2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Guide

The 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is Walt Disney World’s springtime festival featuring topiaries, seasonal foods, merchandise & more. This guide covers info & 2025 dates, tips & tricks, concert schedule, what to expect from crowds, and how to maximize your time & money.

Walt Disney World has now announced the dates of the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, and it’s mostly consistent with last year’s trend of reduced dates. We say mostly because the event is ‘borderline’ between two weeks. It normally starts on the last Wednesday in February (like last year) or first Wednesday in March (like the several previous years).

For this coming year, the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival will run from March 5 to June 2, 2025 at Walt Disney World. That shifts slightly later than last year, but the duration of the event is more or less unchanged. As with last year, the even is still a full month shorter than the prior few years–but consistent with historical precedent up until 2020.

Also worth noting is that the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival is the 30th Anniversary of the annual event! Walt Disney World will be celebrating thirty years of beautiful character topiaries, delightful gardens, delicious menus and more. How they’ll do that has not yet been revealed, but we’re expecting displays with nods to the anniversary, lots of merchandise, and much more. Disney didn’t really get the chance to properly celebrate the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival’s 25th Anniversary (thanks COVID), so we’re hoping this is a do-over, of sorts. Either way, we’re excited for the the anniversary and to learn more about what’s in store!

With the announcement of 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival dates, Walt Disney World has also revealed the March lineup of performers:

The bigger question, once again, is whether Walt Disney World would finally add a fifth festival to the calendar. We strongly suspected this would happen last year, especially with Flower & Garden ending earlier and Food & Wine starting later. It really seemed like Disney was setting the table for another event in between. The signs were there, and then…nothing.

A brand-new event to bridge the gap would be incredibly savvy, especially with the new Disney Starlight Night Parade debuting at Magic Kingdom. Introducing a brand-new summer festival for June through August would be the smartest move of all, as it would provide counter-programming for summer to draw crowds to EPCOT.

We’ll keep you posted as to whether Walt Disney World announces another festival for June through August. For now, here’s everything else you need to know about EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival…

While we think the topiaries and beautiful floral displays are the highlight of the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, many people go for the food. For a lot of Walt Disney World visitors, it’s essentially a spring version of the popular Food & Wine Festival. There are more than one-dozen Outdoor Kitchens that offer specialty menus of scrumptious cuisine and beverages at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival.

If you’re primarily concerned with the Outdoor Kitchens, we have convenient reviews for each of the food booths from last year:

These will all be updated once we have a chance to graze our way around the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

As the parentheticals suggest, the top 3 booths above are the best of the festival. We’d highly recommend prioritizing those Outdoor Kitchens, and those reviews, when planning what you’re going to eat and drink at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival.

To make matters easier, that trio of Outdoor Kitchens is all located conveniently near one another towards the front of the park. While most of the food booths are in World Showcase, those options are much more hit or miss than BRUNCHCHOT, Farmers Feast, and Honey Bee-stro.

If you’re looking for strategy to efficiently experience for navigating the parks amidst all of these changes, be sure to consult our Itineraries & Touring Plans for Walt Disney World. Those have been updated with all of the latest changes (like Genie+ and Lightning Lanes) plus the newest additions, like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Harmonious, and Disney Enchantment. As soon as Guardians of the Galaxy – Cosmic Rewind opens, we’ll add it, too.

Here’s what else we know based upon our past experiences at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival…

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival: Info & Tips

We visit Epcot for Flower & Garden Festival each year, and this guide is based upon experiences attending the event annually over the course of the last decade-plus. Every year, the highlight of Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is the topiaries and glorious garden displays. These make Epcot pop with color and beauty, and are a wonderful enhancement to Epcot.

There’s no additional charge to see flowers and topiaries that are arranged throughout Epcot, but it should be noted that almost everything aside from the food is included in normal Epcot admission. Most of the event is a “plussing” of Epcot at no additional charge, and this is part of why we highly recommend it.

For foodies, the Outdoor Kitchen food booths are another incredibly popular element of Flower & Garden Festival. These make the spring event like a mini Food & Wine Festival, which is Epcot’s most popular festival of the year.

Aside from the snacking and rocking, the event offers Walt Disney World guests the ability to enjoy expert-designed flower and garden displays, Disney character topiaries, playgrounds, and more. Here’s what else you can expect…

In terms of basic info about the horticulture on display at Epcot during Flower & Garden Festival, let’s start by hitting you with some fact-bombs. First, it takes a full year and 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists to prepare for the 90-day Flower and Garden Festival.

The culmination of those efforts are 30-million blooms, 240 floating flower planters, 700 gardens, nearly 100 Disney character topiaries, 30 flower towers, and one beautiful butterfly tapestry of flowers all culminate in an incredibly vibrant time of year for Epcot.

Some of you are probably thinking, “okay, but I loathe gardening and I much prefer barren concrete to vibrant flowers.” Well, if that’s the case, I can’t recommend visiting Epcot during the International Flower and Garden Festival. However, if your views on flowers and gardening aren’t quite that extreme, it’s a great time to visit.

I groan when Sarah turns on HGTV (just how many episodes of a show about decorating a house to resell it can one person watch?!) and I’ve been known to (accidentally, I swear!) run over portions of our own garden with the lawnmower, but I still love visiting during Flower & Garden Festival.

It bears repeating: during Flower & Garden Festival, Epcot is gorgeous, smells great, and there are a lot of unique things to photograph. Much like the Behind the Seeds at Epcot Tour (which I highly recommend), the fundamental substance of the presentations at Flower & Garden Festival doesn’t appeal to me, but the overall “feel” and ambiance of the Festival does appeal to me. It’s a really fun time to be at Epcot.

While we recommend visiting during the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, but it’s not something around which you should plan a trip. The good news is that there are a few low-crowd, nice-weather periods of time during Flower & Garden Festival’s run, and targeting those is a good idea.

Consult our 2025 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars & When to Visit so you can plan specific dates. As a general matter, the best times to visit are on weekdays at the start of the event, before the arrival of Spring Break Crowds at Walt Disney World. After those school breaks end in April 2025 is another good time to visit, as is the entirety of May 2025. Crowds will start to pick up again in June, growing gradually over the course of the summer until the event ends.

Here’s a rundown of everything you can experience during the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival…

Outdoor Kitchens – This is already mentioned above, but these are essentially Food & Wine Festival kiosks offering food and drinks.

If you’ve never attended Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival, it’s worth noting that grazing from these kiosks will cost you considerably more than eating an actual meal. So if you’re looking to save money, stay away from these kiosks.

If you’re looking to have a great time and are willing to spend a bit of money (we easily spend $40-60 in an afternoon at food kiosks), you should be able to spend an afternoon just wandering these Outdoor Kitchens.

Special Gardens & Exhibits -There will be 20 different garden areas all across EPCOT during Flower & Garden. Weave through dazzling flowerbeds, stumble upon exotic gardens, learn more about sustainable foods and celebrate the ways we can live in harmony with the natural world. Here’s a full list of the glorious gardens:

• The Community Garden – World Celebration
  Connect with the earth and each other at this celebration of a diverse and thriving communal garden plot.
• Festival Blooms – World Celebration
  Admire thousands of flowers that form colorful, living panoramas.
• Connections Conservatory Garden – World Celebration Near Connections Eatery
  Settle into this thoughtful garden full of floral inspirations for your indoor spaces.
• Songbird Meadow Presented by Wild Birds Unlimited – World Discovery
  Songbirds are an important part of many ecosystems—including the one in your own backyard! Discover simple steps you can take at home to help these feathered friends thrive.
• Camp Get Out ‘N’ Play Garden – World Discovery
  Bring the entire family to explore this camp-themed garden where little ones are invited to jump, play and climb.
• Prehistoric Garden – World Discovery Near Mission: SPACE
  Imagine life on Earth 65 million years ago with astounding plant life that’s thrived since the age of the dinosaurs.
• Floating Gardens – World Nature
  Peer upon more than 170 petite plots drifting on the ponds that border the bridge to World Showcase.
• Bold Bromeliads – World Nature in The Land Pavilion
  Observe a variety of unique and colorful plants that can adapt to a wide range of climates and conditions.
• Butterfly Landing – World Nature Near Imagination!
  View a kaleidoscope of butterflies up close, in all their extraordinary color. Learn about butterfly lifecycles and maybe even see one emerge from its chrysalis. Closes at dusk.
• The Honey Bee-stro – Rosewalk Near Imagination!
  Learn about honeybees’ critical role in the environment, and delight in sweet and savory treats made possible by their hard work.
• Blossoms of Fragrance – World Showcase Bridge
  Follow your nose and form lasting memories with the help of fresh, unforgettable fragrances.
• Extraordinary Orchids – World Showcase – Mexico Pavilion
  Set eyes on spectacular plants blooming in radiant color.
• Desert Garden – World Showcase – Mexico Pavilion
  Discover the special adaptations that allow plants in arid climates to adjust to the harshest of growing conditions.
• Bamboo Garden – World Showcase – China Pavilion
  Visit this garden to see bamboo in a variety of colors, patterns and sizes.
• China Penjing Garden – World Showcase – China Pavilion – NEW!
  Discover ancient Chinese art that recreates miniature landscapes.
• Gnome Garden – World Showcase – Germany Pavilion – NEW!
  Discover topiary versions of magical garden gnomes, originating from German folk tales.
• Miniature Garden – World Showcase – Germany Pavilion
  Appreciate the little things in this showcase of diminutive dwellings nestled in a forest of fine shrubs.
• Garden Italiano – World Showcase – Italy Pavilion
  From fresh spaghetti sauce to pizza toppings, this Tuscan kitchen garden features all the produce and herbs needed to create a classic Italian feast.
• Bonsai Collection – World Showcase – Japan Pavilion
  Learn about the art of bonsai, some of the finest living sculptures. Bonsai masters carefully shape and tend these miniature works of art, creating peace and balance with the earth.
• Kokedema Garden – World Showcase – Japan Pavilion
  Admire fresh expressions of an ancient Japanese art at this tranquil garden.
• Shishi Odoshi – World Showcase – Japan Pavilion
  Contemplate the methodical movement and soothing rhythm of this traditional Japanese bamboo water fountain.
• Spice Garden – World Showcase – Morocco Pavilion
  Discover how Eastern cultures flourished, trading signature spices and herb blends once considered more valuable than gold.
• Bouquet Garden – World Showcase – France Pavilion 
  See bountiful blooms perfect for a bouquet of cut flowers.
• English Tea Garden – World Showcase – United Kingdom Pavilion
  Unearth the history and art of tea-blending at this elegant English tea garden—featuring plants used in some of Twinings’ finest blends.
• Shakespeare Garden – World Showcase – United Kingdom Pavilion
  Explore the works of Shakespeare in this idyllic garden featuring excerpts from some of the bard’s most famous sonnets—and the dazzling flowers that influenced them.

Our favorites are pretty much anything in World Showcase, as well as the floating gardens on the water in World Nature, and prehistoric garden (gotta love dinosaurs). We’re also intrigued by the new gnome garden.

Our favorite is Butterfly Landing, a house combining butterflies and fairies. This butterfly house is always really cool, as butterflies fly all over the place and even land on guests. We recommend spending about 10-15 minutes in here to watch the butterflies and take photos.

Beacons of Magic on Spaceship Earth – An addition for the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is a Pocahontas segment during the Beacons of Magic on Spaceship Earth. (Read & see more about this World’s Most Magical Celebration addition in Beacons of Magic at Epcot: Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Highlight!)

Per Disney, an orchestral version of the Academy-Award winning song “Colors of the Wind” was chosen “for its message of intrinsic value and respect for beauty of nature and living things – with visual flourishes that evoke the musical scene from the film with techniques entirely original for Spaceship Earth.”

Character Topiaries – More than 70 topiaries will fill the park, featuring a delightful array of Disney characters as well as other figures and whimsical items. Guests can even look forward to seeing the Figment topiary in the newly opened World Celebration Gardens.

Also new this year, guests can look forward to viewing new topiaries from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film “Wish,” including Asha, Valentino and the Wishing Star, at the park’s main entrance. In Mexico, Miguel and Dante from Disney Pixar’s “Coco” will take center stage!

Disney Horticulture and Walt Disney Imagineering worked together to design, build and grow diverse topiary displays. This process began nearly a year ago. Artists developed sketches, Imagineers designed 3D models, skilled welders molded frames, and horticulture specialists chose plant materials.

Here’s the full list of topiaries at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival and where you can find them:

• Disney Film, Wish (Asha, Valentino and the Wishing Star) – NEW!
  Main Entrance
• Butterflies
  Main Entrance, Scentsy Garden, Butterfly House and World Showcase
• Figment, Flower Topiaries and Flower Towers
  World Celebration – World Celebration Plaza
• Huey, Dewey and Louie
  World Celebration – World Celebration Plaza
• Donald Duck
  World Celebration – Community Garden Near Connections Café in World Celebration
• Bambi and Friends
  World Discovery – Near Imagination! and Refreshment Port
• Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy – NEW!
  World Discovery – Near Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Buzz Lightyear
  World Discovery – Near Mission: SPACE
• Woody, Bo Peep and Her Sheep
  World Nature – Between Imagination! and The Land Pavilion
• Simba and Friends (Rafiki, Simba, Mufasa and Sarabi)
  World Nature – Near The Land Pavilion
• Pumbaa and Timon
  World Nature – Near The Land Pavilion
• Goofy
  Rosewalk
• Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip, Dale and Pluto
  Bridge to World Showcase
• Encanto (Mirabel, Antonio, Isabela and Luisa)
  World Showcase
• Coco (Miguel and Dante) – NEW!
  World Showcase – Mexico Pavilion
• Anna and Elsa
  World Showcase – Norway Pavilion
• Troll
  World Showcase – Norway Pavilion
• Pandas
  World Showcase – China Pavilion
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  World Showcase – Germany Pavilion
• Lady and the Tramp
  World Showcase – Italy Pavilion
• Tiana
  World Showcase – The American Adventure Pavilion
• Dragon
  World Showcase – Japan Pavilion Near Torii Gate
• Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy
  World Showcase – Between France and Morocco Pavilions
• Beauty and the Beast
  World Showcase – France Pavilion
• Lumiere and Cogsworth
  World Showcase – France Pavilion
• Butterfly and Flower Towers
  World Showcase – International Gateway
• Winnie the Pooh and Friends (Rabbit, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger)
  World Showcase – United Kingdom Pavilion
• Tinker Bell’s Fairy House Garden
  World Showcase – United Kingdom Pavilion
• Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tick Tock Croc
  World Showcase – Between United Kingdom and Canada Pavilions
• Geese
  World Showcase – Canada Pavilion

For us, the topiaries should be the highlight of Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival, but they quite often disappoint. The topiaries are recycled from year to year and season to season (you can see some of the exact same topiaries in different locations at Christmas…we have photos of them from about 10 years ago and they look the same) and are often shoe-horned in places they really don’t belong.

It would be nice to have new topiaries each year, especially since in the late 1980s and early 1990s, new topiaries regularly appeared when there wasn’t even a special event (as reflected in one of our favorite Walt Disney World books, Gardens of the Walt Disney World Resort). Still, there are some new topiaries each year, and it’s great to see them added to enhance the park.

Concerts – The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival will feature live music from the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond thanks to the return of the Garden Rocks Concert Series. Famous artists rock the America Gardens Theatre in World Showcase every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m., and 8 p.m. each evening.

Walt Disney World has released more details about this, which we cover in Garden Rocks Concerts at EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival: Dates, Lineup & Dining Packages. That features the full lineup, plus pricing and eligible restaurants for the dining package–and why we do NOT recommend paying for that package.

Unlike Candlelight Processional, we have never found the dining packages to be necessary for any other Epcot concerts. However, if the very best seats are a must so you can truly appreciate the rad hairstyles sported by A Flock of Seagulls, the dining package will help you there. Just don’t feel like you need to buy it in order to get a spot, because there’s usually plenty of seating for walk-ups.

Expect to hear live music every evening at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. In addition to the Garden Rocks Concert Series, local Orlando bands step into the spotlight Tuesday through Thursday, performing in the America Gardens Theatre.

There will also be other acts throughout World Showcase, including Mariachi Cobre, the Jammin’ Gardeners, and more.

Other Stuff – Other exhibits include the Festival Center (in the former Odyssey pavilion), featuring merchandise, one of the Outdoor Kitchens, and other activities.

One of the cooler aspects of the Flower & Garden Festival is that you can visit multiple times and have a totally different experience each time. This is not only because the presenters and bands change, but because halfway through the festival, Disney gardeners remove the blossoms that thrive in early-spring to plant a new crop of flowers that flourish in late-spring’s warmer temperatures.

This is great for those guests visiting during the concluding weeks of the Festival, as they don’t have to worry about seeing a bunch of wilted flowers. It’s beautiful during the Festival’s entire run.

Although there are fresh offerings each year, generally not a ton differs from year to year. The same character topiaries are used year in and year out (with a few exceptions), and most of the new content consists of thinly veiled promotional pieces for upcoming Disney films.

Personally, we think it would be nice to see investments in changing the topiary designs that haven’t changed in the last 10 years or so, but if you’re a first-timer, these will obviously still be fresh to you.

The Outdoor Kitchens are another highlight, and while these are an obvious attempt to capitalize on the colossal success of the Food & Wine Festival, so what? Food & Wine Festival is incredibly popular with guests, so why not incorporate elements of it into other times of the year?

The best things Disney does are mutually beneficial for it and guests. We love the food booths at Food & Wine Festival, so we think these are a solid addition to the Flower & Garden Festival. If you disagree with us, you can simply ignore the food booths. No harm, no foul.

Overall, Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is a really lovely event. There’s a decent amount to do at the Flower & Garden Festival, and something that will appeal to everyone. It’s our third favorite time of year to visit Epcot, after the Festival of Holidays and newer Festival of the Arts (but ahead of Food & Wine Festival).

Whether you’re a first time guest or a seasoned veteran of Walt Disney World, visiting during Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is a lot of fun. Epcot is at its most beautiful during Flower & Garden Festival, and you can enjoy much of what’s offered during the event without spending anything extra. Epcot smells and looks wonderful, and there are a lot of unique offerings, displays, and photographic opportunities.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

Have you ever been to Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival? What do you think are the highlights? Are favorite foods, demonstrations, or other aspects of the event? Do you agree or disagree with our advice for the event? Are you considering attending the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!