The annual Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT is the most well-known festival, but is it the best? For many guests, the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts takes the top spot. This art festival at EPCOT has the most creative and visually stunning food. Each year the menu outdoes the previous year.
Besides the amazing food and drink at Epcot, there is breathtaking art. This must-visit event grants you the chance to meet some of the artists themselves while enjoying live entertainment and some of the best photo opportunities at Disney World.
The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts runs from January 13 – February 20, 2023. While it is a shorter festival, it takes place during one of the best times of the year to visit Walt Disney World. Let's take a closer look at this masterpiece.
Top Food Picks for Adults at The EPCOT Festival Of The Arts
You and your muse will have the most fun at the Epcot Festival of the Arts if you're willing to explore unique tastes. The food at the 2022 art festival at Epcot is some of the most creative we've seen in the festival's five-year history.
Here are our top food picks for adults at the festival of the arts (starting near the Canada Pavilion and working your way around to Mexico Pavilion):
- Angry Crab: Whole crispy soft-shell crab with green papaya salad, mango-sriracha fluid gel, and coconut-lime foam with pomegranate and mango crush pearls – Moderne (Near Test Track) – NEW IN 2023
- The Tropics: Lilikoi mousse, guava cake, coconut crémeux, compressed pineapple, and mango gel – Moderne (Near Test Track) – NEW IN 2023
- Decadent Valrhona Chocolate with dark chocolate mousse, chocolate brownie, and cassis mousse – Deco Delights (Near Port of Entry)
- Deconstructed BLT: Crispy pork belly, soft-poached egg, brioche, watercress espuma, and tomato jam – The Deconstructed Dish (Near Port of Entry)
- Tomato Soup with pimento cheese, bacon, and fried green tomato grilled cheese – Pop Eats (Near Port of Entry – new dish for 2023)
- Roasted Bone Marrow with onion marmalade, pickled mushrooms, mache lettuce, and bone marrow snow – Gourmet Landscapes (Canada Pavilion)
- Sushi Donut: Donut-shaped sushi featuring salmon, tuna, shrimp, cucumber, and sesame seed over a decorated plate of wasabi aïoli, sriracha, and eel sauce – Goshiki (Japan Pavilion)
- Duck and Dumplings: Smoked duck breast, ricotta dumplings, petite vegetables, and duck jus – The Artist’s Table (The American Adventure)
- Hummingbird Cake: Banana cake with pineapple, coconut, pecans, and cream cheese frosting with banana sorbet – The Artist’s Table (The American Adventure)
- Wild Boar Cassoulet with duck confit, ham hock, and wild boar sausage – Pastoral Palate (Germany Pavilion)
- Black Forest Cake: Chocolate Mousse with morello cherries and Chantilly cream – Pastoral Palate (Germany Pavilion)
- Guajillo chile and corn masa huarache with pinto beans, oyster mushrooms, nopales, queso fresco, and pea tendrils – Huarache de Champiñone (Mexico Pavilion – new dish for 2023)
Flan de Coco: Coconut flan, guava sauce, and whipped cream (Gluten/Wheat Friendly Item) – Huarache de Champiñone (Mexico Pavilion – new dish for 2023)
During our Disney date at Epcot's art festival, my husband and I agreed that the Deconstructed Dish booth is the best. We tried every food item, plus the non-alcoholic Apple Pie a la Mode drink (which comes in a reusable cup), and loved every bite. The Deconstructed BLT and Deconstructed French Onion Soup (a large ravioli with broth inside) are returning favorites.
This booth is located near the entrance to World Showcase, known as Showcase Plaza, so it's a great booth to kick off your festival experience.
The Decadent Valrhona Chocolate from Deco Delights is a delicious chocolate dessert that feels perfect for Valentine's Day. Deco Delights is also near World Showcase Plaza. All of the desserts at this booth are great, so no matter which one you choose, you're sure to enjoy.
This is a good booth to save for last so you can end with a sweet treat.
Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine
Did you know you can participate in an official art festival food crawl at Epcot? This special experience is called the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine. Just pick up a Festival Passport and look for the food items that are part of the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine.
Each one represents a color of the rainbow. After you collect all five stamps, you can pick up your prize — an Artist Palette Cookie, available at Deco Delights.
Here are this year's food items:
- Pop’t Art: Sugar Cookie with blueberry filling – Figment’s Inspiration Station at the Odyssey: Art, Food, and Little Sparks of Magic (Odyssey Building NEW for 2023)
- Almond Frangipane Cake layered with raspberry jam and Belgian chocolate – Pop Eats (Near Port of Entry)
- Deconstructed Key Lime Pie: Flexible Key lime curd, “Key lime” mousse, graham cracker cake, and meringues (represents green) – The Deconstructed Dish (Near Port of Entry)
- Orange Mousse with Lemon Cake and Raspberry Meringues – Deco Delights (Near Port of Entry)
- Blood Orange-braised Beet Carpaccio with mustard vinaigrette, pickled clamshell mushrooms, golden beets, and crostini (represents red / plant-based) – Gourmet Landscapes (Canada Pavilion)
- House-made Chorizo and Potato Empanada with turmeric aïoli and annatto aïoli (represents yellow) – Vibrante & Vívido: Encanto Cocina (Between Morocco & France Pavilions)
- Pan-seared Scallops with vanilla-butternut squash purée, brown butter cauliflower purée, and lime foam (represents orange) – The Artist’s Table (American Adventure)
Best Drinks
There's no doubt that drinking around the world at EPCOT is a favorite pastime among Disney adults. The drinks at EPCOT's Festival of the Arts warrant appreciation over mass consumption. Raise a glass and enjoy the festival, and give these creative cocktails their due.
Here are some highlights:
- Cold Fashion Coffee Cocktail – The Craftsman’s Courtyard (Near Creations Shop)
- Watermelon Mary featuring Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka – Moderne (Near Test Track) – NEW IN 2023
- Rainbow Beer Flight from Figment’s Inspiration Station at the Odyssey: Art, Food, and Little Sparks of Magic (Odyssey Building NEW for 2023)
- Bombon Margarita “Marshmallow”: Ilegal Mezcal Reposado, marshmallow cordial, lime juice, agave nectar and a hint of coffee and elderflower served with a toasted marshmallow – Huarache de Champiñone (Mexico Pavilion – new drink for 2023)
- Neapolitan Beer Flight with Strawberry Blonde Nitro, Vanilla Porter, Milk Stout – Deco Delights (Near Port of Entry)
- Frozen French Martini: Grey Goose Vodka, vodka, chambord liqueur, pineapple, orange, and grape juices with lemon-lime foam – L’Art de la Cuisine Francaise (France Pavilion)
- Sea Butterfly: Butterfly pea flower-infused cocktail with vodka, light rum, lychee syrup, magic boba pearls – The Painted Panda (China Pavilion)
- Sipping Chocolate Flight: White, milk, and dark chocolate (available with and without alcohol) – The Artist’s Table (American Adventure)
Don't miss this cute keepsake: At the Japan Pavilion's booth, you can enjoy Sake in a traditional personalized wooden cup. When you order you'll provide your name to the Cast Member who will write your name on the traditional wooden cup in Japanese. This wooden cup is called a masu and it is a traditional vessel for drinking sake tracing back hundreds of years.
The wooden masu cup is said to complement traditionally brewed sake since it's brewed in wooden casks. Hold the cup at a diagonal, with the corner facing you, this will make it easier to drink.
Activities for Adults at EPCOT's Festival of the Arts
There's no doubt that food and drinks are the highlights of a Disney date at Epcot's Festival of the Arts. And yet, you'd miss out on a lot if you two don't have some fun together with these great activities.
The Epcot Art Festival highlights the visual arts, the culinary arts, and the performing arts. Each festival offering highlights one of these areas.
Don't miss out on these best activities for adults:
- Stop by the paint by numbers mural as soon as you arrive so you both can add your own artistic touch a Disney mural
- Get your camera ready, there are multiple photo opportunities, many that allow you to step inside a work of art
- Speaking of art, take time to browse the artist tents and be prepared to fall in love with a piece or two. My husband and I have ended up buying a piece of art at each annual art festival.
- You can also chat with the artists. Each day of the Epcot Art Festival different artists are available at certain tents for meet and greets, and to sign any work of theirs you may have purchased.
- Each World Showcase pavilion has at least one Disney or Pixar character “painted” on a building. These are actually details, but they really do look like paintings. See how many you can spot, make it into a game to play together.
- Don't miss the live music on the Showcase Plaza stage, it's a great way to kick off the festival before you head into World Showcase.
DISNEY ON BROADWAY Concert Series
Each festival at Epcot offers live entertainment. The Festival of the Arts has live entertainment in multiple places, but the main event is at the American Gardens theater. Here you can witness singers straight from Broadway sing powerful versions of Disney hits. Any Disney fan is going to love this DISNEY ON BROADWAY Concert Series.
Starting at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM and 8:00 PM
There is a dining package available in which you purchase a meal at a participating Epcot restaurant and then enjoy reserved seating for the performance. To me, this package is not worth it, considering the show does not have many visual elements and doesn't tend to fill up.
You'll need to be in the American Gardens Theater at least 15 minutes before showtime to at least get a seat.
Here is the schedule of Disney on Broadway performers:
Kara Lindsay (Newsies) and Kevin Massey (Tarzan)
- January 13
- January 15 through 16
- January 19 through 20
Arielle Jacobs (Aladdin) and Adam Jacobs (Aladdin)
- January 14
- January 17 through 18
- January 21 through 22
Patti Murin (Frozen) and Robert Creighton (The Little Mermaid)
- January 23
- January 25 through 26
- January 29 through 30
- February 2 through 3
Mandy Gonzalez (Aida) and L. Steven Taylor (The Lion King)
- January 24
- January 27 through 28
- January 31 through February 1
- February 4 through 5
Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) and Michael James Scott (Aladdin)
- February 6
- February 8 through 9
- February 12 through 13
- February 16 through 17
Kissy Simmons (The Lion King) and Josh Strickland (Tarzan)
- February 7
- February 10 through 11
- February 14 through 15
- February 18 through 19
Plus, on February 20, 2023, give a standing ovation for an extended finale featuring Ashley Brown, Josh Strickland, Kissy Simmons and Michael James Scott!
Know Before You Go…
- Park reservations are required
- EPCOT's hours are typically 10am – 9pm during the Festival of the Arts
- Arrive 15 minutes early for any entertainment and activities
- Weekends are especially busy and crowds build as the day goes on
- Figment’s Inspiration Station at the Odyssey is very busy thanks to the popular popcorn bucket featuring Figment
- Make a getaway of it and stay at one of the most romantic Disney hotels
All images by Dani Meyering