https://disneyparks.wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Disney_Festival_of_HolidaysDisney Festival of Holidays - Revision history2026-11-14T18:10:42ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.11https://disneyparks.wiki/index.php?title=Disney_Festival_of_Holidays&diff=98&oldid=prevAdmin: Imported from text file2026-11-14T12:10:32Z<p>Imported from text file</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>The '''Disney Festival of Holidays''' is a seasonal festival held each winter at [[Disney California Adventure]] in the [[Disneyland Resort]], California. Running from mid-November to early January, it presents the food, music and customs of several winter celebrations — Christmas and Navidad, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa and Three Kings Day — through marketplaces, live performance and character entertainment. The festival was first held in 2016 and, unlike the park's hard-ticket events, is included with regular park admission.<br />
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== History ==<br />
The festival debuted on November 10, 2016, occupying much of the same Performance Corridor and Paradise Gardens footprint used earlier that year by the revived [[Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival]]. Its opening year is also remembered for the Disneyland Resort debut of Princess Elena of Avalor, whose musical arrival formed part of the entertainment programme. The festival returned in 2017 with an expanded marketplace lineup and has been held annually since, apart from the 2020–21 season, when the park was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent editions have run for roughly eight weeks; the 2023 edition, for example, ran from November 10 to January 7.<br />
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== Festive Foods Marketplace ==<br />
The centre of the festival is the Festive Foods Marketplace, a row of kiosks along the Performance Corridor serving small plates drawn from the traditions the festival covers. Menus change annually but characteristically mix Christmas dishes from several European and Latin American traditions with Hanukkah, Diwali and Kwanzaa-inspired items, alongside seasonal desserts and drinks. As at the Food & Wine Festival, a Sip and Savor Pass is sold for the event, prepaying for a set number of tasting portions that can be redeemed at the marketplaces and participating restaurants.<br />
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== Disney ¡Viva Navidad! ==<br />
The festival's largest component predates it. '''Disney ¡Viva Navidad!''', a celebration of Latino holiday culture in Paradise Gardens Park, began in 2013 and was folded into the Festival of Holidays when the larger event launched. Its centrepiece is the Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party, a procession combining folklorico dancers, mariachi musicians, Brazilian samba performers and mojiganga puppets, fronted by Donald Duck, Panchito and José Carioca — the Three Caballeros. The celebration culminates around Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes) in early January, and the Paradise Gardens area also hosts ''A Musical Celebration of Coco'' and the Mariachi Divas during the season.<br />
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== Entertainment ==<br />
Live music is distributed across the festival footprint rather than concentrated on one stage. Acts have included klezmer and Hanukkah music, a cappella groups, mariachi bands, Bollywood-influenced dance for Diwali, and Kwanzaa and gospel performances, with rosters varying by year. Mickey Mouse and friends appear in the Mickey's Happy Holidays dance party, and Santa Claus meets guests at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in Grizzly Peak. In its first years the festival was accompanied by a seasonal edition of [[World of Color]], ''Season of Light''; more recent seasons have instead emphasised the daytime programme and marketplace offerings.<br />
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Characters associated with newer Disney films have been introduced through the festival, including Mirabel from ''Encanto'', who began meeting guests in Paradise Gardens during the season after the film's release.<br />
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== Place in the park calendar ==<br />
The Festival of Holidays is one of four recurring festivals and celebrations that structure California Adventure's year, alongside the Lunar New Year celebration in January and February, the Food & Wine Festival in spring, and the autumn Halloween Time season anchored by [[Oogie Boogie Bash]]. Of the four, it is the longest-running in duration, spanning the resort's busiest period of the year.<br />
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== See also ==<br />
* [[Disney California Adventure]]<br />
* [[Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival]]<br />
* [[Oogie Boogie Bash]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
<references /><br />
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[[Category:Events]]<br />
[[Category:Disney California Adventure]]<br />
[[Category:Festivals]]<br />
[[Category:Christmas]]<br />
[[Category:2016 establishments in California]]</div>Admin