Welcome to EPCOT’s food and wine season; that’s right, the 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival has officially started. This is the latest start date we’ve seen in a while. When the parks reopened in 2020, Food & Wine began on July 15th, 2020. Ever since then, it’s been starting around that same time. Thankfully this year, it’s starting a bit later. Hopefully, this means that next year it will begin in August!
That said, we are here at the festival’s opening day, and I’ve been taking notes on what I think are the top three things that everyone should do.
Enjoy the Food!
This one is very obvious. The best part is that this year the festival has a lot of new food items, so I highly recommend taking the time to try the dishes. There are 25 global marketplaces. We lost two of my favorite booths, Mac & Eats and Earth Eats, and a few others, but we gained four new ones this year.
I always recommend returning several times to enjoy all the food, but I know not everyone can do that. This leads me to this Disney tip: read the menus here, make a list of the food you don’t want to miss, and bring that to the park. It will help you stay on track and order everything you want. I do this each year with new items. Before the festival starts, I list everything new and cross off each dish as I travel around the world.
Watch a Concert!
The Eat to the Beat Concert Series, presented by Florida Blue Medicare, is returning this year with internationally recognized artists and local bands offering fun tunes on the America Gardens Theatre stage. Personally, I love stopping to watch live music, so this is one of my favorite offerings at the festivals.
I have seen excellent performances before during food and wine, and I have even participated in the dining package for this event. A few years ago, Lauren Daigle performed in this concert series, and my wife is a huge fan of hers, so we did the dining package and got the most fantastic seat ever for her show. During my college years, I used to carve out time in my days when the Plain White Ts used to perform in this series. It was fun to experience a band I loved without being in a huge concert arena.
Anyway, enough about my experiences, let’s take a look at the concert lineup for this season so you can plan a day to see some live music.
| July 27 – Funkafied July 28-29 – Orianthi (NEW) July 30-31 – For King & Country (NEW) Aug. 1-3 – Funkafied Aug. 4-5 – Southern Avenue Aug. 6-7 – Tiffany Aug. 8-10 – Champagne Aug. 11-12 – Ruben Studdard with Haley Reinhart Aug. 13-14 – The Bacon Brothers (NEW) Aug. 15-17 – M-80’s Aug. 18-21 – Joey Fatone & Friends Aug. 22-24 – The Female Collective Aug. 25-26 – Ayron Jones (NEW) Aug. 27-28 – Phillip Phillips (NEW) Aug. 29-31 – Element Sept. 1-2 – Baha Men Sept. 3-4 – MercyMe Sept. 5-7 – Foreigners Journey Sept. 8-9 – Ray Parker Jr. Sept. 10-11 – Tobymac Sept. 12-14 – Hooligans Sept. 15 – Monsieur Periné Sept. 16-17 – Raul Acosta and Oro Solido (NEW) |
Sept. 18 – Latin Celebrity Talent (TBA) Sept. 19-21 – Audio Exchange Sept. 22-24 – Los Amigos Invisibles Sept. 25-26 – 98 ° Sept. 27-28 – Latin Ambition Sept. 29-30 – Boyz II Men Oct. 1-2 – Boyz II Men Oct. 3-5 – Wish Radio Oct. 6-7 – Mark Wills Oct. 8-9 – Sugar Ray Oct. 10-12 – Icon Party Band Oct. 13-14 – Hoobastank Oct. 15-16 – Air Supply Oct. 17-19 – Evolution Motown Oct. 20-21 – Taylor Dayne Oct. 22-23 – Billy Ocean Oct. 24-26 – Sound Up Oct. 27-30 – Hanson Oct. 31 – Rexine Nov. 1-2 – Rexine Nov. 3-4 – We The Kings (NEW) Nov. 5-6 – Sheila E. Nov. 7-9 – Epic Live Nov. 10-11 – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Nov. 12-13 – 38 Special |
Participate in a Scavenger hunt!
At this festival, there are two scavenger hunts. One is food based, and the other is a find the hidden Remy in each country around World Showcase. The food scavenger hunt is called ‘Emile’s Fromage Montage,’ to complete this, guests have to use their festival passports and eat five different plates that are part of the food stroll. Let’s take a look at how Disney describes the experience.
Embark on Emile’s Fromage Montage—and delight in a variety of cheeses served in inventive ways.
Use your Festival Passport as a guide to find Emile’s Fromage Montage menu items from select global marketplaces. Then, purchase and enjoy any 5 of the featured dishes—and collect a stamp each time to track your progress.
Once you’ve collected all 5 stamps, bring the stamped Festival Passport to Shimmering Sips Marketplace hosted by CORKCICLE for a unique specialty item from the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival presented by CORKCICLE.
This fun-for-all-ages activity can be completed at your leisure during the festival.
The other fun scavenger hunt is Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak! This one is so cute and fun. I don’t buy the map each year, but I do love walking around and trying to find the different Remy’s. Since I haven’t fully experienced this offering, I’ll let disney explain this one as well.
Embark on a Ratatouille-inspired adventure that’s très magnifique! Kids of all ages can search for Remy on a savory scavenger hunt around the festival.
Simply purchase your map and stickers from select festival merchandise locations, including:
- Disney Traders
- Port of Entry
- Creations Shop
- World Traveler at International Gateway
- Festival Merchandise Kiosks
Next, search throughout World Showcase for hidden statuettes of Remy. When you find one, match the appropriate sticker to the location on your map!
Once you’ve found them all, bring your completed map to one of the following locations to get a special surprise, compliments of Chef Remy:
- Creations Shop
- Disney Traders
- World Traveler at International Gateway
Wow, there really is so much fun to be had at EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival. These three activities are my must-dos, but if you want to share any, please leave them in the comment section. We’d love to know what you consider a must-do at this festival.
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