The Epcot festivals are a fan favorite for good reason. Each year four different festivals make an appearance at Epcot:

International Festival of the Arts
International Flower and Garden Festival
International Food and Wine Festival
International Festival of the Holidays

There is usually only a week or two in between festivals, so there’s a good chance one will be going on during your visit.

The first festival of the year is the International Festival of the Arts. This is one of the shortest festivals, running from January 12th- February 19th, but it is our favorite festival of the whole year! This festival celebrates the visual arts, the culinary arts, and the performing arts. There is definitely no shortage of art or fun to be had!

Festival Passport

The first thing you want to do at any Epcot festival is pick up a festival passport. These can be found at both entrances of Epcot next to the park maps. You can also find festival passports at some of the festival food booths.

The festival passport is going to have all the food booth menus and locations, as well as all the information about festival activities. This little passport is your guide to navigate the festival.

2024 Festival of the Arts Festival Passport

Chalk Art

This festival is all about art, so you will see it everywhere. Located on the bridge going into World Showcase, you will find the chalk art section. This area has amazing works of chalk art on display on the ground. You can even catch a Disney artist or two working on their creations.

Chalk Full of Character

Several Disney chalk characters have been added all around World Showcase in their respective countries. Not all of them are easy to find, so this is a fun extra scavenger hunt activity that is completely free to enjoy.

Expression Section

Another popular activity for this festival is the paint by number mural in the expression section. This is open every day from 11:00-5:00pm. You actually get to participate in making art in Epcot. How cool is that?

You’ll pick up paint and a paint brush and be assigned a number. Once you are done painting a few squares with your number, they’ll give you a complimentary bookmark that shows what the mural will look like when finished.

These murals fill up pretty quickly. There are multiple murals that will rotate throughout the festival, so that all guests have a chance to participate. It’s pretty cool to know that you and a bunch of strangers in Epcot made a giant mural together.

Finished Paint By Number Mural in the Expression Section

Artful Photo Ops

Not only can you make art during this festival, but you can actually step right into! There are multiple Artful photo ops throughout the park that let you pop right into classic and Disney art scenes. These walk in frames are located throughout the park. This year Sleeping Beauty, Wish, and Mary Poppins frames were added to the mix. In total, there are seven different artful photo ops to choose from.

Festival Scavenger Hunt

Every festival has some type of scavenger hunt, and for Festival of the Arts it is Figments Brush with the Masters. You can purchase a game board at Creations, Disney Traders, or World Traveler. They cost $9.99 plus tax.

You’ll make your way through each of the countries in World Showcase to look for famous works of art that Figment has taken over. On the back, you’ll find stickers that correspond to the original works of art. When you find Figment, then you’ll take the sticker and place it on the country where you found that piece.

This is actually a bit harder than one would think, but it’s a great activity to keep kids busy while the adults are enjoying some eats and drinks from the festival food booths in World Showcase. Once you are done with the scavenger hunt, you can turn it back in and receive a prize. This year the prize was a paint your own figurine of either Figment, Mickey, or Minnie.

***Note: You do not have to finish the scavenger hunt all in one day, and you don’t have to finish the scavenger hunt entirely to receive the prize.

Festival Scavenger Hunt — Figment’s Brush With the Masters Scavenger Hunt

Disney on Broadway Concert Series

This festival is all about celebrating art, and that includes the performing arts. The Disney on Broadway Concert Series takes over the stage each night in the American Adventure pavilion.

The concert is included as part of your Epcot admission. Different artists will rotate throughout the festival. You can find the complete schedule on Disney’s website. Dining packages are also offered for reserved seating.

Disney on Broadway Concert Series in American Adventure

Art Defying Gravity

At the front of World Showcase, in World Showcase Plaza, you can watching amazing performances of acrobats in Art Defying Gravity. Shows run daily Saturday through Wednesday. Check the My Disney Experience app for showtimes.

Animation Academy

A Disney artist will teach you how to draw a Disney character in Animation Academy. This is very similar to the Animation Experience in Animal Kingdom. This runs daily at 12:30PM and 1:30PM in the American Gardens Theatre.

The Art

The best part of this festival is the art! There are so many artists that come set up booths for this festival. Walking around to look at all their creations is our favorite part of this festival.

Many of the original paintings showcased throughout the festival come in prints and postcards. These are a great budget friendly way to still take home some incredible art without breaking the bank.

Most of the artists will have scheduled meet and greets. During this time, they will sign any prints you have purchased and chat with you briefly. This is a really cool touch to this festival.

Festival Food

The festival food booths for Festival of the Arts are our least favorite of all the Epcot festivals. This year we were pleasantly surprised by our purchases.

Pop Eats

From Pop Eats we got the Tomato Soup with Pimento Cheese, Bacon, and Fried Green Tomato Grilled Cheese. This was so much better than last year! It was packed full of flavor and the soup paired nicely with the grilled cheese. We gave this a 9/10.

Pimento Grilled Cheese — Tomato Soup with Pimento Cheese, Bacon, and Fried Green Tomato Grilled Cheese from Pop Eats

Mexico: El Artista Hambriento

From Mexico’s booth, we picked up the Tostada de Langosta. This is a chilled lobster tostada with guacamole and hot sauce. It wasn’t the worst food we’ve ever had, but it also wasn’t the best. The chilled lobster tasted more like less fishy tuna salad with some guacamole and Taco Bell mild sauce. We gave this a 7/10.

Lobster Tostada from Mexico — Tostada de Langosta from Mexico

Figment’s Inspiration Station

Figment’s Inspiration Station is located in the Odyssey. Figment completely takes over this building during this festival. It is super cute and very brightly colored. It just makes you want to smile as soon as you walk in. This is where you will find this year’s Figment popcorn bucket.

From here we got the Rainbow Cake, which is a returning item from last year’s festival. The rainbow cake wasn’t bad, it just looks more special than it is. It is basically just a white cake with white buttercream frosting. But it’s definitely pretty and instagram worthy. We gave this a 7/10.

We also tried the Rainbow Cider flight. This included 3 Daughters Brewing Black Cherry, Blood Orange, and Passion Fruit Ciders. The Black Cherry cider was the only one we didn’t really care for. It tasted a bit too much like cherry cough syrup, but the other two were absolutely delicious!

Rainbow Cake and Rainbow Cider Flight from Figment’s Inspiration Station

Germany: Pastoral Palate

From Pastoral Palate we got the Black Forrest Cake. This is also a returning favorite from past festivals. This treat is mostly chocolate mousse with a thin layer of chocolate cake on the bottom. This was our favorite thing we ate all day! We gave it a 10/10.

Japan: Goshiki

From Japan, we picked up the Sushi Donut. This is another returning item from last year, and we couldn’t be happier that it made a return. This was delicious as always. We gave it a 9/10, only because there was a bit too much rice.

Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine

At the back of your festival passport, you will find the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine. There are six menu items from various food booths to choose from. You must purchase five of these items to complete the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine. With each qualifying purchase, you will collect a stamp in your passport. Once you have collected five stamps, then you can receive a festival treat at Deco Delights as your prize.

Epcot's Festival of the Arts — Epcot’s 2024 International Festival of the Arts

There are so many fun hands on activities for this festival. It’s not hard to see why this underrated Epcot festival is our favorite of the whole year. Be sure to check out this dazzling festival before it leaves on February 19th.

Epcot’s next festival, the International Flower and Garden Festival, kicks off starting February 28th and will run through May 27th 2024. The festivals are a huge part of Epcot, and we definitely recommend checking one out on your next visit.

Want to know the best way to navigate the Epcot festivals, as well as the other three parks in Walt Disney World? We offer personal concierge planning services so that you can experience the Disney Parks with less stress and more magic. Schedule a free consultation call with us to get started!

Epcot’s International Festival of the Arts 2024