One of our favorite annual events is returning to Epcot this month, Epcot International Festival of the Arts. The Festival takes place from January 17th through February 24th, 2020.
The Epcot International Festival of the Arts is a blend of culinary, performing, and visual arts from around the world. This is the 4th year for the event and every year it has gotten bigger and better.
Culinary Arts
Eating and drinking around the world is something we have been enjoying as a family since our stroller pushing days. There are special food stations for the event just as you would find at the Wine and Dine Festival or The Flower and Garden Festival. We really enjoyed the artistry that goes into each dish. Eden and Xen particularly enjoyed the Artist Pallet and having the opportunity to “paint” with their food.
As for me, I always enjoy some solo “adulting” around the International Art Festival. I always seem to find myself with a beer sampler and some yummy treat near America in World Showcase.
Performing Arts
Yes, we love the food, but the performing and visual arts portion of Epcot International Art Festival is really why we go.
From live performance art, acrobats, high school choirs and more, there is plenty of performing arts acts to see during the festival. My kids’ favorite, of course, is the living statues. More about that later.
The Disney on Broadway Concert Series is one of these do not miss performances. Sing along with your favorite Disney musical numbers all performed by Disney on Broadway stars! The Broadway Concert Series is held in the American Gardens Theater at Epcot World Showcase. You have plenty of opportunities to catch the show as performances are scheduled daily at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM and 8:00 PM.
Just like many other Disney special events, if you book breakfast, lunch, or dinner at one of Epcot’s participating restaurants with the Broadway Concert Series Dining Package, you will be guaranteed priority seating for the show.
Visual Arts
Even if you are just browsing be sure to stop at some of the Festival Markets and artist galleries. It is really enjoyable to watch these artisans at work. There is a wide variety of artisans crafts from jewelry making, photography, paper sculpting, t-shirt screenprinting and more.
At some of the Festival Markets, you can even have the opportunity to get involved, selecting certain components for your piece of art.
Although there are paid workshop opportunities during the weekends, there are plenty of opportunities for free hands-on workshops during the festival. You can learn the latest creative techniques and tricks of the trade including animation drawing, painting 2D cels, 3D paper crafting and more.
Two years ago Eden and Xen enjoyed a workshop where they were taught to draw Donald Duck. Although Eden is artistically inclined, she was only 7 at the time. The instructors do a great job of making sure that even the youngest aspiring artist can participate in these workshops. Of course, there are some that are more complex that I wouldn’t attempt with a child, but you can always pop in and see what you think.
One, in particular, that is for kids of all ages is the Animation Academy, a fun and informative drawing class taught by actual Disney artists daily at 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM in America Garden.
Okay, I will admit it we love a good photo opportunity. We probably have thousands of Disney pictures that have been taken with our Photo Pass over the years, but the photo ops during Epcot International Art Festival have been some of our favorites.
It is so much fun to become part of masterpieces like the Mona Lisa, Washington Crossing the Delaware, The Scream and more.
You can find all of these photo opportunities throughout World Showcase. Don’t worry if you do not have PhotoPass, you are more than welcome to break out your own phone or camera.
As you may have noticed Epcot International Festival of the Arts is a family-friendly event, more so than Wine and Dine. Here are a few other family activities to check out during the festival.
Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunt – For an additional fee you can help Figment learn about art on this scavenger hunt around World Showcase! Find Figment hiding inside famous works of art at each World Showcase pavilion and add the corresponding sticker for the pavilion on your map. Once your journey is complete, return your map for an artful surprise!
New this year is Chalk Full of Character. Discover chalk drawings of Disney characters—from Abu to Jiminy Cricket in tucked-away corners throughout World Showcase.
I find that the Kids’ Chalk Art area located in Future World West is a great place to let the kids decompress, play with some chalk and allow us a few minutes of reprieve. The Kids’ Chalk Art area is open daily from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Expression Section: A Paint-by-Number Mural – It is amazing to watch the progression of these collaborative community murals as they transform from a blank canvas to a colorful masterpiece. I have seen everything from The Monorail, Art Pop Figment, Space and more. You can participate in this paint-by-number fun in Future World from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Tips to make the most of your visit
Here are some important tips to help you make the most of your visit to Epcot International Festival of the Arts.
1. Performers can be found most days until 5 pm but their performance sets seem to be short and they only come out a few times a day. Be sure to check the entertainment schedule so you can plan accordingly.
2. Plan your day around the “rare” entertainment that you absolutely must see! I can not stress this enough. Remember those live statues I mentioned being my kids’ favorite? It took several trips before I got it just right. I seemed to catch them as they were heading back to the casting area and had completed their set. So if you have something that is a must-do, plan around it! Photo ops and food will be there later!
3. If you can go during the week, do, as weekends are the busiest. The Epcot International Festival of the Arts has heavy traffic from locals, and most of us can only make it on the weekend due to work.
4. If you can’t avoid the weekends at least be aware that there is another event, The Princess Half Marathon Weekend Feb 20-23, which is at the tail end of this event. Eden and I not only participated in Princess Half Marathon Weekend this past February but also went to the festival during that time. Two birds with one stone, but just know it is a busy weekend as it is not only the end of the festival but an increase in park guests due to the races.
5. Plan on visiting several times. Last year, we had so much that we wanted to see and do we went multiple days in order to check everything off of our list. We went just for the festival and took advantage of a couple of Fast Passes just to break up the day for the kids.
6. To ensure you get seating, arrive early for workshops. It is also helpful if you have little ones that are participating in a workshop as you can perhaps get front row if you arrive early enough.
7. Epcot is in the middle of major renovations to transform Future World. Over the years, much of the entertainment has taken place near and around the fountain so they will be relocated or perhaps sparse. That is yet to see.
We are looking forward to attending the upcoming 2020 Epcot International Festival of the Arts. Have you attended in past years? Do you plan to attend again this year? Please share below.