Epcot’s longest food & wine festival starts Thursday

The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival begins Thursday with five new food booths and 11 new performers.

The festival starts two weeks earlier than last year making it the longest ever at 75 days. It runs through Nov. 13.

Cuisines from around the world can be sampled at 35 food booths to coincide with Epcot’s 35^th anniversary this year. The food can be purchased individually at each booth or visitors can buy a $65 Tasting Sampler, which includes eight food and beverage items.

The five new marketplace booths include: Active Eats, The Almond Orchard, Coastal Eats, Flavors From Fire and The Light Lab.

More than a third of the performers at the “Eat to the Beat” Concert Series  are new, bringing 32 headline acts to play throughout World Showcase.

The Canadian band, Suroît plays music influenced from Cajun, Celtic, bluegrass and rock at the Canada pavilion. Yodeler Margret Almer will make an encore appearance at Epcot this fall. She’ll be performing with The Bavarian Band at the Germany pavilion.

Celebrity chefs, cooking demonstrations and premium food and wine events are all part of the 22^nd annual event.