Epcot adds new arts event to its annual festival line-up

November 21, 2016, 11:56 AM · Ready for another festival at Epcot?

Walt Disney World today announced the addition of yet another festival event at the theme park. The International Festival of the Arts will run on Fridays through Mondays from Jan. 13 through Feb. 20, 2017. This event, included in park admission, will offer visual art displays, musical performances... and the food specials that have become ubiquitous at Epcot's various festivals throughout the year.

The big draw for this one will be the showcase of Broadway talent performing on the American Gardens Stage, in collaboration with Disney Theatrical.

"Over the six weekends of the festival, park guests will enjoy different pairings of phenomenal Broadway talent in concert, performing songs from some of Disney on Broadway's award-winning shows, including The Lion King, Newsies, and Aladdin, to name a few," Disney said in a press release. No word yet on specific performers or performance times, but any chance to see even snippets of Disney's Broadway talent in Orlando should bring out the crowds.

In addition, will offer displays of art by Disney Legends Mary Blair and Herb Ryman, as well as contemporary Disney artists such as Disney artists Costa Alavezos and Joe Kaminski. And Disney will be serving up tastes at the event's Food Studios, though, again, specific menus and locations are not yet available.

If you are curious, here is Epcot's complete festival line-up, starting with the recently completed International Food & Wine Festival. Disney hasn't released the dates for next year's Food & Wine event yet, so we'll start with the 2016 event.

International Food & Wine: Sept. 14 - Nov. 14, 2016
Holidays Around the World: Nov. 27 - Dec. 30, 2016
International Festival of the Arts: Jan. 13 - Feb. 20, 2017 (Fri.-Mon. only)
International Flower & Garden: Mar. 1 - May 29, 2017

That's 210 days of festivals out of the 365 days of the year, from the beginning of last September through August of next year. And there's still time to announce more festivals for 2017!

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Replies (9)

Rob McCullough

November 21, 2016 at 3:43 PM · How about "The Great Epcot Festival of Festivals"? It's a festival that celebrates the great festivals of Epcot! All of them feature specialty booths that sell samples of food and beverages.

Anon Mouse

November 21, 2016 at 4:55 PM · Missing is the summer high season. Unless they want to just leave it off, perhaps they should do a Summer Beach Blast with Hawaiian Days Weekends with all the Aulani and Moana tie-ins to exploit!!!

Robert Niles

November 21, 2016 at 6:29 PM · Ideas for new festivals? How about ripping off one of these:

Holi, Festival of Colors
San Fermin, Running of the Bulls
Sturgis Bike Week
Burning Man
Mardi Gras (whoops, someone else got that one!)

Leonardo Segura

November 21, 2016 at 6:35 PM · Seems like Epcot has more days devoted to its festivals than the regular theme park every year.

AJ Hummel

November 21, 2016 at 7:58 PM · Based on that calendar, it looks like you can either visit pure Epcot in June, July, and August when the park is crowded, or you can visit at another time when a festival makes the park crowded. I'm not against special events at parks, but this is overkill. No wonder Epcot is supposedly going to be getting a major makeover in the not too distant future, as it seems festivals are drawing visitors to a park that otherwise wouldn't attract guests.

Still a fan

November 21, 2016 at 10:34 PM · Way too many festivals. I thought the new Frozen ride and new Soarin' were enough to draw the crowds?

12.11.171.7

November 22, 2016 at 7:27 AM · EPCOT is my favorite park, but it does need an update. I only go to EPCOT during the Food and wine festival. In fact, it's the only time of year I prefer to go to Disney. It makes sense to load up on festivals when the park would otherwise be slow. I usually do a Mon-Fri trip to avoid the peak crowds, and the F&W festival is not busy at all during those days....the only places busy are Test track/Frozen/Soar'n and fantasy land at MK.

Melanie Howe

November 22, 2016 at 11:21 AM · Running of the Bulls and Burning Man! HA!!!!! The thought of either one of those in Epcot just gave me some fascinating mental images of which I'm sure Disney would NOT approve. Thanks for the laugh, Robert!

Anthony Murphy

November 24, 2016 at 12:25 PM · The festivals are to get the locals to go into the parks. I am guessing the Food and Wine Festival booths are too permanent and too popular to take down.

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Epcot adds new arts event to its annual festival line-up

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