EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival Guide 2023

Flower and Garden Checklist

The Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT compiles loads of things to do. From browsing gardens to trying new foods and drinks, watching shows, playing games, and more. Here is a quick EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival Checklist that hopefully helps you get your bearings before we dive in. These are the things you’ll find at the festival. 

• Topiaries: The main attraction. Seeing Disney characters in plant form across all areas of EPCOT is the most fun. Be sure to grab photos along the way, and check out which Flower and Garden Festival Topiaries are in each area of the park. 
• Gardens:  A showcase for gardens everywhere, this festival highlights all the most amazing kinds of gardens. Here are some to look out for. 
  • Fairy Gardens
  • Global Gardens
  • Specialty Gardens
• Outdoor Kitchens: Found throughout the park, there are outdoor kitchens filled with fresh foods, and drinks to try in each country and area of the park. You can check out the Flower and Garden Menus for a slew of foods to try at each booth.  

Flower and Garden Extra Fun

• Garden Graze: This foodie challenge incorporates a select lineup of fresh foods that you can “collect” on your festival passport. Once you’ve tried the established number of dishes ( usually 5), you can collect a food prize. 
• Garden Rocks Concert Series: Part of the festival entertainment is a slew of nightly live concerts featuring favorite bands. Shown a couple of times an evening, this series also has a dining package for premium seating at the America Gardens Theatre. 
• Spikes Pollen-Nation Exploration Game: Not just for kids, this Spike the Bee Scavenger Hunt game highlights bees and pollinator gardens throughout the park. Just find Spike the Bee in each location on your gameboard, mark it with a sticker, and collect your prize, once complete. 
• Merchandise: EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival merchandise is exclusive to the festival and changes every year. Typically featuring Figment, Mickey and Minnie, Spike the Bee, and Orange Bird. 

Flower and Garden Topiaries & Gardens

When you grab your map you’ll be able to see which characters are in which garden locations throughout Epcot. We enjoy just walking the whole park to see everything.  But if you have favorite Disney characters crafted in greenery, by all means, plan a route based on the map! Every year these topiaries get a mini makeover or a location change, and new ones always show up. As a result, this festival always feels new to us. Check out what’s new at the Flower and Garden Festival. 

Fairy Gardens

One of our favorite new things at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival is the Fairy Gardens! We love these as part of our Flower and Garden with Kids activities. You can find this outside of Germany and in the back courtyard of the United Kingdom. These little fairy houses at Walt Disney World were a beautiful new touch to the countries in World Showcase Epcot. We were also super excited to see the Flower and Garden Festival mini village in the Train display near Germany added to the miniature train village. Keep an eye out for these extra detailed sections of the festival.

Global Gardens

While there are TONS of gardens across EPCOT during the Flower and Garden Festival some gardens are extra special and offer special plants, experiences, and outdoor havens. Global Gardens are New at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival each year, featuring a variety of themes. See the Flower and Garden Festival Checklist for all the gardens in the lineup. 

Specialty Gardens

The festival showcases tons of new garden ideas, and ideas each year. This year they highlighted beekeeping, housed a butterfly garden with butterflies, a rain garden, and a slew of hacks for using flower pots, wood, and stone in your garden to make outdoor spaces. These gardens are usually tucked into the walkways between the front of the park and the World Showcase. Take time to meander through all the gardens, and you can get ideas for your own garden at home! 

Flower and Garden Kitchen Booths

Just like all Disney foodies, we wait for the Flower and Garden Menus to arrive every year! For details and menus as they are released check out our Flower and Garden Menus post, so you can start planning early. The best part about the food at Flower and Garden is that it differs from the other festivals in that everything is fresh and garden-derived. The dishes are crafted with ingredients you’d be able to find at your farmer’s market and it’s a great way to learn how to make new recipes that are actually good for you! Here are the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival Booths and where to find them. 

• Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market | Germany
  • “Venture to Germany for Bavarian bites sure to sate foodies of all ages—every dish is köstlich!”
• Cider House | Located Near the United Kingdom
  • “Behold buzz-worthy ciders and artisanal provisions that are sure to hit the spot.”
• The Citrus Blossom | Near Port of Entry
  • “Treat your taste buds to the subtleties of lemon, orange and lime—turning delicious dishes even more delish!

• EPCOT Farmers Feast | Near Test Track presented by Chevrolet®
  • “Fuel up for a fun-filled day at EPCOT with hearty dishes and savory sides featuring farm-fresh ingredients.”
• EPCOT Sunshine Griddle | Near Test Track presented by Chevrolet®
  • “Enjoy delicious breakfast dishes like avocado toast and shrimp & grits—served morning, noon and night.”
• Flavor Full Kitchen Hosted by AdventHealth |Between Imagination! and Refreshment Port
  • “Nourish yourself with flavorful fare made with healthy ingredients fresh from the garden.”
• Fleur de Lys | France
  • “Indulge in haute cuisine and boissons that’ll make you fall in ooo-la-la-love with this palate-pleasing Parisian pop-up!”
• Hanami | Japan
  • “Journey to Japan for innovative plates crafted with culinary Zen—which pair beautifully with sake and Japanese-inspired cocktails.”
• The Honey Bee-stro Hosted by National Honey Board™ | Near Port of Entry
  • “Quell cravings with an incredible menu of all-natural food and drink infused with the nectar of the gods!”
• Jardin de Fiestas | Mexico
  • “Take a food-tastic tour of the Mexico Pavilion… these tantalizing tastes will add some spice to your day!”
• La Isla Fresca | Between Morocco and France
  • “Nibble on Caribbean-seasoned dishes that’ll send appetites swaying to the island beat!”
• Lotus House | China
  • “Sink your teeth into authentic Chinese eats filled with morsels of good fortune!”
• Magnolia Terrace | American Adventure
  • “Get a taste of the bayou as you savor classic comfort food of the American Gulf Coast.”
• Northern Bloom | Canada
  • “Discover palate-pleasing fare from our Great White North neighbor… O Canada!”
• Pineapple Promenade | Near Port of Entry
  • “Get your tropical fruit fix from tart ‘n’ tangy to the sweetest frozen treats!”
• Primavera Kitchen | Italy
  • “Mangiare hearty helpings of Old-Country dishes served with a glass of vino… now that’s amore!”
• Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina | Morocco
  • “Intoxicate taste buds with the exotic flavors of this North African mecca—mysterious Morocco!”
• Trowel & Trellis Hosted by Impossible™ Foods | Near Disney Traders
  • “Delight in some of your favorite foods—created from innovative recipes with some impossibly delicious twists!”
• Refreshment Outpost | Africa World Showcase
• Refreshment Port |Near Port of Entry
• Funnel Cake | American Adventure
• Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company 

Garden Graze

We love the Garden Graze! You can purchase five festival dishes from select locations and track your progress with Festival Passport stamps. Receive complimentary food items upon completing the stroll. Typically a new flavor of dole whip or something small. Still, if the Garden Graze selections strike your fancy, and they’re foods you were going to try anyway, then be sure to share your festival passport book with the select kitchens along the way. Then they can stamp them, and help you along the challenge. 

Garden Rocks Concert Series

This nightly concert series at EPCOT park is very popular and offers a chance to favorite bands from the old days. For the more popular performers you can expect a line to form early. Luckily, there are other ways to enjoy this concert. As the American Garden’s Theater is an open-air theater, you can easily just hang out in the America Pavilion and listen. Or you can grab a Garden Rocks dessert package if you want prime seating and dinner. Garden Rocks concerts take place at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM, and 8:00 PM during EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival—from March 1 to July 5, 2023.

The Garden Rocks series is a set of concerts. All with throwback bands in the evenings through the weekend at Epcot. As a result, people line up hours in advance for the more popular bands. These really are fun concerts but can get kinda packed. They run every week, with different bands throughout the entire festival. 

• Journey Former Lead Vocalist STEVE AUGERI
  March 3 & 4
• Daughtry
  March 5 & 6
• Tommy DeCarlo
  March 10 & 11
• Smash Mouth
  March 12 & 13
• Mike DelGuidice
  March 17 & 18
• Blue Oyster Cult (NEW)
  March 19 & 20
• Berlin
  March 24 & 25
• The Pointer Sisters
  March 26 & 27
• Luis Figueroa (NEW)
  March 31
• Piso 21 (NEW)
  April 1 & 2
• TBD
  April 3
• STARSHIP featuring Mickey Thomas
  April 7 & 8
• Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles
  April 9 & 10
• Blue October
  April 14 & 15
• Switchfoot (NEW)
  April 16 & 17
• A Flock of Seagulls
  April 21 & 22
• Jo Dee Messina
  April 23 & 24
• Ambrosia with Peter Beckett, The Voice Of Player
  April 28 & 29
• Kool & The Gang
  April 30 & May 1
• Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
  May 5 to 8
• The Orchestra starring former members of ELO
  May 12 to 15
• A.J. Croce: Croce Plays Croce (NEW)
  May 19 & 20
• Casting Crowns (NEW)
  May 21 & 22
• Jason Scheff, longtime lead singer of Chicago (NEW)
  May 26 & 27
• Rick Springfield
  May 28 & 29
• Plain White T’s
  June 2 to 5
• The Spinners
  June 9 & 10
• The Commodores
  June 11 & 12
• Vertical Horizon
  June 16 & 17
• Tony Orlando
  June 18 & 19
• Simple Plan
  June 23 to 26
• Living Colour
  June 30 & July 1
• Wang Chung
  July 2 & 3

Check out the EPCOT Entertainment

In addition to the Garden Rocks Concert Series, there are other performers as part of this festival. Shown throughout the day, be sure to check out your Festival Passport for details on where and when to see the performers. 

Play Spike the Bee’s Pollen Nation Game

Another favorite thing Disney dreams up for each festival is a scavenger hunt game. The Spike the Bee’s Pollen-Nation Exploration Game features all the plants that bees use for pollination. And every year we get a new game and new prizes to look forward to. With the bee population nearing its demise, we were thrilled they took to the opportunity to add a conservation game to the mix! And if you visit the festival during Easter time at Walt Disney World they also do an Easter Egg hunt! This Egg-stravaganza runs through all the countries in the world showcase.

Bring The Kids

Epcot may have its drinking around the world reputation but the Flower and Garden Festival draws a different kind of crowd. There are so many reasons to bring the kids that you can take care of knowing that they will love it as much as you do. With rides like Soarin’, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Frozen Ever After in Norway, you can be sure to find something more than just gardens to experience. Be sure to play Spike the Bee’s Pollen-Nation Scavenger Hunt Game. And of course, you can find all the regular Epcot fun found at Kidcot stops. All to help keep the kids busy while you sample the fare. Be sure to read our tips if you’re bringing the kids to the Flower and Garden  Festival.

Browse The Merchandise

Every Epcot festival comes with its own token merchandise. As a result, new things are available each time a new festival rolls around- it’s every Disney lover’s dream. In addition to the main gift shops, there are little kiosks all over the World Showcase that keep the festival merchandise on hand. We also love stopping in the Tea Shop over in the U.K. During Flower and Garden you can usually take advantage of a free tea garden walk and sample teas that are showcased during the festival! See the Flower and Garden Merchandise wrap-up.

Ride the Rides

If there is any time to do the rides at Epcot, it’s during the Flower and Garden Festival. Since the festival runs from March through July you may have times when you need to escape the sun. Luckily, you can escape to the indoor rides. Here are some of our favorite EPCOT rides to add to your visit! 

• Frozen Ever After | Norway
• Spaceship Earth | World Celebration
• The Land | World Nature
• Soarin’ | World Nature
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure | France
• Gran Fiesta Boat Tour with the Three Caballeros | Mexico
• Beauty and the Beast Sing-a-Long | France

Flower and Garden Festival Guide

No matter when you visit, hopefully, this post has helped level set everything that happens at this festival. If you need more info check out All Our Posts about the Flower and Garden Festival at Walt Disney World. Meanwhile, we hope you have a happy festival!