EPCOT International Festival of the Arts Guide 2023

The Epcot Festival of the Arts is one of Epcot’s newer festivals at Walt Disney World and the best reason to head somewhere sunny during the winter months. If you’re ready to embrace this new wintertime Florida festival filled with artsy shows, art, and pretty food here’s our experience and what you can expect!

When is the Festival of the Arts at Walt Disney World?

The Walt Disney World Festival of the Arts happens every year at EPCOT between mid-January to late February. We love this festival simply because Florida weather is mild in the winter and we can really just stroll around the less crowded parks this time of year. This year the Epcot International Festival of the Arts at Epcot is January 13  – February 20, 2023, bringing with it new fun, foods, and amazing art featured in the World Showcase. 

What is the Best Time to Visit the Epcot Festival of the Arts?

As with all Epcot festivals you need to avoid weekends. This is key! The festival features arts of all kinds. Visual arts with art booths, very similar to what you would see at a traditional art fair. Performing arts feature the vocal stylings of many different artists as well as Broadway talent featured at America Garden Theater Stage. And then for the Foodie, you can experience very pretty food with the Culinary Arts. Yum.

What is there to do at the Disney Festival of the Arts?

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts features performance, culinary, and visual arts. From Broadway performances to Fine for your Disney home, there is a ton to experience at this festival. 

Festival of the Arts Budget

Does the Festival of the Arts Cost Extra?

We’re happy to tell you that all Epcot festivals are included in the price of your Disney Park Ticket for Epcot. So, no, the Festival of the Arts does not cost extra. 

What’s the Best Way to Budget Food at the Festival of the Arts?

Much like the Food and Wine Festival and Flower and Garden, the best way to budget your Disney spending is with a Disney gift card. Mainly because you decide the set amount and go from there. We do recommend against connecting your credit card to your MagicBand for these festivals if you can help it. 10 little dishes per person at 8 bucks each can add up fast. So determining how much each person gets ahead of time will help your Disney Budget. 

Festival of the Arts Checklist

This winter festival at Walt Disney World has SO MUCH to offer! This Epcot Festival of the Arts Guide includes a breakdown of all the main parts of the festival. If you’re looking for a quick list check out our Top 5 Things to Do at the Festival of the Arts story. Here’s the full lineup of what you can find. 

• Artists and Galleries can be found throughout World Showcase
• Outdoor Food Studios in World Showcase Open 11 am- 9 pm
  • Check out the Festival of the Arts Menus to plan your foodie journey
• The Broadway Concert Series in the America Gardens Theatre Shows at 530, 645, and 8 pm
• Complimentary Seminars & Workshops in the Odyssey Center and the World Showplace.
• The Figment Brush with the Master’s Scavenger Hunt Game
• Joffrey’s Coffee Carts across the park at EPCOT have Festival of the Arts-specific treats!
  • Make your own Joffrey’s Coffee Disney Copycat Recipes at home this year!
• Special Event Merchandise
• Unique Photo Ops throughout the World Showcase. Photo Ops are always open. Photo Pass begins at 11 am
• Hidden Art Work known as Pixie Paintings with one character painted on a building in each country
• Acrobatic and Physical Art Performances: at the main stage on the Midway
• Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine highlighting 5 dishes across the event, once collected wins you a freebie treat. 

International Arts Festival at Epcot | The Visual Arts

The visual arts include art prints and original works. You can see chalk art on the sidewalk to art demos set to music(our favorite!). Everything is scattered throughout the World Showcase, so no matter where you turn there will be something artsy waiting. Prints and original works of art from artists around the world are available for purchase.

You can also meet some of the artists that are present and even have something signed. Now is the time to get that gallery wall piece you’ve been eyeing! This is a very experiential portion of the Festival. We enjoyed just browsing through the art tents and admiring the beautiful work of these talented artists!

Our favorite part of the Visual Arts parts of the festival is an interactive mural that Disney has set up as a paint by number. Just see the cast member at the front of the mural for your paintbrush and paint! The mural painting is only open to painters for part of the day. While we’re not sure this will be available every year, it was super fun to interact with the art.

Interactive Art Experiences

• Animation Academy: Head over to America Gardens Theatre and learn how to draw a Disney character from an animation artist. Shows begin daily at 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM.
• Chalk Full of Character: Travel around World Showcase to find charming chalk drawings of Disney characters, like Abu and Jiminy Cricket. How many can you find?
• Expression Section: A Paint by Number Mural: Leave your creative mark on a larger-than-life wall mural! Where: World Nature. When: Daily 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

International Arts Festival at Epcot | Performing Arts

The performing arts are covered with acrobatic artists at the fountain stage. And featured Broadway stars are found at the America Garden Theater Stage in the America pavilion. You can see different Broadway talent each weekend of the festival.

The Broadway Concert Series

This concert series gets you up close and personal with New York City’s brightest stars on Broadway. Show in the America Gardens Theatre Shows at 530, 645, and 8 pm. There’s also a stage set up between the entrance of the World Showcase and Future World where you can listen to the vocal talents of different groups from orchestra to Acappella. This seemed like a great place to take a break and always seemed to have somewhat of a crowd. And even better, we were able to catch a pretty cool performance by an artist who painted to music! Super fun and really awesome to watch.

International Arts Festival at Epcot | Culinary Arts

As with all Disney Epcot festivals, there are food booths set up throughout the World Showcase. But, in this Epcot Festival of the Arts Guide, the food is not the main event. The Art is. As the kitchens are not the centerpiece of the festival there are not nearly as many foods as you would expect to find at the Food and Wine Festival. However, we found a pretty wide variety of foods, all of which were works of art themselves. 

Outdoor Food Studios in World Showcase Open 11 am- 9 pm

Check out the Festival of the Arts Menus for details on which culinary masterpieces you can find in each food studio across EPCOT.

Can I use the Disney Snack Credits at the Festival of the Arts?

 If you’re using the Disney Dining Plan this is a great use of a snack credit as we saw some food items priced as high as $8.50. Just look for the DDP snack credit notation. We love stockpiling our snack credits for Festival days at EPCOT. And it’s a great way to save some money. 

Figment Paint with the Masters’ Scavenger Hunt

Similar to Remy’s Hide and Squeak during the Food and Wine Festival, the International Festival of the Arts has a scavenger hunt. The Arts Festival scavenger hunt is Figment’s Brush with the Masters. It will cost you to buy the map and at the end of your hunt, you will receive a Figment magnet for your hard work.

Basically, you will travel around the world showcase and in each country find a painting with Figment. We enjoyed this game, however, it was a little more difficult to get started than the Remy game. Figment is hidden really well, just about everywhere. I’ll give you a hint though- they’re inside the buildings, not outside. And you can sometimes find Figment near the Kidcot stops. However, this wasn’t true 100% of the time. Another tip to remember is that these are large Figment paintings, so if you don’t see it, it’s not there. Read our guide on visiting the Festival of the Arts with Kids.

International Arts Festival at Epcot Photo Ops

In addition to the artwork throughout the World Showcase, there were several Photo ops where you can become part of the art! Oversized framed artwork serves as a backdrop for the photo and Photo Pass photographers are situated with each piece for ease of photo taking. An essential part of any Epcot Festival of the Arts Guide, we think this fun interactive photography is a must-do! Photo Pass begins at 11 am. Check out the EPCOT Festival of the Arts Photo Ops.

Joffrey’s Festival of the Arts Coffee Selections

Joffrey’s Coffee Carts across the park at EPCOT have Festival of the Arts specific treats! So be sure to stop by and check out all the new flavors popping up at the four coffee carts located in EPCOT park. Or make your own Joffrey’s Coffee Disney Copycat Recipes at home this year!

Find the Hidden Artwork

Hidden Art Work known as Pixie Paintings with one character painted on a building in each country. See if you can spot them all. 

Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine

Take the challenge! The Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine highlights 5 dishes across the event, that you can try and get a stamp on your game card. Once all 5 are collected you win a freebie treat. 

Epcot Festival of the Arts Review

Overall we really loved the International Festival of the Arts and think it’s a great addition to Epcot’s lineup of festivals. With great food, a great vibe, and lots of beautiful and fun artwork to peruse, we think this is a great event for art and Disney lovers alike! You find more about Epcot Festival of the Arts Menus, Tips, and Merchandise on our Festival of the Arts page.