Epcot Food & Wine Festival 91/#100DaysOfDisney

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Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Celebrates 20 Years of Flavors from Around the World

The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is a culinary and entertainment event held each fall in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort. 2015 marks the 20th year of the Food & Wine Festival, and the first time that we will be attending!

Since we have never been to Orlando during the autumn season, we have no clue what it is really like to go to this event, but we’ve done plenty of reading online, and deciding what we would like to try when we are there. We plan on spending 3 days at the festival, and on one of the days, we are going to be seeing Boyz II Men, as part of Eat to the Beat concerts.

I can only but pass on the information I’ve found online about the festival, and of course, once we have been, and tried it out for ourselves, I’ll be able to write about it from our point of view in our next trip report: Halloween In The Wilderness 2015!

Epcot International Food + Wine Festival

20 Fun Facts About Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

  1. The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival runs from September 25th to November 16th, 2015.
  2. Now 53 days long, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival began in 1996 with a first run of 30 days.
  3. At the 2015 festival, a record 30 global marketplaces will include the new Sustainable Chew, Chew Lab and Artistry of Wine & Cheese marketplaces.
  4. The 20th festival will feature 32 new marketplace dishes and 75 new cocktails, beers, wines and ciders.
  1. This year, at marketplaces and premium events, more than 300 domestic and international wines will be offered.
  2. More than 60 wineries and more than 40 breweries from around the world, including local craft beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces.
  3. The 20th Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Cookbook by Pam Brandon and the Disney Chefs features 75 recipes from the global marketplaces that span the entire 20 years of the festival.
  4. The festival will feature 193 premium events ranging from Signature Dinners and Food & Wine Pairings to Beverage Boot Camps and Festival Events in World Showcase pavilions
  5. 250 Guest chefs and Disney chefs will present culinary demonstrations and will cook for festival events.
  6. Celebrity chefs and visiting culinarians from 6 countries and 26 U.S. states will participate in the festival at culinary demos, book signings, and special tasting events and dinners
  7. Nearly 400 culinary demos, beverage and mixology seminars will take place during the 53-day festival.
  8. During the new Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak festival scavenger hunt, guests can help Remy scour the park for the ingredients to make his signature dish, ratatouille. Along the way, they’ll find 12 Remy statuettes hidden in each of 11 countries of the World Showcase and at the African Outpost location. Guests can redeem the 12 stickers they’ve collected for one of 6 special pins at Port of Entry.
  9. 159 Eat to the Beat concerts will be performed; 4 musical acts will appear for the first time at this year’s festival featuring entertainment ranging from rock and soul to funk and blues.

Boyz II Men - Eat To The Beat

  1. The Marketplace Discovery Passport was introduced in 2010 for the 15th annual festival; today, the free passport will feature pages with all 30 festival marketplaces that guests can have stamped during their dine-around-the-world culinary adventure.
  2. More than 1,200 fireworks will explode each night over World Showcase Lagoon in IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth nightime spectacular.

Illuminations Reflections of Earth Fireworks Animated Gif2

  1. The Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog, back for a fourth year, is filled with 900 pounds of the tart red fruit and is accessible to cast members who wear waterproof waders.

Epcot International Food + Wine Festival

  1. 100,000-plus desserts, including the Chocolate Cherry Explosion and Strawberry Basil Champagne “Toast” at Desserts & Champagne Marketplace, are expected to be served.
  2. In 1997, during the festival’s second year, festival planners introduced the first Grand Tasting culinary extravaganza; in 2002, the event was renamed and moved to World Showplace as Party for the Senses, now featuring up to 50 food and beverage stations and breathtaking entertainment by Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba” performers.

Party for the Senses

  1. At the new Artistry of Wine & Cheese, each keg of premium wine on tap will hold the equivalent of 26 wine bottles, eliminating bottle, cork, cardboard and paper waste from labels. Recycling and repurposing of glass bottles and corks from other marketplace locations will be part of the 20th-year festival story.
  2. The countries represented in the global marketplace are: Africa, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hawaii, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Patagonia, Poland, Scotland, South Korea.

Epcot International Food + Wine Festival

Images courtesy of Walt Disney World.

Disney Dining on The Purple Pumpkin Blog


Thanks for reading Day 91 of 100 Days of Disney 2015! 9 to go! Come back tomorrow for another Disney post!

Posts in the 100 Days of Disney Series:
Disney Crafts | Disney Printables | Disney Dining | Disney Vacation Planning | Around Walt Disney World | Disney Resorts | Disney Photography | Disney Theme Parks | Disney Rides + Attractions | Disney Shows + Parades | Disney Fashion | Disney Merchandise | Disney Movies | Disney Songs

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