WDW Daily News

Sixteen music acts of multiple genres with hits spanning the past five decades will play the Garden Rocks Concert Series at the 24th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. Running 90 days and kicking off March 1, this year’s festival launches the concert series March 3 to showcase performers every Friday through Monday until Memorial Day, May 29. It’s the first year the Garden Rocks acts will appear every festival Monday.

Simple Plan, Exposé and Berlin featuring Terri Nunn will rock Epcot audiences for the first time. Jon Secada, who first played the Garden Rocks stage in 2015, will kick off the concert series March 3.

Guests can dance in their seats each festival weekend to classic tunes at the park’s outdoor America Gardens Theatre overlooking the World Showcase Lagoon. An eclectic mix of Flower & Garden Festival fan favorites includes 1960s icons Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone, ’70s-’80s chart-toppers The Pointer Sisters and ’90s hit-makers Gin Blossoms. On Memorial Day, The Spinners will close the 90-day festival with their R&B repertoire of Billboard top hits.

Performances are at America Gardens Theatre at 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m. every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival and are included with Epcot admission. Here is this year’s lineup (subject to change without notice):

March 3-4                   Jon Secada “Just Another Day”

March 5-6                   Dennis DeYoung: The Music of STYX “Grand Illusion”

March 10-13               The Pointer Sisters “I’m So Excited”

March 17-18               Simple Plan (NEW!) “Welcome to My Life”

March 19-20               Plain White T’s (NEW to Garden Rocks series)“Hey There Delilah”

March 24-27               Night Ranger “Sister Christian”

March 31-April 3       Little River Band “Reminiscing”

April 7-10                   Blood, Sweat & Tears featuring Bo Bice “Spinning Wheel”

April 14-17                 Gin Blossoms “Hey Jealousy”

April 21-24                 The Orchestra starring former members of ELO “Evil Woman”

April 28-29                 Exposé (NEW!) “Point of No Return”

April 30-May 1          Berlin featuring Terri Nunn (NEW!) “Take My Breath Away”

May 5-8                      STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas “We Built This City”

May 12-15                  The Guess Who “American Woman”

May 19-22                  Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone “I’m Henry VIII I Am”

May 26-29                  The Spinners “Working My Way Back to You”

From farm-to-table cuisines to unforgettable Character topiaries, Epcot® International Flower & Garden Festival at Walt Disney World® Resort combines the freshest flowers and flavors from around the world. And, there’s still time for guests to come see all that’s blooming this spring! Check out this video for a closer look!

B-Roll included:

• Scenic shot with monorail
• Front entrance topiaries – featuring Mickey Mouse & Pluto
• Belle & Beast topiaries in the France Pavilion
• Figment topiary in Future World
• Scenic shots – styled flowerbeds
• Road to Florida 500 play garden, Cruz Ramirez and Lightning McQueen topiaries – based on the upcoming Disney•Pixar Cars 3
• Three Caballeros topiaries in the Mexico Pavilion
• Anna & Elsa topiaries in the Norway Pavilion
• Plant dragon in the China Pavilion
• Snow White topiary in the Germany Pavilion
• Buzz Lightyear topiary in front of Mission Space
• Butterflies On The Go garden
• Music Garden Melodies play garden
• Outdoor Kitchens throughout World Showcase
• Flowers, Bonsais and Vertical Gardens
• Festival Center – gardening workshops & festival-themed merchandise

Disney guests can enjoy 90 days of fresh festival fun during the 24^th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 1-May 29, 2017. Thirty million multi-hued blooms, 100-plus whimsical topiaries, nearly 1,000 native butterflies and dozens of new Outdoor Kitchen food and beverage tastes add multi-sensory festival fun to the “Fresh Epcot”-themed Walt Disney World Resort event.

Among this year’s fun festival facts:

• 30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 90 colorful days and requires two complete crop rotations to keep floral displays fresh and seasonal.

• 15 Outdoor Kitchens (2 more than last year) include the new Northern Bloom and The Berry Basket kitchens and gardens. Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market returns at the Germany pavilion and La Isla Fresca returns for a second year. Dozens of new sweet and savory food and beverage menu items add tasting fun and variety to the festival. Each marketplace will feature a garden planted with select produce and herbs to represent more than 70 overall beverage choices and more than 40 food items featured.

• The festival’s front-entrance Welcome Spring Fun, Food & Flowers topiary maypole scene celebrating a rite of spring with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy and Pluto  is inspired by a vintage Walt Disney short film. More than 30 varieties of flowers, plants, and other garden materials are used to create the scene.

• A brand-new 5-foot-tall Figment topiary of the feisty dragon mascot of the Imagination! Pavilion greets guests from atop a bright yellow floral ball of Joseph’s Coat, brightening the landscape behind Spaceship Earth with purple petal power. A brand-new, next-generation Belle topiary with sculpted facial features will join Beast in France – her yellow ball gown is crafted using Joseph’s Coat and Creeping Jenny plants.
•  Music Garden Melodies with musical note topiaries, a themed playground for children complete with innovative play systems featuring interactive musical gadgets, is one of the largest festival gardens created at nearly one-third acre. The garden includes a collection of plants with features that resemble musical instruments as part of the ambiance.
•  Anna and Elsa in cool floral splendor grace a wintry topiary vignette straight from the hit Disney film, “Frozen” and the Norway pavilion attraction Frozen Ever After. In the scene that’s wired to sparkle by night, Elsa works her magic to conjure a snowy garden filled with flowers of lavendar, white and silver. More than a dozen varieties of flowers evoke the scene and include white Dianthus, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Dichondra Silver Falls, lavender Pentas, blue Delphinium and white Cleome, Pentas, Alyssum and Nicotiana. Anna and Elsa topiaries are each about 6-1/2 feet tall and are created with plants that include variegated Ficus, green Ficus and the succulent Sedum Coral Reef. But Elsa will look taller because she’s standing closer to guests than Anna by about 8 feet.
• At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define facial and other features of festival character topiaries. The topiary team uses about 200 one-pound boxes of hairpins to attach plants and flowers to the topiaries.
•  Nearly 1,000 native butterflies represent up to 10 species at the expansive Butterflies on the Go butterfly house presented by GoGo squeeZ. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are passion flower, coral honeysuckle, lantana, butterfly bush, blue porterweed, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.
•  240 extra playground hours add extra festival magic for children and their families with the illuminated garden playgrounds staying open through park closing.
•  More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.
•  Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.
•  78 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented
•  More than forty 8-to-9-foot tall, multi-hued “flower towers” make colorful statements across the festival landscape.
•  More than 200 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued New Guinea impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.
• Nearly 500 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.
•  400 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.
• It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.
•  The festival’s weekend Garden Rocks Concert Series includes 16 bands known for their Top 40 hits across five decades. This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s through 2000s include new-to-the-festival acts Simple Plan, Exposé, Berlin featuring Terri Nunn and Plain White T’s.

“Re-Discovering America: Family Treasures from the Kinsey Collection” brings to Epcot important African heritage from the collection of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, featuring 40 pieces of art, documents, books and artifacts spanning more than 400 years of African-American achievement and contribution. Touchscreens and guest-activated lanterns with narration by Whoopi Goldberg, Diane Sawyer and other celebrities help bring the history to life at the exhibit, located in the American Adventure Pavilion. Entrance to the exhibit is included in Epcot admission. Epcot is located at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

B-Roll included:

• Shots of the monorail passing by Spaceship Earth
• Front entrance topiary
• New Huey, Dewey and Louie topiaries
• New Ranger Mickey topiary Chip ‘n’ Dale topiaries
• Minnie Mouse and Pluto topiaries
• New Music Garden Melodies play garden
• Butterfly Garden Outdoor Kitchens and guests enjoying food & beverages
• Close up food & beverage shots

The Epcot® International Flower & Garden Festival begins today at Walt Disney World® Resort. And, in celebration, we wanted to share some great news …

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts will return to Epcot in early 2018!

Celebrating 24 years when it kicks off March 1, 2017, the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will jump-start spring with blooms aplenty and gardens of edibles including toothsome morsels from the new Northern Bloom and The Berry Basket Outdoor Kitchens. A new, next-generation Belle topiary from “Beauty and the Beast” will debut in France, and a redesigned “Cars” play garden will introduce a colorful new character topiary sure to capture children’s imaginations.

The 90-day festival, open March 1-May 29, will feature an irresistible array of new gardens and character topiaries, popular entertainers and tasty food and drink offerings:

• Fresh, farm-market food and beverage flavors will debut at the new Northern Bloom and The Berry Basket Outdoor Kitchens that will join 13 returning Outdoor Kitchens. Delectable chef-inspired bites from Northern Bloom include Seared Scallops with French Green Beans and Butter Potatoes with brown-butter vinaigrette and Applewood smoked bacon. A Maple Popcorn Shake for sipping can become an adult libation with the addition of some Crown Royal Maple Whiskey. At The Berry Basket, the Lamb Chop with Quinoa Salad and Blackberry Gastrique can pair with the new Founders Raubeaus Pure Raspberry Ale.

• The new generation of princess topiaries (Snow White, Anna and Elsa – the first to be designed and created with topiary facial features) will welcome a brand-new Belle topiary as fans remember her from the Oscar-winning Disney film, “Beauty and the Beast.” Located outside the France Pavilion with the Beast topiary, Belle will come to life with sculpted facial features and her yellow ball gown created with golden blooming Joseph’s Coat and Creeping Jenny plants.

• Another festival first will be a 6-foot-tall topiary of Figment, the feisty dragon mascot of the park’s Imagination! Pavilion, perched atop a 5-foot-diameter ball fashioned from yellow Joseph’s Coat.

• This year’s Epcot front-entrance topiary garden, “Welcome Spring Fun, Food and Flowers,” inspired by a vintage Walt Disney short film will spring to life with a floral-festooned maypole featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy and Pluto.

• The popular Garden Rocks concert series will expand to four days each week, with three concerts each Friday through Monday presenting pop musicians that span multiple genres over five decades. New acts this year: Simple Plan, Exposé and Berlin featuring Terri Nunn. Festival favorite Jon Secada kicks off the series March 3 and 4, and Dennis DeYoung featuring the music of STYX wraps the long weekend March 5-6.

• New Garden Rocks Dining Packages will be available on select days at several Epcot restaurants. Guests can book packages at 407-WDW-DINE.

• Redesigned interactive play gardens will include the new “Cars”-themed Road to Florida 500 garden introducing the new “Cruz” character topiary from the June 2017 release of Disney•Pixar’s “Cars 3.” Music Garden Melodies play area will return with a new garden design, musical note topiary elements and climbing nets.

• During the first festival week, the Festival Center will open Wednesday, March 1 and each day through Sunday, March 5 with an entertaining mix of gardening seminars and DIY workshops. Throughout the rest of the festival, the center will be open each Friday through Sunday.

One of the popular Outdoor Kitchen gardens, Urban Farm Eats, will return with savory bites, sweet treats and ideas for planting produce that can inspire growing numbers of guests who want to learn to grow their own edibles.

“A lot of people, including young children, are serious foodies now, and they have lots of questions about gardening,” says Eric Darden, festival horticulture manager. “We’re getting more and more people in their 20s and 30s asking, ‘How can I grow this?’ I think we’ll be creating more gardeners because people can see what’s possible.”

The 2017 festival forecast will be sunny with colorful floral bursts by day and a nighttime landscape aglow with twinkling lights:

• Topiaries of Donald Duck and nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie will share Future World space in front of Spaceship Earth with Chip and Dale for a “Fresh Epcot” selfie and family photo opportunity.
• Anna and Elsa topiaries will return to the Norway Pavilion festival landscape in celebration of the park’s new Frozen Ever After Nearly 100 festival topiaries in all will include up to 70 character creations such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lady and the Tramp, Simba, Timon and Tinker Bell.

• Guests can plan on special appearances related to Earth Day and other spring activities including: March 31-April 2 and April 28-30: Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment and Conservation Specialists from Disney’s Animal Kingdom; April 22-24: Celebrate Earth Day with featured personalities and activities; May 5-7: Discover the Bounty of Florida Agriculture by learning from Sunshine State specialists; May 12-14: Florida Federation of Garden Clubs presents floral designs that defy description.

• The Butterflies on the Go garden will return with the story of the Monarch’s epic journey across the continent and featuring butterflies emerging from their chrysalises.

• On the way to the new Soarin’ Around the World attraction in The Land Pavilion, guests can discover gardens featuring edible flowers, plants that benefit health and healing, and a pollinator paradise.

Dozens of Disney-crafted “flower towers” and beds of multi-colored blooms will transform the park’s landscape.  At least 70,000 bedding plants will surround the Future World east and west lakes alone; on the water, 220 mini-gardens will be set afloat.

The festival, including all gardening programs, exhibits, concerts, complimentary English Tea Garden tours and special appearances, is included in regular Epcot admission.

For more information about the 24^th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, call 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or visit www.epcotinspring.com.

Epcot

Epcot celebrates 24 years of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival this spring, kicking off March 1 and running through May 29. Guests can sip and savor their way around Epcot enjoying new Outdoor Kitchens while taking in the sights of phenomenal topiaries designed after Disney characters.

Anna and Elsa topiaries will enchant the landscape at the Norway Pavilion in celebration of the new Frozen Ever After attraction, while colorful gardens will line the path to The Land Pavilion where guests can discover Soarin’ Around the World. The favorite attraction now takes guests to new heights with scenes from Sydney, Australia, the Great Wall of China and other destinations around the globe.

Check out these photos of Kawaii – Japan’s Cute Culture in Japan Pavilion at Epcot.

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