Who’s ready for spring? For horticulture and festival teams at Walt Disney World Resort, the season of renewal is already here as crews work behind the scenes to prepare for the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival.
This year’s festival runs March 2 to July 4 – a total of 125 days! – and features a plethora of colorful blooms, good tunes, fragrant scents and fresh flavors.
Disney Character topiaries offer a perfect backdrop for springtime photos with family and friends. A new main entrance display will feature Goofy with a birthday cake celebrating the Walt Disney World Resort 50th anniversary.
Horticulture teams are also designing, planting and shaping new topiaries of the Seven Dwarfs to accompany Snow White near the Germany pavilion in World Showcase. And returning this year are Lumiere and Cogsworth topiaries in the France pavilion as well as Pumbaa and Timon topiaries near Imagination!
On the bridge to World Showcase, guests can enjoy the sights and scents of spring at a new fragrant garden presented by Scentsy. Surrounded by vibrant butterfly topiaries, guests will be invited to follow their noses to six scent stations—floral, fruity, citrus, spice, woods and fresh—to form lasting memories with the help of unforgettable aromas.
The Health Full Trail presented by AdventHealth offers a fun way for families to play and learn how to stay healthy, and Outdoor Escapes Presented by OFF!® Repellents lets guests enjoy a moment of relaxation, while learning how easy it is to create an outdoor escape of their own. Bambi’s Butterfly House enchants guests with a kaleidoscope of butterflies showing off their extraordinary beauty and colors.
The Garden Rocks Concert Series returns to the festival this year, featuring internationally recognized artists on the America Gardens Theatre stage Friday through Monday; local bands will rock the house Tuesday through Thursday.
Artists recently added to the lineup include Gospel singer CeCe Winans and Tommy DeCarlo, singer of the band Boston. They’ll join returning favorites such as The Guess Who, Rick Springfield and Kool & The Gang, as well as popular Latin hitmakers Melina León and Claudia Leitte. For Friday through Monday concerts, you can make a reservation for a Garden Rocks Dining Package.
Outdoor activities can work up an appetite, and the festival’s 18 Outdoor Kitchens serve up fresh menus, seasonal produce and refreshing beverages to satisfy everyone’s taste buds. You’ll want to stop at EPCOT Farmers Feast, since its menu options rotate throughout the festival. Other new mouthwatering menu items can be found at The Citrus Blossom, Magnolia Terrace and Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina, among others. Keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog for a festival foodie guide coming in late February!
You can also explore EPCOT with the Garden Graze, a fun food stroll highlighting five delicious sweet and savory offerings listed in the Festival Passport.Complete the graze to receive a special treat!
Finally, you can bring festival memories home with garden-inspired merchandise collections featuring vibrant apparel, drinkware, garden tools and much more. This season, collections will feature Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Orange Bird, Figment and Spike the Bee.
To experience the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, you must have both valid admission and a park reservation for EPCOT on the same date.
Blog by Jeremy Schoolfield, Managing Editor, Walt Disney World Resort Public Relations
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