What’s Going On With EPCOT This Summer? ☀️
For the first time in years, EPCOT’s plans for this summer do NOT involve a festival.
While the 2024 Flower & Garden Festival ends on May 27th, the 2024 Food & Wine Festival does not open until August 29th, leaving EPCOT wide open for June, July, and most of August. So what’s going on?? Let’s talk about it.
Festival Dates of the Past
Let’s take a trip into EPCOT’s past to review festival dates. Considering the global pandemic that changed so much from 2020 on, it’s understandable that dates would change. But how do they measure up to today?
Before the global pandemic, the Flower & Garden Festival generally ran from February/March to May, while the Food & Wine Festival would follow from late August to November. This left the summer largely festival-free.
In 2020, however, Disney World was closed from March to July, which meant that the Flower & Garden Festival kicked off on March 4th but closed once the resort shut down on March 15th, 2020.
EPCOT reopened on July 15th with an abridged version of the Food & Wine Festival called “Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival” with 20 booths. The smaller-scale festival ended on November 22nd.
From 2021 to 2023, the Flower & Garden Festival ran from early March through July, followed swiftly by the Food & Wine Festival from July to November.
As a result, many of us wondered whether this was the new normal for EPCOT moving forward.
However, in 2024, it appears that things may finally be back to “normal.” The Flower & Garden Festival will last from February 28th to May 27th, while the Food & Wine Festival is scheduled from August 29th to November 23rd.
So what’s going on?
CommuniCore Hall & Plaza
The reason behind the return to normal festival dates may be the opening of CommuniCore Hall & Plaza, EPCOT’s new spots for festivals and celebrations.
While the Hall will provide cool indoor space and a new Mickey & Friends meet-and-greet year-round, the Plaza will provide outdoor space, including a stage for special performances.
CommuniCore Hall & Plaza are scheduled to open on June 10th, with a special Encanto sing-along show, “¡Celebración Encanto!,” running several times a day on the Plaza stage between June 10th and September 6th.
So there’s one source of summer entertainment in EPCOT!
Disney has said there are “more food and beverages and more entertainment to come” with details coming soon, but this is most likely a hint at the Core & Plaza’s involvement in the 2024 Food & Wine Festival.
A Summer Festival?
While many of us lamented the serving of hot soup during the Food & Wine Festival in the blaring heat of July, we were left wondering what else Disney could do to fill the summer. What about a summer festival??
Imagine it — fresh fruit, sweet drinks, cold pasta salad…there are so many possibilities for a summer EPCOT festival!
However, summer is one of the busiest times in Disney World, and the company might be trying to cut down on EPCOT crowds by eliminating festival time in the summer.
They most likely also considered the costs of running a festival — new or returning — and have cut back on festival time as a way to keep costs down over the summer.
With the opening of CommuniCore Hall and Plaza, EPCOT is sure to draw crowds this summer regardless — so a festival isn’t really necessary anyway.
Still, we can dream about a summer festival. Maybe someday!
What would you like to see in EPCOT this summer? Keep following MickeyBlog for more Disney news!