Nearly every day of the calendar year, Walt Disney World’s EPCOT is in festival mode. Whether it’s the International Festival of the Arts to start the year; the International Flower & Garden Festival spring into summer; the International Food & Wine Festival summer into fall; or the International Festival of the Holidays to close out the year, there just always seems to be something to see and do!

It wasn’t always this way, though! Let’s take a look at the history of EPCOT’s festivals and how the park grew into becoming the festival super-center it is today.
1994
1994 was a big year for EPCOT. The first of its festivals, the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival, debuted!

Later that year, something in Disney World changed that would forever shape the holiday season at EPCOT. Disney’s Candlelight Processional, which at the time was playing annually in Magic Kingdom since the park opened in 1971, moved to the American Adventure Pavilion in World Showcase.

1995
Just one year after the launch of EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival, a second festival joined the ranks. This is the year that marked the beginning of the now-famous and fan-favorite EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival.

1996
EPCOT truly knows how to keep the festival party going! In 1996, Holidays Around the World debuted in the park. Centered around the Candlelight Processional, World Showcase was transformed each holiday season with unique entertainment and food offerings for guests. It wouldn’t change its name to what we know it to be today, however, for two decades.

2002
To remedy lower attendance in the parks following the attacks on September 11, 2001, EPCOT’s festivals started to grow in a big way. In 2002, the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival hosted its first ever Eat to the Beat Concert Series, which brought big-name musical acts to the American Adventure Pavilion throughout the festival.

2016
Two decades after EPCOT’s Holidays Around the World debuted, it was officially renamed the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, keeping closer to the “festival” branding of the Food & Wine Festival and the Flower & Garden Festival.

2017
In 2017, the newest EPCOT festival, the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, debuted! This is arguably the most unique EPCOT festival, celebrating culinary, visual, and performing arts. It is also one of the shorter festivals, running for only six to seven weeks, as compared to the Flower & Garden and Food & Wine Festivals, which now run for months.

2020
Following the historic closures at Disney World, EPCOT is certainly making up for lost time! The 2020 Taste of EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival was a whopping four months long! Since then, each festival has been a “Taste” of that festival, offering many of the food booths and festival offerings in a modified format to accommodate physical distancing.

Now, it’s nearly impossible to spend a week in Disney World and NOT be around during an EPCOT Festival. Lately, the turnaround time between festivals is getting shorter and shorter, with some festivals starting just one week after their predecessors — essentially, just long enough to switch over the kitchens and change out the banners!

Those outdoor food booths, which used to come and go frequently as festivals closed, are now semi-permanent structures around World Showcase, solidifying their place as a “constant” that guests can expect when visiting EPCOT.
Which EPCOT festival is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
Disney World News
- Alert! These 11 Things Are CLOSED in Disney World This Week
- Be CAREFUL With These New Coca-Cola Bottles in Disney World – Here’s Why
- How Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Will Be Different in 2025
- This HOT FUDGE Snack Is FANTASTIC…and It’s Less Than $10 in Disney World
- REVIEW: We May or May Not Have Found Our New Favorite Grilled Cheese at Disney World 🧀
- QUIZ: Which Type Of Disney Ice Cream Are You?
- The NEW Unspoken Message Disney Adults Are Sending in Magic Kingdom
- NEWS: One of the BEST Parts of the Mexico Pavilion Is BACK in EPCOT!
- GOOD NEWS: THIS Is What a Great Day Looks Like in Disney World!
- I’ve Been a Disney Fan for 10 Years. Here’s Why It’s Hard for Me To Trust Disney World’s New Holiday Announcements
Join the AllEars.net Newsletter to stay on top of ALL the breaking Disney News! You'll also get access to AllEars tips, reviews, trivia, and MORE! Click here to Subscribe!

Trending Now
Amazon Prime Day is here with some HUGE deals on Disney souvenirs.
Donald Duck is back in his official meet and greet spot in EPCOT!
Amazon is clearing out the Disney vault!
There's a NEW Donald Duck Loungefly collection online you've gotta see!
Bad Florida weather is creating some new problems at Disney World.
Amazon has Loungeflys on sale as part of Prime Day!
Will Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party be different in 2025?
Get your calendars out; we know when Disney World Christmas party tickets go on sale!
After a year and half, this restaurant is still abandoned at Disney World with no...
A popular ride was removed from Early Entry at Epic Universe!
Let's have a chat about an Oura Ring that Disney Adults just can’t seem to...
Here's why you might want to skip your visit to Disney World this year.
We asked our resident Disney adults which ride at Hollywood Studios they would rope drop...
These are some rules to know if you love collecting Disney mugs!
You can save BIG on a new Marvel Unlimited Membership right now, but there's a...
The holiday dates can be confusing for Disney World, so we're going to break it...
Grab these LEGO sets before they're gone!
Let's breakdown the major changes coming to Disney World this Fall 2025.
New Disney+ perks have arrived!
We are rounding up everything that is closed this week in Disney World!