62 Days of Fun at Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival by the Numbers
The longer-than-ever party will feature global and specialty cuisine, refreshing new beverages and three live concerts nightly.
The 62-day festival at Disney’s Epcot theme park will showcase 30 global marketplaces including four new Future World marketplaces featuring fresh culinary concepts to pair with select wines, beers, cocktails and other beverages. ABC’s Emmy Award-winning lifestyle series, “The Chew,” will broadcast from the festival for the second year and will participate in one of the new Future World festival marketplaces, The Chew Collective. The festival is believed to be the largest food and wine event of its kind in the world.
62 Days of Delicious Fun To Celebrate
Here are some fun facts about the festival celebration:
Now 62 days long, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival began in 1996 with a first run of 30 days
30 global marketplaces will include new offerings like The Chew Collective in Future World’s Next Eats festival area and Islands of the Caribbean along the World Showcase Promenade
Producers of ABC’s “The Chew” will tape 5 episodes of the show before 5 festival guest audiences numbering in the hundreds for each show
The 21st festival will feature 32 new marketplace dishes and 49 (as of right now) new cocktails, beers, wines and ciders
In 1998, 200 domestic and international wines were poured at the festival. This year, at marketplaces and premium events, more than 300 domestic and international wines will be offered
More than 50 wineries and more than 35 breweries from around the world, including local craft beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
3 Rockin’ Burger Block Parties and 6 Party for the Senses grand tastings will take place at World Showplace during the festival run. In all, the festival will feature 204 premium events ranging from Signature Dinners and Food & Wine Pairings to Beverage Boot Camps and Festival Events in World Showcase pavilions
Guest chefs and Disney chefs numbering 250 will present culinary demonstrations and will cook for festival events
Celebrity chefs and visiting culinarians from 10 countries and 26 U.S. states will participate in the festival at culinary demos, book signings, and special tasting events and dinners.
Nearly 400 culinary demos, beverage and interactive seminars will take place during the 62-day festival
During 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 Select merchandise locations
More than 375 hours of scheduled seminars will take place at the Festival Center for the 62 days of the festival. These include culinary demos and beverage seminars, the new Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It! interactive events, plus more
186 Eat to the Beat concerts will be performed; 8 musical acts will appear for the first time at this year’s festival featuring entertainment ranging from rock and soul to funk and blues
More than 1,200 fireworks will explode each night over World Showcase Lagoon in IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth nightime spectacular
Chase is the festival’s presenting sponsor for the 5th year; its Chase Lounge at the American Adventure Pavilion is open exclusively to Chase cardholders and offers an inviting place to relax and recharge
More than 225,000,000 festival dishes were served during last year’s 53-day festival
100,000-plus desserts, including the Hard Soda Floats at Desserts & Champagne Marketplace, are expected to be served
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, in 2016, new and different themed entertainment for each event.
