Last updated: July 2026. This festival runs annually each spring, and we update this post each year with current dates and marketplace details rather than writing a new one from scratch. If you’re reading this outside the active window, use it to plan ahead for next year.
The Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival is one of the most food-focused events at the Disneyland Resort, a full spring season built around California-inspired dishes, wine, and craft beer spread across marketplace booths throughout the park. If your family plans trips around specific festivals rather than just general park visits, this is one worth building a spring trip around.
2026 Dates: March 6 – April 27
This year’s festival ran March 6 through April 27, 2026, already closed by the time this post published, but the window returns every spring, so treat these dates as a preview for next year’s timing rather than something you missed for good.
Where to Actually Go: Performance Corridor Is the Epicenter
Here’s the detail most festival guides don’t make clear enough: of the eight marketplace booths featured in 2026, five were concentrated right in Performance Corridor, the waterfront wine-country area we’ve already covered in its own full Pocket Guide here. If you’re only going to focus your festival eating in one part of the park, this is genuinely the place to do it.
The remaining marketplaces were split between Paradise Gardens Park and Grizzly Peak, with a handful of individual festival-specific items also popping up at existing restaurants elsewhere in the park, Carthay Circle Restaurant and Clarabelle’s on Buena Vista Street, and Award Wieners and Hollywood Lounge in Hollywood Land, among them.
How the Sip and Savor Pass Works
Rather than paying per item at every booth, the festival offers a Sip and Savor Pass in two options, a 4-coupon version and an 8-coupon version, each redeemable for select food and non-alcoholic menu items at participating marketplaces and dining locations. Purchasing a pass has also historically come with a complimentary Mickey-shaped Food & Wine plate while supplies last. Exact pricing shifts slightly year to year, so check current festival pages for this year’s numbers rather than relying on last year’s.
Bookable and Free Experiences
Beyond the food itself, the festival typically includes a bookable Beverage Education Seminar at Sonoma Terrace, right in Performance Corridor, weekend sessions running 30 to 40 minutes where guests can learn directly from winemakers or Disney mixologists. Reservations are required for this one. On the same weekends, complimentary culinary demonstrations have run at the Hollywood Backlot Stage, no reservation needed, a good option if you want a taste of the festival’s educational side without booking anything in advance.
What Kind of Food to Expect
Menus rotate every year, but the throughline stays consistent: California-inspired dishes leaning into bold, current food trends, alongside a few beloved recurring favorites that show up across multiple festival years. Expect a real mix of savory small plates, shareable snacks, and a genuinely wide range of wine, beer, and cocktail pairings at each marketplace, not just food. If you’re festival-hopping with a Sip and Savor Pass, pace yourself, portions at each stop are sized for sampling rather than a full meal.
A Quick FAQ
Does the Food & Wine Festival happen every year? Yes, it’s an annual spring event at Disney California Adventure. The specific dates and menu shift year to year, but the general spring window has stayed consistent.
Where should we focus our time if we only have a few hours for the festival? Performance Corridor, hands down. More than half of the 2026 marketplace booths were located there, making it genuinely the most efficient place to sample a lot of what the festival has to offer without crossing the whole park.
Is the Sip and Savor Pass worth it? If you know you’ll be trying multiple booths, it’s generally a good value versus paying per item, and it comes with a free commemorative plate while supplies last. If you’re only planning to grab one or two things, paying individually might make more sense.
Do we need reservations for anything during the festival? Only the Beverage Education Seminar at Sonoma Terrace requires a reservation. The culinary demonstrations at the Hollywood Backlot Stage and the marketplace booths themselves are all walk-up.
Is festival food available through mobile order? It varies by location and by item, some participating restaurants offer mobile order for select festival items, while marketplace-booth tasting portions generally are not available through mobile order. Check individual booth listings for specifics each year.
Explore More
Since Performance Corridor hosts the bulk of the festival each year, our full Performance Corridor Pocket Guide is worth reading alongside this one for the full picture of what’s there outside festival season too.
Want the whole trip planned out, not just this one event? The Magic Made Easy Guide covers everything from rope drop to dining reservations in one place. And if you’d rather talk it through, we offer 1:1 Coaching, 60 minutes, just the two of us, mapping out your trip together.