Epcot Festival of the Holidays 2021

The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays 2021 ran from November 26^th through December 30^th. This festival gives guests the opportunity to experience many different international food booths, international storytellers and learn about many different cultures. Now I am of course going to focus on the food that we tried from the booths. However here is a little information about this Epcot Festival. This festival is not solely about the food – not even for me. The Festival of the Holidays is full of things to do and experience. The main draw for the festival is the Candlelight Processional, a celebrity narrator recalls the nativity story accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and a huge choir, this is a tradition for many families as is genuinely quite a moving experience. Many of the pavilions (countries) around showcase lagoon have an entertainment offering. Some are bands and vocal groups, some are performers, such as the lion dancers in the China Pavilion and others have storytellers. The storytellers bring traditions to life and explain the history behind some of the festive traditions of these countries. I found the storyteller to be particularly fun and interesting and found it interesting learning about how the festive season is celebrated around the world. The festival also offers activities such as the Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition, a scavenger hunt that you can purchase a map for. There are many other offerings at this festival including Joyful! – a gospel group and festive overlays for classic attractions, you can meet Santa and of course there is festival exclusive merchandise.

This years Epcot Festival of the Holidays we managed to catch the very last day! So we tried to tackle as much of the festival as we could in one day. Let’s see how we did. Now onto the festive food.

Donut Box

This booth is where we started out, it is closest to the main entrance. Unsurprisingly this booth has a focus on donuts offering delights such as an eggnog creme filled donut, chocolate peppermint donut. All of which are huge and definitely something I would share – especially if trying to get around as much of the festival as possible. We shared everything. Here we picked up a Gingerbread Milkshake as we have an annual pass we got it in a very cute plastic cup that we washed out and brought home with us as a souvenir. Have heard mixed reviews about this I was interested to see what we thought. I actually really enjoyed this. I would say for me it was VERY thick so it definitely filled you up. But it tasted like drinking a great gingerbread ice cream all of the spices were there and it sure put me in the festive mood.

Tuscany Holiday Kitchen

Journey to the Italy Pavilion and you will find the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen. Here we picked up the Mezzelune Croccanti – crispy breaded ravioli filled with mozzarella served with a pomodoro sauce. This was the most expensive treat we bought at $12! Was it worth that, no but it was delicious though. Think mozzarella sticks but fancy. They were hot and the crisp without feeling greasy. They were well cooked and the sauce was smooth. If I was being very picky I would say the sauce was slightly sweet for my taste and I may have preferred a bit more texture to it as the mozzarella was smooth and the sauce was too. However I know that when catering to the masses it is sensible to er on the side of caution. Would I get it again? Yes. But I do love a crispy fried ravioli. In fact I have a recipe on the blog for a version using shop bought ravioli here.

L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen

This booth was located between the France and Morocco Pavilions. Right next to the food booth there was a stage with a big menorah. Here, an entertainer performed with his guitar and told the story of Hanukkah and sang traditional songs. For the food we grabbed ourselves an order of Potato Latkes these were plant based and served with a vegan dill soured cream sauce. The one thing I will say about this years Epcot Festival of the Holidays. There were not a huge amount of plant based options. The Latkes were really very good, the ones we got were not as fresh as they could have been. If they were just cooked it would be perfection. They were still good and warm but not as crisp as they could have been.

American Holiday Table

This food booth is located in the America Pavilion and offers food and drink that is traditional to American holiday celebrations. We tried the Slow-roasted Turkey with Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Cranberry Sauce. This is a returning favourite of the festival and I can see why. This was good, the stuffing for me was still the best bit. I enjoyed the gravy and cranberry sauce as it added tang and richness and some much needed moisture. The mashed potato they did well, it was well seasoned and creamy. I did find the turkey to be on the drier side, but that can be forgiven if you’re feeling the holiday spirit. 

Karamell-Küche

This is the first of festival exclusive offerings from places that are not food booths. I mean that they are permanent locations that are always serving in Epcot however they have some offerings especially for the Epcot Festival of the Holidays. Karamell-Kuche features Werther’s Original Caramel and so caramel is everywhere. In fact the smell alone is heaven for me but could induce a sugar headache for those without a sweet tooth. We grabbed the Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich – yes, that is a long name for a cookie! However we had heard great things about this. We both felt this cookie was extremely sweet. We were glad we were sharing, as we did with everything we ate. The gingerbread cookie was fantastic, robust enough to stand up to the filling but soft enough to bight into with a little bend. The salted caramel buttercream filling could have been halved and I would be ok. It was very sweet, texture wise it was perfection. I just found it to be overly sweet.

Refreshment Port

Refreshment Port is located near the Canada Pavilion. Here they serve different poutines and they had a holiday version. We, of course, tried the holiday version, it was French Fries with Turkey, Gravy, Cranberry Relish and Crispy Onions. Now, what’s not to love from that list? Chips and gravy is a staple in the North of England and being from the north, it would be impossible for me to not enjoy this. There was a good amount of saltiness in this dish from the fries as well as the gravy. The turkey in this was not a thin carved slice there were good chunks and it was not dry. The cranberry relish was more liquid than I expected but it was very flavourful. The crispy onions added some fantastic crunch and lovely sweet note. The portion was the biggest we got at the festival but not the most expensive. This was $3 cheaper than the Mezzelune Croccante from Italy and there was a lot more food here. If you are looking for a meal or a substantial snack to share then get yourself over to Refreshment Port.

Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company

Joffrey’s is one of two coffee company’s that you can find in the Walt Disney World the other being Starbucks. Joffrey’s is everywhere with multiple locations in each park and is the coffee you find in the Disney resorts. I love Joffrey’s Coffee it really lets me know I’m in Walt Disney World. For the Epcot Festival of the Holidays 2021 you could find the Carolers’ Cold Brew. This was Joffrey’s French Roast Cold Brew with Brown Butter Toffee, Swiss Chocolate Syrup and Sweet Cream, topped with Whipped Cream and Twix bar Pieces. This sounds sweet, it was. The mix of the chocolate and caramel is of course delightful the coffee has a slight bitterness to it that in theory would balance out the sweetness. I found there were maybe one too many flavours as it felt like the chocolate and caramel were fighting with the coffee rather than complimenting it. Maybe I had reached my limit for food and drink for the day but I think I would have preferred a caramel cold brew without the chocolate syrup.

This was our second time experiencing the Epcot Festival of the Holidays and it is one of our favourite festivals at Epcot. The magic of the festive season, the food options, the entertainment and even the decorations all add to the experience you have. This felt very family friendly; sometimes, in my opinion, the Food and Wine Festival can be dominated by adults attempting to drink their way ‘around the world’. If you find yourself in Walt Disney World during the holiday season you should check out the Festival of the Holidays and learn about how different cultures celebrate the season and what food they may eat. See what we ate at the 2019 Festival of the Holidays. Hungry for more Epcot Festivals? Check out my Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival Post. If you want to continue on our 2021 New Years trip take a look at the Disney Snacks we ate or the Quick Service Meals we tackled.