Guide to The International Festival of the Arts
EPCOT is host to several festivals throughout the year including the Flower & Garden show in Spring (so pretty!) and the Food & Wine festival in the Fall. The newest major festival among these is the International Festival of the Arts which Disney envisions as celebrating visual, culinary, and performance arts. This will be the third year of the Festival of the Arts and, in my opinion, it has earned its place next to the others.
This year, the festival will run from January 18th through February 25th and will include new performances as well as special food kiosks, a market of artists selling their work which is often Disney-themed, and options for guests to get a little artsy themselves with workshops and "immersive" art opportunities. While the festival runs for 39 days, be aware that most activity is on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays.
While new, this is a major festival, able easily to compete with Food & Wine and Flower & Garden. Here is what you can expect:
Food kiosks all around World Showcase - these tend to open roughly when World Showcase opens and close a couple of hours before the nighttime show, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. This is Instagram-worthy food, most with amazing presentation, and very tasty stuff too. My favorite treat in 2018 was called "deconstructed breakfast" and was a drink that included chai tea, maple bourbon cream, waffle crisp and candied bacon. My husband enjoyed the sake in a personalized wooden cup. Best part? If you are on the dining plan, you can use your snack credits at the kiosks. Yum!
Tents showcasing artist's work - many of these were in the far stretch of World Showcase between Norway and Japan because it is an open space for this. The art showcased often, but not always, has something to do with Disney. If I weren't flying and on a budget, I could have spent a pretty penny here. Sometimes the shops around World Showcase will also feature an artist's work as well. Not will you find paintings, but you can also find soaps, lip balms, lotions, jewelry, and scented oils among the shops.
Workshops where you can learn art - these need to be registered for in advance and often come at an extra charge.
Photo opportunities - 2018's festival had several famous paintings that you could get into and be a part of for fun pictures.
The interactive mural - This is one of my personal favorite parts of this show. Every few days, a new interactive paint by number mural is begun and guests can contribute by choosing their paint color, being assigned a number that corresponds to that paint color, and painting 5 squares of the mural with their color. The mural is huge and painting part of it makes you part of the festival that year when the finished mural is hung for display (last year, finished murals were hung by the Energy pavilion).
Artists at work - last year featured sidewalk perspective art, which I really hope returns year after year as it was fun to see these artists at work and these also made amazing photos.
Performances at the Fountain of Nations and America Gardens theater - There is pretty much always something going on at the Fountain of Nations from park opening to 5pm on weekends during the festival. In the evenings, Disney on Broadway performances are at the America Gardens theater. There are dining packages available that get you reserved seating at the evening performances, or you can try to get in standby.
The Art of Disney Attraction Posters - last year, this gallery of vintage posters for Disney attractions was housed in the Odyssey restaurant building. This is a pretty neat exhibit to walk through and admire some Disney art from the past.
With all of this going on, you can see why this festival is quickly becoming a favorite among guests.
This week, I'd like to try something new. I'm searching for your stories about Cast Members. When has a Cast Member really made your day? When has Disney magic really come through for you? Share your Disney magic story in the comments for by commenting on our Facebook page. Your story may be posted in a future blog post. See you real soon!
