New Found Glory Keeping EPCOT Festival Set After Guitarist's Death

Published September 23, 2026

New Found Glory will still perform at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival following the death of lead guitarist and backing vocalist Chad Gilbert, according to reports published Wednesday, September 23, 2026. The band said on social media that it is canceling an upcoming Aftershock Festival appearance to take time to process, but is keeping the EPCOT date.

As of Wednesday, September 23, 2026, that is the full picture: one festival appearance dropped, the EPCOT performance still on. Gilbert’s death was reported this week.

The EPCOT set falls under the festival’s concert series, which runs on a rotating lineup of performers across the event. Reports frame the decision as the band’s own, announced directly by the band rather than through the resort.

What we know

• New Found Glory — reportedly still scheduled to perform at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.
• Chad Gilbert, lead guitarist and backing vocalist — died this week, per reports.
• Aftershock Festival appearance — canceled by the band so members can take time to process.
• The EPCOT performance — no change announced to the date, set times, or lineup.

What’s not confirmed

Disney has not issued a statement on the band’s EPCOT appearance, and no change to concert-series scheduling has been announced. The specific performance date and set times for New Found Glory were not included in the coverage available, and there is no announced information on whether the band will perform as a smaller lineup, bring in a fill-in guitarist, or alter the set. Treat all of this as reported, not officially confirmed.

What it means for your trip

• If this show is why you picked your EPCOT day, keep the plan but stay flexible — a band-led decision made in a difficult week can change again, and Disney has not confirmed anything on its side.
• Concert-series nights pull crowds toward the America Gardens Theatre area in World Showcase. Plan your headliner rides — Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Test Track, Frozen Ever After — for earlier in the day, and treat the evening as festival booths plus the show.
• Arrive well before showtime if you want a seat rather than a standing spot at the back; popular acts fill the theatre fast, especially on weekends.
• If a World Showcase table is part of the night, book it around the show, not on top of it — and if the reservation you want is gone, SupaPark’s dining Drop Watch can ping you the moment a cancellation frees one up so you can grab it in My Disney Experience.
• Don’t build the whole day around one set. Have a second plan for the evening — a lower-key walk through the booths or an earlier dinner — in case the appearance shifts.

Keep planning: Space 220 Works Best as a Guardians Buffer, Not the Main Event

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SupaPark tracks live wait times and crowd forecasts, and pings you the second a hard-to-get reservation opens or a ride goes walk-on — free to start at supapark.com.