It’s back! EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts has kicked off and will run through February 23rd! Since this is one of the shortest yet most beloved EPCOT festivals, it can get quite crowded — especially on opening day!

It is a very chilly morning in EPCOT, so we are curious if that will keep crowds a bit lower. We can see that people are excited for the first festival of the year! Let’s take a look at the crowds so far.
We headed to EPCOT bright and early this morning! Of course, we have to snap some pics in front of the EPCOT ball and be ready to rope drop all of the festival activities.

It was fairly busy at rope drop, but we do think the cold likely kept some people snuggled up in their beds this morning! Keep in mind that this is rope drop for all of EPCOT (minus Disney World hotel guests who were already in the park with Early Entry). Much of the festival won’t be open until later, too, so many of the crowds are likely headed to the rides.

Here’s another look at rope drop crowds! Definitely a good showing of people, especially for a chilly morning, but the crowds dispersed fairly quickly once the park officially opened.

We stopped by to look at some of the festival merchandise first thing, and there were quite a few people who also had the same idea. Although we could still maneuver pretty easily throughout the Creations Shop.

So far, the crowds are decent but nothing too crazy; we expect it to pick up a bit as it gets later and starts to warm up. We are here all day to experience everything the Festival of the Arts has to offer, so be sure to stay tuned to AllEars. Looking for more recent Festival of the Arts news to help you plan your trip? Check out our posts below!
More Festival of the Arts News!
- LAST CALL: EPCOT Will Look Totally Different in 10 Days
- Why Disney World Annual Passholders Are Running to EPCOT This Month
- Why Gideon’s Bakehouse Fans Are Running to EPCOT Festival of the Arts
- This Is My Favorite EPCOT Festival, and If You Don’t Agree You’re Wrong
- A Certain Tiny Town in World Showcase is Celebrating EPCOT Festival of the Arts 2026!
We’ll be here bringing you all the latest EPCOT news so you can help plan your trip to be the best it can be. Stay tuned to AllEars!
Disney Reveals FULL MENUS for EPCOT Festival of the Arts 2026
Are you headed to the EPCOT Festival of the Arts soon? Tell us in the comments!

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