Let's Settle This — Which EPCOT Festival is the BEST?

It goes without questions that of all the Disney World parks, EPCOT is THE place for festivals!

Festival days are BIG here at DFB!

With incredible and immersive festivals taking place practically year-round, it’s practically impossible to choose a favorite one! Or is it?!

We love a little social media debate about Disney favorites.

Flower and Garden Festival

In the past, we’ve asked our Instagram followers when they think the Disney Dining Plan will return, which hotels they’d never stay at again, and who the REAL star of The Haunted Mansion is. Now we’re at it again, asking our readers which EPCOT festival is the BEST festival!

EPCOT

This is a HEATED debate ’round these parts. Every member of our team has a favorite — and a least favorite — but we wanted to know about YOU! The results may shock you! Or…not shock you at all.

Overview

First, a quick recap.

EPCOT

The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts kicks off the year, taking place this coming January 14-February 21, 2022. This fest is beloved for its chalk art, over-the-top artistically plated foods, performance artists, and more.

Festival of the Arts

You’ll usually spy that lovable purple dragon, Figment, front and center as the sort of unofficial mascot of this fest, with loads of merch covered with him! He even has his own scavenger hunt, Figment’s Brush With the Masters, where you hunt for him around World Showcase in artwork from each country!

Oh, Hi Mona Lisa…err…Figment!

Guests can participate in painting giant paint-by-number murals…

Get YOUR paint on!

…or listen to the Disney On Broadway Series, where Broadway stars perform most days for guests free with admission!

Alton Fitzgerald White and Kissy Simmons

They can also check out great artists doing demos and selling their works around the park.

Mickey!

Or guests can BECOME part of the art themselves with life-sized famous works of art scattered around the park for picture taking!

Van Gogh photo op

Next up is the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival in the spring, renowned for its gorgeous topiaries and garden-inspired snacks!

What a Beautiful View!

The adorable Orange Bird is the de facto unofficial mascot this time around, with his cheery face on loads of goodies around the park.

Hi There!

Guests can sample food from the outdoor kitchens around the park, all focused on fresh, Spring-like produce — some grown in the park in the Land Pavilion!

Tomato and Cornbread Panzanella

The Garden Rocks Concert Series brings various popular musicians to the park to perform multiple times per day.

Steve Augeri Kicks off Garden Rocks!

There’s even typically a butterfly house you can stroll through and admire hundreds of butterflies swirling around you!

Butterfly Garden

The main star of the show at this fest though is those topiaries. The park is covered in gorgeous, colorful topiaries of Disney characters!

So cute!

The scavenger hunt for this fest involves Spike the Bee — you’ll go on an adventure to find his favorite plants for pollination around the park!

Look who’s buzzin’ around the Festival!

The longest-running festival is the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, which ran from July 15 through November 20, 2021, and featured a BOATLOAD of internationally themed bites and sips throughout World Showcase and beyond!

Food & Wine

Guests can enjoy performances at the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, featuring famous bands and musicians of yesterday and today.

Wilson Phillips at Eat to the Beat

This festival typically offers the most booths of any EPCOT fest, giving you loads of options to choose from!

Warm Indian Bread with Dips at the India Booth

There are often loads of free and paid seminars and special dining experiences available around World Showcase as well. The scavenger hunt at this festival involves, who else, CHEF Remy! He has ingredients scattered around the Pavilions you need to help find!

Hey There Remy!

The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays takes place late November through the end of December, wherein the park is adorned with ALL kinds of holiday decor and holiday treats!

Festival of the Holidays

You’ll find Holiday Kitchens, celebrating holidays and their foods from around the world…

Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina Spread

…as well as festive Storytellers scattered around the park, sharing various Holidays celebrated worldwide.

Father Christmas in the UK Pavilion

The scavenger hunt this go-round is run by Olaf! He’s on a mission to find as many Holiday traditions as he can. Run around the park looking for him and his little sleighs of goodies to get a prize!

Can you find all the Olafs?

The special entertainment offering at this fest is a fan-favorite: the Candlelight Processional. Here, a full orchestra and choir perform each night led by a celebrity narrator as they share the Christmas story. This is a long-running tradition started by Walt Disney, himself, back in the day in Disneyland!

Candlelight Processional

WHEW! A year of EPCOT fests, just like that! So…which one is the BEST? Let’s see what you said!

EPCOT International Festival of the Arts

The fest that got the LEAST amount of votes is the Festival of the Arts — oof!

Festival of the Arts

Perhaps it’s a mass aversion to chalk art, or the prospect of coloring and decorating is just off-putting, or perhaps it’s just a slow time of year and you can’t muster the post-holiday energy to care?

The chalk designs are coming back!

The weather can be chilly at times as well. Whatever the reason, y’all just weren’t feeling this fest.

EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays

Did the Grinch hack our Insta? Because Festival of the Holidays barely earned more votes than Festival of the Arts!

No love for the holidays??

In a somewhat shocking twist, the merriest time of year in the Most Magical Place on Earth did not get the votes we assumed it would!

No tree sushi for y’all

It’s all good, though. That just means more Spaceship Earth Cookies for the rest of us!

EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

In second place (and earning a LOT more votes than both the Festivals of the Arts and Holidays, LOL) is the International Flower & Garden Festival!

EPCOT

If you think about it, the fanfare for this one makes sense: it’s a time of rejuvenation and rebirth, and EPCOT simply looks GORGEOUS with all its extra flowers and plants!

Beauty and the Beast Topiary at the Flower and Garden Festival

Plus, who DOESN’T love eating edible dirt?! (Spoiler alert: 2,458 of you love eating edible dirt).

EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

If you were hoping for a plot twist and an unexpected outcome, it’s not happening. Unsurprisingly, the International Food & Wine Festival EASILY took top billing as the BEST EPCOT festival according to you!

We have a winner!

The fact that this is by FAR the longest festival certainly helps its odds. As does the fact that two of our favorite words — “food” and “wine” — are in the title.

Guinness Baileys Shake

With 5,126 votes, more than doubling the runner-up, our readers clearly agree!

2021 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Passport

Well, there you have it! When it comes to the best of the fests, Food & Wine is the clear winner! It’s all science. Or, ya know, Instagram. 😉

Are EPCOT Festivals Getting More Expensive?

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Don't Miss Out on Any Disney Fun!

Order Your Copy of the 2022 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining Today!

With more than 750 pages, the 2022 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full of tips and planning tools developed by Disney World experts over 30+ years of visits. We've done the research for you, so you'll know just which spots will uniquely suit your family's needs!

With mini-reviews of every single restaurant, bar, lounge, kiosk and more; an entire chapter on the best snacks in Disney World; full Disney Dining Plan analysis (and how to get FREE dining); and a full chapter on discounts and deals; you'll have everything you need to plan your best vacation yet.

Click here to order your copy of the 2022 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining E-book with code WDW2022 to save 25% off the cover price today!