EPCOT Arts Festival 2026 Dates, Concerts, Food

Published on Dec 14, 2025, 2:20 pm CST

6 min read

Key points

EPCOT International Festival of the Arts runs January 16 through February 23, 2026, a 39 day window
DISNEY ON BROADWAY concerts are included with EPCOT entry, with first come seating and dining packages opening December 17, 2025
Disney says to expect over 20 Food Studios across the park, with menus to be released closer to opening
Figment's Brush with the Masters scavenger hunt returns, with maps sold at Creations Shop, Disney Traders, and World Traveler
Disney Lorcana adds an Ink & Find scavenger hunt using a complimentary Festival Questbook and promo card pickup locations around World Showcase

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the biggest waits and the most limited seating at America Gardens Theatre on weekends and on dates with popular Broadway performers
Best Times To Travel: Midweek visits, early arrivals, and avoiding holiday weekends should make it easier to stack Food Studios, art stops, and concerts in one day
Connections And Misconnect Risk: If you are park hopping or dining off site, build extra time for World Showcase walking distance, show queues, and dining reservation timing
What Travelers Should Do Now: If DISNEY ON BROADWAY is a priority, plan around the published performer schedule and set a reminder for December 17 dining package bookings

EPCOT Arts Festival 2026 dates are set for January 16 through February 23, 2026, at EPCOT inside Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The update matters most for travelers building trips around EPCOT's winter festivals, especially Broadway fans chasing specific performers, and families trying to fit food booths and activities into a single park day. If you want the easiest version of this festival, plan midweek, arrive earlier than you think you need, and decide now whether guaranteed concert seating is worth booking a dining package.

The EPCOT Arts Festival 2026 window runs 39 days, and Disney is already steering guests toward advance planning for the concert series, scavenger hunts, and food booth pacing.

What Is New, And What Is Returning For 2026

Disney positions the International Festival of the Arts as a blend of visual art, live performances, and festival food, all included with valid EPCOT admission (with the usual caveat that a theme park reservation may be required depending on ticket type). The early details for 2026 keep the familiar structure: artwork and artists around the park, a rotating Broadway concert roster, more than 20 Food Studios, and interactive "quest" style activities that push guests deeper into World Showcase.

If you want background or a broader 2026 planning view for Walt Disney World, Adept Traveler's earlier coverage of the festival dates and new features is here: https://adept.travel/news/2025-10-22-epcot-festival-of-the-arts-2026-dates. For the Broadway angle, this explainer may help: https://adept.travel/news/2025-11-06-epcot-2026-festival-of-the-arts-disney-on-broadway.

How DISNEY ON BROADWAY Works at EPCOT

The DISNEY ON BROADWAY Concert Series runs at America Gardens Theatre (American Adventure pavilion), with multiple shows per day included with EPCOT entry, and seating handled first come, first served unless you book a dining package. Disney's planning takeaway is simple: if you care about a specific performer pairing, you should plan your park day around that date, then treat the concert like a headliner you queue for rather than something you casually stumble into.

For 2026, Disney says dining packages for guaranteed concert seating go on sale starting December 17, 2025. On the operational side, Disney's dining package page spells out what you are actually buying: reservations require a credit card guarantee, you receive concert seating badges after your meal, you enter the theater via a separate queue, and seating is guaranteed, even though it is still filled on a first come basis within the dining package section. If you are traveling during a busy weekend, or if a specific date is the only time you can visit EPCOT, that guaranteed section can be the difference between seeing the show and watching the clock hit showtime while the standby line stalls.

Disney Parks Blog also published a performer schedule for the 2026 festival, including pairings that rotate across the run and a multi performer finale on February 22 and February 23. If your trip is flexible, using that schedule as the backbone of your EPCOT day is the most efficient way to avoid "wrong day" disappointment.

Food Studios and the pacing problem

Disney is again framing Food Studios as "over 20" venues spread across EPCOT, with the full menus promised closer to opening. That menu timing matters for travelers because it is the difference between vague intent and a plan you can execute. Once menus drop, you can pre pick a handful of must try items, cluster them geographically, and avoid the classic World Showcase trap, walking the entire loop twice and losing prime concert and activity windows in the process.

A practical approach is to choose one "lap" of World Showcase as your food lap, and treat everything else as anchors: a concert time block, one scavenger hunt or quest, and a short list of artist stops. If you have Lightning Lane plans for headliners elsewhere in EPCOT, keep those fixed, then build the festival layer around them. Adept Traveler's EPCOT Lightning Lane guide can help you think about that tradeoff: https://adept.travel/news/2025-07-02-epcot-lightning-lane-test-track-update-2025.

Scavenger hunts, questbooks, and where time disappears

Two returning elements are designed to keep guests moving and spending time in World Showcase, and they are easy to underestimate.

First, Figment's Brush with the Masters scavenger hunt. Disney says you buy a map and stickers for $11.99 (USD), plus tax, at Creations Shop, Disney Traders, or World Traveler, then find Figment themed frames across the pavilions, apply stickers to complete the map, and return by February 23, 2026, for a keepsake. The traveler reality is that this is not just a kid activity, it is a walking plan. If your group is already doing a full World Showcase loop, this can add structure. If your group is trying to stack a concert, rides, and dinner, it can also become a time sink unless you set a finish line.

Second, Disney Lorcana is getting a larger role through an "Ink & Find" scavenger hunt tied to a complimentary Festival Questbook. Disney's official instructions say the Festival Questbook is picked up on the bridge to World Showcase starting at 9:00 a.m., while supplies last, and that promo card pickup happens at Illumineer's Lounge in the Morocco Pavilion or at Figment's Inspiration Station at The Odyssey after completing the activities. In other words, if Lorcana matters to your group, this is a "do it early" item, not a late afternoon add on after the concert line forms.

Artists, merchandise, and what to expect next

Disney is already previewing the artist lineup, including introductions of new and returning festival artists, and it is signaling that more schedules and locations will be filled in later on DisneyWorld.com. Early spotlights include Rosana Iarusso (noted as new in 2026) and returning illustrator Dylan Bonner, with Disney describing artist meet opportunities as part of the festival's core draw.

On the shopping side, Disney says 2026 festival merchandise will center on Figment, including items like a Spirit Jersey, plush, ear headband, and other accessories, positioned as limited run festival gear rather than generic EPCOT merch. For travelers, the only planning angle that matters is timing: festival merch sells best early, and popular sizes can disappear, so buy first if a specific item is the point, and browse later if it is optional.

The next information drop to watch is the official foodie guide and full Food Studios menus, which Disney says will come closer to opening. That is the moment when you can turn this festival from "nice to have" into a route plan that reduces walking, reduces line stacking, and frees up time for the concert you actually came for.