The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival just hit a milestone: 2026 marks its 30th anniversary, and the festival is running August 27 through November 21 with 43 booths and 229 menu items on offer — roughly 100 of them brand new this year. If you're planning a visit, here's what's actually worth trying, and a real look at what it's going to cost you.
What's new for the 30th anniversary
Hops & Barley is back at The American Adventure for the first time in three years, replacing last year's Flavors of America, and it's bringing a Gulf Coast-style Seafood Roll as one of several dishes revived specifically to mark the anniversary. A new interactive exhibit called Cheers to Cheese opens in CommuniCore Hall from September 18 through November 8, alongside a brand-new marketplace, The Wedge, hosted by Dairy Does More. Between the new booths and the returning favorites, there's a lot to plan around — but the anniversary detail worth knowing about is the legacy dishes.
The 30 legacy dishes
To celebrate three decades of the festival, Disney brought back 30 dishes from festivals past — including items from marketplaces that don't exist at EPCOT anymore, like Poland, South Korea, Argentina, and the long-retired Chew Lab. For guests who've been attending this festival for years, it's a genuinely rare chance to taste something tied to a specific earlier trip. These are anniversary-only, so they won't be part of a normal festival lineup going forward.
The cheese crawl, explained
If you want a built-in mini-game while you eat, the cheese crawl is worth doing. Emile's Fromage Montage spans 14 cheese items across the festival. Buy any 5 of them and collect stamps in a Festival Passport, then redeem the completed passport at Shimmering Sips for a bonus festival treat. It's a simple way to turn spending you were already planning to do into a small extra reward.
The real cost math (and the pricing change nobody's flagging)
Here's the part that matters most for your wallet: starting in 2026, festival booths went fully cashless, and they now add sales tax on top of the listed menu price — a change from previous years, when tax was included in the posted price. That means the number on the menu board isn't your actual total anymore.
So what does it actually cost? There are 83 individually priced dishes on this year's menu. Order one of literally everything, and you're at $585, before tax. If you'd rather be selective, a curated "best of the fest" list — one of each standout item, not everything — runs about $143 in food alone. And for a realistic, non-completionist visit, a typical couple grazing for an afternoon (about 5 food items and 3 drinks between them) lands around $125 before tax. A solo visitor sampling 8-10 items over a few hours is generally looking at $50-100 in food and another $30-60 in drinks.
None of those numbers include the tax that now gets added at checkout, so build in some cushion, especially if you're planning a completionist run.
How to actually budget for this
Pick your approach before you walk in, not after your card's already been tapped a dozen times. If you're a completionist, treat $585-plus-tax as a real number, not a surprise. If you want the highlights without the marathon, the $143 "best of the fest" tier is the sweet spot most guests land on. And if you're just there to graze and enjoy the atmosphere, $125 for two before tax is a genuinely normal, low-stress afternoon.
FAQ
Q: When does the 2026 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival run?
A: August 27 through November 21, 2026.
Q: How many booths and items are there this year?
A: 43 booths and 229 menu items, with about 100 new for 2026.
Q: Did EPCOT change how it charges for festival food?
A: Yes — in 2026, booths went fully cashless and now add sales tax on top of the listed menu price, instead of including tax in the price as before.
Q: How much does it cost to eat everything at the festival?
A: One of every priced dish (83 items) totals $585 before tax.
Q: What's a realistic budget for a normal visit?
A: Around $125 for two people grazing for an afternoon, before tax, or about $143 per person for a curated "best of the fest" list.
Ready to actually plan your Food & Wine budget instead of guessing at checkout? Grab the free 7 Disney World Money Hacks guide (eepurl.com/sWs3ANT4ta), or go deeper with the Disney World Dining & Snacks Cheat Sheet (payhip.com/b/Mm2t8).