That's a holiday hat trick for the week. After Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights, Disney has now set the dates for the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays — and here's the part worth leading with: this is the one that doesn't cost a separate ticket. It runs November 27 through December 30, 2026, and it's included with regular EPCOT admission.
What it is
Unlike the two hard-ticket parties, Festival of the Holidays is woven through a normal EPCOT day — holiday traditions from cultures around World Showcase, seasonal food booths, live music, and the event a lot of people build an entire December trip around: the Candlelight Processional.
The headliners
- Candlelight Processional — the festival's centerpiece. A celebrity narrator tells the Christmas story backed by a 50-piece orchestra and a massed choir, performed multiple times a night at the America Gardens Theatre. It's included with admission on a standby basis, though Candlelight dining packages — which bundle a meal with guaranteed seating — are the low-stress way in. The 2026 narrator lineup and package booking haven't been announced yet.
- Holiday Kitchens — the food angle. Booths around World Showcase serve seasonal dishes from different countries, like Food & Wine but holiday-themed. Menus for 2026 are still to come.
- Holiday Cookie Stroll — a self-guided cookie hunt across select kitchens; finish the trail and you earn a final treat. It's a perennial fan favorite and a genuine value.
Also around the park
JOYFUL! A Celebration of the Season returns — a gospel and R&B tribute to Christmas and Kwanzaa. There's a meet-and-greet with Santa Goofy, an Olaf's Holiday Tradition Expedition scavenger hunt aimed at younger kids, and Living with the Land gets its "Glimmering Greenhouses" holiday-lighting overlay.
The budget pick of the holiday lineup: no separate ticket, Nov 27 to Dec 30 — and the Candlelight Processional alone is worth planning a night around.
The honest take
If Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights are the splurge nights, Festival of the Holidays is the one you can do on a normal park day for the admission you're already paying. The Candlelight Processional is one of the genuinely moving things Disney does all year — but it's popular, and standby lines build well before showtime, so if it's a must-see, grab a dining package when those open. For now Disney has only locked the dates and the broad strokes; narrators, Holiday Kitchen menus, and the Cookie Stroll lineup usually land in the fall.
Festival of the Holidays runs Nov 27–Dec 30, 2026, included with EPCOT admission. Details accurate as of June 24, 2026.