Resorts Gal » 2024 Epcot International Festival of the Holidays Guide

2024 Epcot International Festival of the Holidays Guide

If you’re visiting Epcot during the holiday season, you’ll likely want to spend some time at the 2024 Epcot International Festival of the Holidays. This year’s festival runs between November 29th and December 30th. It’s the final of four festivals held throughout the year at Epcot. It’s also often the shortest.

Short or not, there is still plenty to do at the holiday festival. Below, we’ve compiled a guide to help you determine what’s available and what you might enjoy. We like to incorporate a touring plan combining regular attractions, entertainment, and festival offerings. However, it would likely be impossible to do everything in a day or two’s visit. My best advice is to enjoy the big and little moments of your holiday visit. And if you find yourself with that Disney itch after your vacation, you can always plan to return!

2024 Dates: November 29th through December 30th

signage for the Epcot Festival of the Holidays featuring the Fabulous Five

Holiday Kitchens

Here is a list of the holiday kitchens at the 2024 Epcot International Festival of the Holidays.

  • Bavaria Holiday Kitchen
  • American Holiday Table
  • Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina
  • L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen
  • Yukon Holiday Kitchen
  • Holiday Sweets & Treats
  • Swirled Showcase
  • Bubbles & Brine
  • Wine & Wedge
  • Experimental Prototype Cookies of Tomorrow (New in 2024)
  • Favorites of Festivals Past (New in 2024)
  • Char & Chop
  • Refreshment Outpost
  • Nochebuena Cocina
  • Holiday Hearth Desserts
  • Le Marché de Noël
  • Tuscany Holiday Kitchen
  • Shanghai Holiday Kitchen
  • Shi Wasu Holiday Kitchen
  • Las Posadas Holiday Kitchen

Select festival items will also be available at Refreshment Port, Funnel Cake, Connections Café, Connections Eatery, Sunshine Seasons, and Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company. You can preview the entire list of menu items for this year’s festival in the following article.

a flower bed with a teach cup with a Christmas Tree painted on it.

Holiday Cookie Stroll

The following cookies are part of the 2024 Holiday Cookie Stroll. After purchasing five of the ones listed on the stroll, you can pick up a complimentary cookie at a designated kitchen. Here are some of the cookie options we’ve seen.

  • Hazelnut Linzer Cookie
  • Gingerbread Cookie
  • Black and White Cookie (Plant-based)
  • Snickerdoodle Cookie
  • Cinnamon-spiced Chocolate Crinkle Cookie  
  • Peppermint Pinwheel Cookie
  • Holiday Sugar Cookie
  • Jingle Sugar Cookie
  • Spaceship Earth Tile Gingerbread Triangle (New in 2024) 
  • Coffee Mocha Cookie  (New in 2024)
  • Peanut Butter Cookie 

You must get your Festival Passport stamped for proof of purchase each time you buy a cookie. Make sure to pick up a passport when you enter the park. You can usually find them on displays around the various holiday kitchens if you forget.

a cookie on the holiday cookie stroll at the Epcot Festival of the Holidays

Entertainment

During the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, you’ll find a variety of entertainment offerings. However, the most popular is Epcot’s Candlelight Processional.

Candlelight Processional

Each night of the International Festival of the Holidays, guests can hear the stirring story of Christmas retold in the American Gardens Theater of the American Adventure. The performance includes a celebrity narrator, a massed choir, a 50-piece orchestra, herald trumpets, and the Voices of Liberty.

  • Dates: Nightly from November 29 to December 30, 2024
  • Showtimes: 5:00 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
  • Location: America Gardens Theatre at EPCOT

You can learn more about this year’s Candlelight Processional by previewing one of the following articles. Note that dining packages sell out quickly.

guests enjoying the Candlelight Processional at Epcot

Joyful

Joyful, a rhythm and blues choir, will perform at a new location in 2024. This holiday season, they will offer four daily showtimes on the CommuniCore Plaza stage. Times will be listed in the entertainment section of the My Disney Experience app.

Joyful signage with performance times
Joyful signage from a previous year’s festival. They are in a new location in 2024.

Holiday Storytellers

Several holiday storytellers will be available throughout the World Showcase. Each one shares unique holiday traditions from their respective country. You can find the times for each performance listed in the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit. Here is the list of 2024 holiday storytellers:

  • Mexico Pavilion: Las Posadas Celebration (Dancers, Piñatas and the music of Mariachi Cobre)
  • Norway Pavilion: A Mischievous Magical Barn Santa (Celebrate the season with laughter as a mischievous Barn Santa visits Sigrid, an unsuspecting Christmas storyteller.)
  • China Pavilion: Chinese Lion Dancer (Catch a glimpse of a colorful performance that brings good fortune and happiness in the Lunar New Year.)
  • Italy Pavilion: La Befana (Hear the tale of La Befana, the kind-hearted witch who visits sleeping young children on the Eve of the Epiphany.)
  • Japan Pavilion: Daruma Storyteller (Hear the fascinating story of the Daruma doll and the Japanese customs of the New Year!)
  • Between the Morocco and France Pavilions: Hanukkah Storyteller (Witness a storyteller recount traveling abroad to explore Hanukkah’s diverse music and traditions worldwide.)
  • France Pavilion: Pere Noel (Visit with Père Noël and rediscover the magic of Christmas through the letter of a delightful child.)
  • United Kingdom Pavilion: Father Christmas (Join Father Christmas as he rings in the season, sharing the traditions of the United Kingdom with good cheer.)
  • Canada Pavilion: Canadian Holiday Voyageurs (Explore holiday customs from the various regions of Canada on a musical tour of the Great White North with the Canadian Holiday Voyageurs.)
Canadian Holiday Performers at Epcot

Meet Santa Claus

Santa Claus has a meet-and-greet inside the Odyssey Pavilion at Epcot. This is an excellent opportunity to take a holiday photo with your loved ones.

Voices of Liberty

The Voices of Liberty perform daily throughout the year in Epcot’s American Pavilion. They wear colonial seasonal attire and sing historical Christmas melodies during the holiday. The times for each performance are listed in the My Disney Experience app. Each evening, they also participate in the Candlelight Processional.

Gingerbread Displays

Formerly, the American Adventure was home to gingerbread displays of historical monuments and a replica of the pavilion inside the colonial mansion. However, this year, a new gingerbread display featuring Spaceship Earth will debut at Epcot’s Communicore Hall. The display is expected to be 8′ tall! We have a separate article with more details about the creation of the geodesic sphere display.

Spaceship Earth Gingerbread display
©Disney

Glimmering Greenhouses

Living with the Land has an incredible holiday overlay during the Festival called Glimmering Greenhouses. The greenhouse portion of the attraction is covered in holiday lighting and seasonal decor. It will remain open until the park closes so guests can enjoy it after dark. A special (extra-cost) Behind the Seeds Tour will be offered for the first time this year. The articles below preview the attraction and provide more details on the tour.

Olaf’s Scavenger Hunt

Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition offers a unique way to explore Epcot’s World Showcase. You can pick up a scavenger hunt map at World Traveler, Creations Gift Shop, and select other locations throughout the park. The map costs $9.99 and comes with a prize.

Olaf hiding in a window box in the Germany Pavilion as part of the scavenger hunt during the Festival of the Holidays

Glittering Grove (New in 2024)

Communicore Hall is expected to be decorated with holiday decor and an enchanting forest called Glittering Grove. Here’s what Disney has to say about this offering:

Once you’ve finished marveling at the gingerbread Spaceship Earth, stroll around CommuniCore Hall to take in beautiful, seasonal décor inspired by EPCOT’s unique design. Enjoy an enchanting forest with the Glittering Grove presented by Balsam Hill, where twinkling trees bring festive flair.

Create a Snowflake (New in 2024)

A new, complimentary snowflake-decorating activity will be available at CommuniCore Plaza. Disney notes that this activity is perfect for children of all ages.

Scentsy Experience (New in 2024)

A snow globe garden inspired by Scetsy’s seasonal aromas will be available along the walkway between the Imagination Pavilion and the World Showcase. Guests can stroll through the garden and check out the new seasonal display. Holiday fragrances will also be available for purchase inside CommuniCore Hall.

Festival Merchandise

Merchandise celebrating the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays will be available at select locations throughout the park. A T-shirt or an ornament is often a fun and festive way to commemorate a holiday trip!

festival merchandise from previous years
Merchandise Display (Previous Festival)

Other

While we’ve covered most things you can expect during the Festival of the Holiday, we felt it necessary to mention a few other things. For starters, Figment usually wears a holiday sweater on Journey Into Imagination with Figment during the holidays. If you’re a fan, don’t forget to take a spin! Those with the Memory Maker entitlement might also like to take advantage of a few special Magic Shots available during the holiday. You can usually ask PhotoPass photographers in the park what they have available.

More Festivals

Epcot is home to the following Festivals throughout the year.

You might also like to preview the upcoming dates for each Epcot Festival. We add the new dates as they are announced.

Continued Festival Coverage

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