Updated January 2020
Epcot’s Festival of the Arts returns on January 17 and runs through February 24, 2020. Although Festival of the Arts is the newest Epcot festival it has grown into an incredibly popular event. Billed as a celebration of art, Epcot Festival of the Arts highlights traditional, culinary, and performing arts with several different offerings in each. Here are our five favorite Epcot Festival of the Arts activities.
Epcot Festival of the Arts Expression Section
Expression Section is located in Future World West this year. A stop at Expression Section lets all Epcot guests be part of an immense paint by number mural that changes about every two days.
A cast member provides you a foam paint brush and a small container of paint with a number written on top. Find your number on the mural and then use these painting supplies to color in the number of squares the cast member tells you. We usually get to paint about 5 squares each during our visits.
After painting your squares dispose of the art supplies in the provided bins. As you leave Expression Section you receive a postcard which shows the inspiration for the finished masterpiece!
“Artful” Photo Opportunities
Have you ever dreamed of being in a famous painting? During Epcot Festival of the Arts this dream can come true. Several famous paintings are found around World Showcase, and you get to be the star.
The photo spots are set up to look like a painting on a gallery wall complete with frames and art lamps. You enter the picture by standing between a background and foreground and then pose any way you like.
Look for inspiration from the informational sign about the original art or be as silly as you want. We love the Epcot Festival of the Arts clever photo ops so much that we’ve done them all!
Disney on Broadway Concert Series
Do you love Broadway musicals? If so, add the Disney on Broadway Concert Series to your list of Epcot Festival of the Arts activities. Each night during the festival, stars of Broadway take the stage three times a night to perform some of your favorite Disney on Broadway songs.
The concert takes place in the America Gardens Theater in World Showcase. Seating is first come, first served if you have not purchased a dining package for reserved seating.
Seating is limited for this popular event. Arrive early for the best seating options inside the theater. However, if we are running late sometimes we walk up right before a show starts and stand behind the seating area of the theater. Even though we are not inside the theater, we can hear and see the show well because we are the first people behind the roped off area.
We have heard songs from Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aida, Tarzan, and Aladdin. The Broadway performers and live band put on an incredible show.
Meet The Artist at Epcot Festival of the Arts
Fine art booths are scattered all around World Showcase during Epcot Festival of the Arts. Each booth highlights art for sale by a few different artists. The art pieces range from very expensive originals and quality reprintings to items like postcards which are very inexpensive.
Elizabeth was drawn to this cool image of Epcot that when inspected closely has tons of hidden detail in the drawing. After purchasing a postcard version of the image we were able to meet the artist, Gregg Visintainer.
Gregg autographed the postcard and even pointed out some of the extra hidden items we had not discovered in the picture. It was such a unique experience to meet and talk to an artist.
Food As Art At Epcot Festival Of The Arts
Epcot’s Festival of the Arts also celebrates the culinary arts with several special food booths. Find the complete 2020 Epcot Festival of the Arts menus here.
With Elizabeth’s food allergy the food booths at Food and Wine have often proved difficult. We have struggled to get accurate information and many items are unsafe.
Epcot Festival of the Arts is somewhat easier when dealing with food allergies. Staff at the register contact a chef regarding food allergy concerns. Because presentation is so important at these food booths the dishes are assembled on demand. This means sometimes a dish can be modified at the booth if cross-contamination is not a concern.
We’ve tried several items during Epcot Festival of the Arts, but these 3 are our consistent favorites:
The Artist’s Table (Located between The American Adventure and the Japan Pavilion)
- Pan-Seared Scallop with Chorizo, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and a Parmesan Crisp
- Callebaut Belgian Sipping Chocolate: Dark Chocolate with Chambord (this one had alcohol so it was all mine). In 2020 there is a sipping chocolate flight instead of this exact item.
Decadent Delights (Located in Showcase Plaza)
- White Chocolate Figment Puzzle on an Artist Palette
The Figment white chocolate puzzle is a huge hit with Elizabeth since you are encouraged to play with your food! The puzzle comes on a small cardboard palate with frosting “paint” and a paintbrush. She put the puzzle together, painted it, and then gobbled up every bite (except for a teeny-tiny corner I begged to taste).
Final Thoughts On Epcot Festival of the Arts Activities
We love the Epcot Festival of the Arts activities. In fact, we generally do so many Epcot Festival of the Arts activities that we don’t do much else on these visits to Epcot. Watching the Disney on Broadway Concert series, taking artful photos, painting part of the Expression Section Hands-on Wall Mural, meeting artists, and eating beautifully delicious food makes Epcot Festival of the Arts our favorite.
There are even more art inspired activities during the festival like special workshops where you can make your own masterpiece or Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunt where you look for Figment around Epcot. We highly recommend you take a little time to enjoy the 2020 Epcot Festival of the Arts activities at Disney World from January 17 through February 24, 2020.
More Disney World Planning Resources
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