where we could sit and beat the heat or the rain. We couldn't find exactly what we wanted, so we put one together ourselves! Here it is for you both online and as a downloadable pdf.