EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

The topiaries, and the weather. Disney character topiaries are placed throughout the park and are the most photographed thing at EPCOT during the spring. The food at the Outdoor Kitchens is lighter and more vegetable-led than the autumn festival, and March and April are the most comfortable months of the year to walk World Showcase.

Every night of the 2026 festival, 4 March to 1 June, at the America Gardens Theatre: 5:30, 6:45 and 8:00pm, included with admission. Disney has not announced the 2027 lineup; its Parks Blog says it is coming at a later date. The 2026 weekend headliners give the shape of it:

• 5 Mar to 7 Mar — The Music of ABBA (new)
• 8 Mar to 9 Mar — Simple Plan
• 13 Mar to 14 Mar — Blue October
• 15 Mar to 16 Mar — Billy Ocean
• 20 Mar to 23 Mar — THE ORCHESTRA starring former members of ELO & ELO Part II
• 27 Mar to 28 Mar — Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone
• 29 Mar to 30 Mar — 38 Special
• 3 Apr to 4 Apr — Chubby Checker
• 5 Apr to 6 Apr — Sugar Ray
• 10 Apr to 11 Apr — Information Society (new)
• 12 Apr to 13 Apr — Rick Springfield
• 17 Apr to 18 Apr — Berlin
• 19 Apr to 20 Apr — The Commodores
• 24 Apr to 25 Apr — FireHouse (new)
• 26 Apr to 27 Apr — Air Supply
• 1 May to 2 May — A Flock of Seagulls
• 3 May to 4 May — Plain White T's
• 8 May to 9 May — Katrina, formerly of Katrina & The Waves (new)
• 10 May to 11 May — 98 Degrees
• 15 May to 16 May — The Spinners
• 17 May to 18 May — Josiah Queen (new)
• 22 May to 23 May — Iam Tongi (new)
• 24 May to 25 May — A.J. Croce: Croce Plays Croce
• 29 May to 30 May — Queensrÿche
• 31 May to 1 Jun — Maverick City Music

Weekday nights went to local acts, which Disney added to its page only after the festival opened. A dining package guarantees a seat; without one, the headliners fill the theatre early.

Disney says the 2026 festival had more than 60 topiaries. Its own list of character displays, with where each stood, was this:

Walk-through reports added more that Disney's list leaves out, among them Moana, Anna and Elsa, Peter Pan with Captain Hook, Kermit and Miss Piggy, Phineas and Ferb, and Bambi. Disney's page now describes these as 2026 favourites, subject to change in 2027, and no 2027 characters have been announced.

Every EPCOT festival runs the same two activities, and knowing the pattern once saves working it out four times a year. The first is a food passport — here it is the Garden Graze.

Its five dishes are all plant-based, which makes this the one festival passport a vegetarian can complete without hunting for exceptions, and you may buy the same dish more than once if you find one you like, rather than being forced through five different ones. You collect a stamp with each purchase and redeem the completed card for a prize.

The second is a character scavenger hunt, bought as a separate map, where you find one character hidden across the park. Neither is included: the passport costs whatever the food costs, and the hunt map is bought on its own. The spring hunt is Spike's Pollen-Nation Exploration, following Spike the Bee through the gardens.

Disney has not published the 2027 menus yet: its festival page says to check back this winter, and in 2026 Disney published its Foodie Guide on 19 February, 13 days before opening (BlogMickey puts the full menu reveal at about six weeks out; we could not find a Disney menu that early).

Until then, the 2026 festival is the best guide to what a day costs.

In 2026 there were 21 Outdoor Kitchens serving 67 dishes. The median dish cost $6.49, the cheapest $4.79 (three desserts, including Northern Bloom's Chocolate-Maple Whiskey Cake) and the dearest $9.95, the Canard Confit at Fleur de Lys. Only three dishes cost $9 or more.

A standard draft beer was $6.00 for 6 oz or $9.75 for 12 oz at most Disney-run kitchens.

Tax is now on top. Since the 2026 Festival of the Arts, the menu boards say "Sales Tax Not Included", so a $6.49 dish costs about $6.91 at the register.⁶ Every kitchen was cashless.

Most prices are from Disney's own menu data, captured on 30 April 2026; the rest are from Disney's menu boards as photographed at the kitchens. Disney Food Blog's list agrees with Disney on 49 of 50 dishes; the exception is its Citrus Blossom Lemon Tart at $4.49, where Disney's data and the board both say $4.99.

Yes. There is no separate ticket, and the topiaries, the gardens, Butterfly Landing, the seminars and the Garden Rocks concerts are all included. Food and drink at the Outdoor Kitchens are charged individually, typically five to ten dollars a plate, exactly as at Food & Wine.

March, before the spring break crowds and while the weather is at its best — our own weather record puts March at an 80°F average high, and while some rain falls on a third of March days, only 9% get a quarter of an inch or more (March at Walt Disney World).

There is a trade-off worth knowing: the gardens fill out as the season runs, so a May visit is more colourful and a March visit is more comfortable. By late May the heat has arrived and the festival is much harder work.

Better than Food & Wine, which is aimed at adults. The topiaries are recognisable characters, Spike's scavenger hunt gives them a task, Butterfly Landing holds attention, and the play gardens are designed for younger children. The food is still mostly adult-oriented, so plan a proper meal elsewhere.