The 2026 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival will run from August 27 through November 21. Disney has also confirmed three returning dishes, Emile’s Fromage Montage, Remy’s Hide & Squeak, and the Eat to the Beat concert series. The complete marketplace menus and phased opening details were not part of the first announcement.
That distinction matters. Dates are firm enough to plan around. A full eating itinerary is not. Anyone booking a trip now should make decisions about the shape of a festival day while waiting for Disney’s promised Foodie Guide before choosing individual booths.
Three returning dishes are confirmed
Disney’s preview names Street Corn-style Dumplings at Gyozas of the Galaxy, a Grilled Bushberry-spiced Shrimp Skewer at Australia, and Kirschwasser Torte at The Alps. These give an early look at savory, seafood, and dessert choices, but they are not a representative shortlist of everything the festival will sell.
The dumplings are described with tomatillo salsa verde, street corn salad, cotija, lime crema, and cilantro. The shrimp comes with sweet-and-sour vegetables and coconut-chile sauce. The torte uses cherry-brandy buttercream, fondant, sugared almonds, and cherry compote. Those descriptions are useful for screening preferences and obvious allergens, not for deciding quality before the kitchens open.
Do not build an itinerary around all three. Marketplace locations can be far apart, lines fluctuate, and one item may sell out temporarily. Select a broad route through the park first, then add dishes when the full guide identifies every location and opening date.
Some marketplaces may open later
Disney explicitly says some Global Marketplaces will have phased openings. A festival date alone therefore does not prove that every announced booth will operate on that day. This is especially important for guests arriving near August 27 who expect opening week to represent the final lineup.
When the full Foodie Guide arrives, check each marketplace rather than relying on a copied list. Disney’s own guide and the current My Disney Experience menu should outrank an older roundup. Screenshots age quickly during festivals.
The phased approach also makes a second visit more valuable for local guests or longer trips. An early visit may have opening energy and shorter planning lead time, while a later visit is more likely to offer the fuller marketplace set. Neither is automatically better; the tradeoff is novelty versus completeness.
Plan a budget before planning dishes
Festival booths make small purchases feel inconsequential. Four food items and two drinks can quietly cost more than a table-service meal, while providing less seating and no guaranteed break from the weather. Decide on a per-person ceiling before entering EPCOT.
A durable structure is two savory tastes, one shared dessert, and water between alcoholic drinks. This is not a rule about appetite. It is a way to leave room for an unplanned item without turning every attractive menu board into a purchase.
Emile’s Fromage Montage can influence that plan. Disney says the cheese-focused food stroll returns, with a reward after the required purchases documented in the Festival Passport. Wait for the 2026 passport details before treating the stroll as a discount. A prize is only valuable if the qualifying dishes are things you wanted to buy anyway.
Concert dining packages are optional convenience
Eat to the Beat dining packages are intended to combine a meal with guaranteed concert seating. Disney announced that packages would go on sale July 16. The value depends less on the food festival and more on how strongly you care about a particular performer and showtime.
If the concert is the day’s anchor, a package can replace time spent waiting for a seat. If you are content to hear music in passing, use that money and meal time elsewhere. A reservation inside EPCOT also requires valid park admission, and dining does not create park access by itself.
What to wait for
The missing Foodie Guide should settle the complete menus, marketplace locations, opening phases, and service notes. Prices may appear in the app closer to the event rather than in the blog announcement. Until then, the correct level of planning is a date, budget, route, and concert priority.
This article will leave current festival modules after November 21. Before relying on it, check Disney’s official announcement and current EPCOT listings for changes.