The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, which runs from January 17 through February 24, 2020, returns for its fourth year and has a little bit of something for everyone! Here are some of the highlights from the festival that we uncovered.
Eat Around the World
Like other EPCOT festivals you can eat around World Showcase. Be sure to grab a Festival Passport booklet when you enter the park or at any merchandise location, then travel around the world tasting all sorts of colorful foods! If you are on the Disney Dining plan, many of these artistic eats are considered a snack on the plan (just lookout for the purple logo on the menu).
A new addition this year is the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine. When you purchase five specific colorful delights as listed in the final pages of your passport, be sure to get your book stamped. Take a look at the five participating menu items in the slideshow below.
After you have filled your "palette" with stamps, you can return to the Decadent Delights redemption window and get a FREE palette cookie! Now for the best part ... you can bring your Festival Passport back to EPCOT up until February 24, 2020 to complete your colorful adventure! No need to cram all these wonderful culinary creations in at once, unless your vacation allots for only one day at the Festival.
The menu items throughout World Showcase are not only tasty but they are works of art too! The culinary artists take great pride in their work, much like the China pavilion's staple, and our personal favorite, Wenbo!
Disney on Broadway delivers top talent and great Disney music
The Disney on Broadway Concert Series returns to the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts! You can combine your love of food and the Great White Way and it’s Broadway shows by reserving either breakfast, lunch and/or dinner at a participating restaurant and get a delicious meal and reserved seating at one of the Disney on Broadway Concert Series shows. The participating restaurants are the Biergarten in Germany, the Rose & Crown in the United Kingdom, and the Coral Reef Restaurant and Garden Grill Restaurants in FutureWorld. Concert series meals are considered a table service credit on the Disney Dining plan.
Not in the mood for a big meal, but you want to get up close for the concert? No worries, there is a standby line to the right of the theater. If you line up at least ½ hour before the show you can get as close as the first row off the stage - we did! You'll be able to see the emotion and fancy footwork that stars, like Gavin Lee and Heidi Blickenstaff, put into their impeccable performances.
Visual Treats at the Festival Markets
Festival Markets spotlight artists who express their craft in a wide variety of creative media - glass art, paper sculpting, and painting just to name a few! There a several artists exhibiting their work and lots of opportunities for you to purchase one and perhaps get it signed by the artist. Be sure to catch the 'About the Artist' signs to learn more about their work and the hours for their appearances. You might even catch an artist at work, like Jacinthe Dugal-Lacroix seen here sculpting.
Looking for the original works created by the festival-spotlighted artists? You can find them at The Art of Disney over at The American Adventure.
Festival Exclusive Experiences
If you feel inspired, you can get involved and be part of the creative process! The festival offers several opportunities to learn during hands-on workshops with accomplished professionals—including those that are free such as the Animation Academy, and those at an additional cost such as Ink and Paint Animation, gesture drawing, 3D paper crafting and more.
Interactive Glass Art is also a new offering for this year's festival, appearing at the Germany pavilion. Select colorful pieces of glass of varying sizes to customize your own glass creation.
You can also add a bit of color to EPCOT by participating in the Expression Section: A Paint-by-Number Mural. A cast member will provide you with a sponge paint brush and a paint cup with a number. You will be directed to the mural and asked to paint 4 squares of your numbered paint. When you are done you receive a postcard of the finished product!
Jump into the Art with Artful Photo Ops
Want to be part of the art? Artful Photo Ops gives you an opportunity to jump into famous works of art and have you picture taken by a Photopass photographer during select hours throughout the day. These pop-in works of art include homages to Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Edvard Munch's The Scream, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party, Peter Pan Storybook, Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers and Café Terrace at Night. Each photo op comes with a palette full of information about the artist and artwork of reference, satisfying every art history nerd, like ourselves.
New to the festival this year are a series of butterfly wing murals in which you can jump in front of and take flight!
Performance Art Abounds
Artists performing in a variety of media are a constant at the festival. Whether you enjoy watching the thrilling acts of strength, the funny antics of living statues or art being created in front of your eyes, there is something for everyone to enjoy!
The World Showcase stage, on the Future World side of the lagoon, hosts top high school bands performing jazz and pop music and famous musicians. On the same stage Art Defying Gravity, an acrobatic troupe, performs thrilling acts of strength which like their name suggests, defy gravity.
One thing we always look forward to is Trevor Carlton and his performance art. To upbeat songs, Trevor takes his canvas from just a background and magically transforms it into a portrait of one of our favorite Disney characters. Seeing the joy he expresses gets you clapping along with the music and guessing who the final product will be.
There are other areas in the park to experience performance art. By the new Mouse Gear location the Epcot Living Statues, a group of cast members who appear as gold, bronze or silver statutes, come to life and interact with guests. We just love seeing when guests are surprised by the living art and their antics!
Along the walkway from Future World to the World Showcase you can view 2D chalk art, some of which have Disney references.
Want to be part of the image? Acclaimed 3D chalk artist, Nate Baranowski delivers stunning images that will allow you to jump in, interact, and be part of the scene. He even places markings for where you should stand to get the best photograph. Check out his finished Frozen chalk art where guest could help Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff build a snowman.
Chalk Full of Character
Last year, Disney introduced a few hidden characters throughout World Showcase without really announcing or advertising the addition. This year, Chalk Full of Character officially makes it to the festival guide and even more characters have made their way to the pavilions. You'll find classic characters and those from newer films hidden in the countries that match their cultural origins. Be sure to investigate every nook, cranny, and winding way to find these fun chalk-like illustrated vinyls. Check out some of the beloved hidden characters we found in the slideshow below.
Where’s Figment?
Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunt returns this year and our favorite little purple pal is hiding in famous works of art around World Showcase. This is kind of a double scavenger hunt - one to find the works and two to find Figment in them. Even the golden frames have a touch of Figment!
You can find them for fun or you can purchase an official palette - shaped map and stickers at Pin Traders - Camera Center, Disney Traders or World Travel and redeem your completed map for a "puzzling" surprise.
This scavenger hunt inspired my hand-painted details on a denim jacket which I wore to the festival. Can you find Figment and these art history references?
Themed Merchandise
As with any festival or special event, Disney designs unique momentos to commemorate your trip. From paint can-shaped purses, sequined ears, colorful t-shirts and spirit jerseys to paintbrush ornaments, Figment Color Co. pins and logo magnets, to themed drink-ware and phone cases, this year's offerings are sure to help you rock the festival in style and help bring home a bit of artistic inspiration.
Annual Passholders also have the opportunity to purchase exclusive merchandise in addition to their free magnet at MouseGear. This year's magnet is by far the most unique, showcasing the festival with a painterly style Mickey.
New and Enduring Artistic Additions
While the following experiences are new or may have debuted during the festival, they are not limited to its duration.
The EPCOT Experience provides an immersive view into the future of the park. With a 360 screen and a comprehensive model which continuously changes in color using projection technology, you'll be able to see an in-depth and creative view of all the fun to come including the widely anticipated interactive trail inspired by Moana, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, a re-imaged Spaceship Earth, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and more.
Just beyond the 360 model, you'll see posters of classic, current, and future attractions in addition to photo ops and artifacts that will be integral to some of the new changes in EPCOT.
At the beginning of the festival, three new films made their way to The Land and World Showcase.
Awesome Planet, narrated by Ty Burrell and presented in The Land, is a 10-minute film exploring the beautiful place that we call home. The feature showcases all the wonders of nature in addition to the impact that humans have on the Earth, tying in to Disney's conservation efforts and a sense of urgency to preserve and protect our world.
Over in the Canada Pavilion, Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360 has received an update with Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara lending their voices.
The Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along at the France Pavilion provides a unique spin on the classic tale as old as time. Not to spoil it but if you're a fan of LeFou, you are sure to enjoy this new experience.
Before you enter for the sing-along, you will see another new addition titled Tale as Old as Time: French Storytelling on Stage and Screen in the waiting area for the theater. This new gallery presents many costumes and props used from beloved theater productions such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera, as well as the live action film adaptations of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, just to name a few.
This is by far our FAVORITE festival at EPCOT. It drives home the message that started it all - a simple sketch of a mouse that transformed a world with magic.
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