Candlelight Processional to Return to EPCOT This Holiday Season

Fan-favorite holiday event Candlelight Processional is officially returning to EPCOT for the 2021 holiday season!

Details are still being worked out for Candlelight Processional celebrity narrators, but Disney fans who make this a staple of their holiday visit to the park will be thrilled to see this classic celebration of Christmas return to EPCOT. If you have your next Disney trip planned during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, be sure to plan a day to stay in the park for Candlelight Processional, with performances November 26-December 30, 2021.

In accordance with current health guidance and Disney Cast Member policies, all performers, including Cast Members, musicians, singers, and celebrity narrators will be required to be fully vaccinated for this year’s performances. Additionally, Disney is not planning to host community groups and schools due to health and safety reasons at this time.

Disney’s Candlelight Processional is one of the longest running holiday traditions at any Disney park, debuting in the 1958 holiday season at Disneyland Park. Since it’s debut, it has been held annually beginning in 1971 at the Magic Kingdom and moving to its current location in EPCOT in 1994 at the America Gardens Theatre.

The show was missed by Guests and Cast Members alike when it was put on hold last year, and we can’t wait to see the theatre filled once again with the talented live orchestra, Cast Member choir, and celebrity narrators.

The America Gardens Theatre was often home to popular bands during the EPCOT’s festivals, but since the park’s reopening it’s been home to smaller in-park entertainment groups like the Voices of Liberty and Mariachi Cobre to allow for easier spacing. The return of Candlelight Processional marks one of the first “normal” performances in the theater since the park’s reopened, and we could not be more excited for it.

We’ll share more details soon, once Disney works out this year’s celebrity narrators and detailed timing information for the event. Dining packages (which come with early access to seating) for the performances are set to return this year, too, so we’ll be sure to come back with complete details on restaurants and menu offerings once we have them!