The Epcot International Festival of the Arts is my favorite of all the Epcot festivals! This year the festival is celebrating its 5th anniversary. From its humble beginnings as a weekend only festival to last year’s wonderful festival with Disney on Broadway performances daily, the Epcot International Festival of the Arts has grown each year…until 2021.
My two favorite things about this festival are the Disney on Broadway performances and the amazing Disney artwork that is for sale. I usually visit the festival multiple times so that I can see different Broadway performers. I also plan a spending budget to pick up some new, small artwork to add to my collection.
Unfortunately, this year there are no Disney on Broadway performances. Instead, in the American Gardens Theater you can take an animation class, hear Mariachi Cobre, or the Voices of Liberty singing the Disney Songbook. While these are all fine, at a time when Broadway has been closed for 9 months, I really would have rather heard Broadway performers performing hits for their shows.
Ron and I visited the festival on Friday, January 15, 2021. We arrived within minutes of park open and crowds were very light. The longest wait we had all day was 16 minutes for Soarin’. Frozen Ever After was posted at 15 minutes but the actual wait was 10 minutes!
After our visit to The Land Pavilion we went to get in line for the Expression Section: A Paint By Number Mural on that day we were finishing a piece by Disney Imagineer Jessica Hillis. We each received our paint and sponge brush and then were assigned an area to paint in. We were told to paint 7 squares, which we did.
Later we wandered around World Showcase enjoying all the artist’s booths as we went. I purchased some of the postcard reproductions of art from Sam Carter, Joey Chou, and Jerrod Maruyama, I have several pieces of his. I also purchased a few pieces for gifts for some of my best Disney friends who aren’t able to make the festival this year.
When we were in World Showplace, I spent a lot of time admiring the work of Dave Avanzino. There are a few of his pieces I want, I just need to save up the money!
We didn’t stick around for the Voices of Liberty concert because it would have been a 2 hour wait. Instead, at 3pm, we park hopped (yay!) to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where we enjoyed our afternoon and evening.
If you are a lover of Disney Art, the Taste of the Epcot International Festival of the Arts is still worth the trip. If you come for the Broadway concerts, I’d say wait til next year. Of course, I am always available to help you book your next Walt Disney World vacation just Email me and we will get started!
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