Why A New Festival Could Come to EPCOT Soon (& Why Not)
EPCOT is known as the festival park in Disney World. There are really only a handful of weeks out of the entire year when a festival isn’t taking place.
Festival of the Arts 2024
But, the dates of those festivals do change. We just found out about the end date for EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival, and the news has raised a big question.
Is EPCOT Getting a Summer Festival?
The 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival will be taking place from February 28th through May 27th this year. Last year, the 2023 Flower & Garden Festival ran from March 1st through July 5th, so this year’s festival is over a month shorter!
2023 Festival Passport
Let’s back up for a second and talk about EPCOT festivals in general. There are four festivals that happen every year in the park — Festival of the Arts, Flower & Garden Festival, Food & Wine Festival, and Festival of the Holidays.
Festival of the Arts usually takes place in January and February, Flower & Garden runs in the springtime, Food & Wine is traditionally a fall festival, and Festival of the Holidays runs from the day after Thanksgiving to right before New Year’s Eve.
2023 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays
However, after the parks shut down and then reopened due to the global pandemic, we saw some changes. Namely, Food & Wine started a lot earlier than it had in previous years and ran for a lot longer.
In 2020, Food & Wine began on July 15th, which was over a month earlier than it began in 2019 when it started on August 29th. In 2023, the festival didn’t begin until July 27th, so it was pushed back a bit.
Festival Passport
Last year’s start date could’ve been the first sign of Disney trying to move the festival toward the fall months again. And, this year’s end date for Flower & Garden seems to show that Disney is trying to keep the festival strictly in the springtime.
As a side note — I am fully aware that summer doesn’t technically begin until the end of June and fall doesn’t technically begin until the end of September. However, I think most people can agree that June is usually considered a summer month and September is considered a fall month, especially when you’re looking at it from the perspective of a typical school year.
Anyway, before these extended festivals started happening in 2020, EPCOT didn’t have any type of festival in the summertime. If the Food & Wine Festival this year follows the same pattern we’ve seen of dates being moved closer to their old ranges, then we could see the same thing happen again — EPCOT could be festival-less this summer!
But, do we really think Disney will let EPCOT go all summer without a festival once again? I’m a little doubtful.
Greece Booth
For one thing, EPCOT festivals are definitely a big draw for people to visit Disney World. They all have different things to offer from their food menus to entertainment, so some people plan multiple trips a year in order to experience more than one festival.
Muffuletta Panini
The draw of the festivals alone bring in revenue for Disney World overall, but I’m sure the actual festivals do as well. People are spending money on the various food and merchandise!
Spirit Jersey
However, I’m sure there are operating costs to consider with the EPCOT festivals as well. Producing the merchandise, making the food, hiring the entertainment, and keeping those food booths staffed all come with a cost.
Do the festivals bring in enough money to offset these costs? Well, I personally don’t know, since I do not work for Disney, but it’s definitely something the company considers.
But if Disney started a brand NEW festival this summer, it would definitely draw in a bunch of people wanting to experience the novelty of the festival.
On the other hand, the summertime is already a busy time for Disney World due to kids being out of school, so do they really need any help bringing more people to the parks? Only time will tell!
I could see this going both ways — Disney could introduce a new summertime festival to ensure that there is almost always a festival happening at EPCOT or they could keep their costs lower by not running a festival in the summertime again. If I had to guess, I would say it’s the latter, since Disney is very focused on money, but I really hope I’m wrong.
Food & Wine Festival Ears
It would be so exciting to experience a brand new EPCOT festival! We haven’t seen a new one since Festival of the Arts debuted in 2017.
Festival of the Arts being under 10 years old could be a good sign — it shows that Disney isn’t afraid to add a new festival to EPCOT! But, on the other hand, a LOT has changed at Disney over the past 7 years, so the mindset of adding a new festival could have as well.
Donald Festival of the Arts
We know one thing for sure — if Disney does announce a new festival at EPCOT, we will let you know as SOON as the news is announced! So, stay tuned for more Disney World news and updates.
