WDW Daily News

Walt Disney World Resort guests are looking forward to 75 days of delicious fun during the 23^rd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, Aug. 30-Nov. 12, 2018. This year’s event will feature more than 30 global dine-around marketplaces circling the World Showcase Lagoon and stretching into Future World. Guests will discover delicious ethnic and specialty cuisine, refreshing new beverages, a diverse entertainment lineup and plenty of family fun.

The 75-day celebration features fresh culinary concepts and exciting wines, beers, cocktails and other beverage selections. The festival is one of the largest food and wine events in the world.

Fun facts about this year’s event:

• Now 75 days long, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival began in 1996 with an initial run of 30 days.
• There are more than 30 global marketplaces; the new Taste Track, for example, features specialty croissant doughnuts and the pancake milkshake.
• Expanded offerings at the Festival Center will include the new Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar, Craft Drafts and the Festival Center Wine Shop, all with new menus.
• Guests will discover more than 35 new marketplace dishes and 70 new non-alcoholic beverages, cocktails, wines and beers, including seven festival-exclusive brews.
• More than 50 domestic and international wines will be offered at global marketplaces.
• More than 65 wineries and 40-plus breweries from around the world, including local craft beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces.
• 197 Disney and guest chefs will present culinary demonstrations and will cook for festival events.
• Celebrity chefs and visiting culinarians from eight countries and 20 U.S. states will participate in culinary demos, book signings, and special tasting events and dinners.
• During Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak festival scavenger hunt, guests help Remy scour the park for the ingredients to make his signature dish, ratatouille. Along the way, they’ll find 15 Remy statuettes hidden throughout World Showcase and the global marketplaces. Guests can purchase their maps and stickers at select merchandise locations, then take their completed maps to Disney Traders at the entrance to World Showcase to choose a new surprise, compliments of Chef Remy.
• In all, the festival will feature nearly 400 events, including the new “Sunday Brunch with the Chef” series, Party for the Senses, Food & Wine Pairings, Cheese Seminars, and additional events in multiple World Showcase pavilions.
• More than 240 hours of scheduled seminars will take place in the Festival Center, including the fun-filled Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It!interactive events and more.
• 32 musical acts will perform during the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, where nine new headliners will join a lineup of returning fan favorites playing everything from rock and soul to funk and blues.
• Five festival-themed merchandise collections are perfect for social-media posting and taking a little of the Food & Wine fun home with you. Available items include apparel, drinkware and tabletop decor.
• The Festival Passport features pages with all marketplaces and other outdoor food and beverage locations with special offerings.
• 75 performances of the nighttime spectacular IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth will occur during the festival.
• Five pairs of Disney character friendswill take part in the all-new Disney Du Jour Dance Party at the Future World Fountain Stage on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the festival. It’ll be a surprise pairing each weekend, so you could find yourself partying with Remy and Emile, Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar, Chip and Dale, Lilo and Stitch or Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps.
• 100,000-plus desserts will be served, such as Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts from the Hawaii marketplace.

Thirty-two musical acts will perform during the 23^rd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, Aug. 30-Nov. 12, 2018. These performers represent a diverse collection of hitmakers from pop to country to R&B and more.

The concert series packs a powerful lineup ready to rock the America Gardens Theatre stage at 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m. daily. Eat to the Beat welcomes nine new-to-the-festival bands including MercyMe, Sheila E and Jim Belushi & The Sacred Hearts, who join 23 returning acts.

The lineup (included in Epcot admission and subject to change) includes the following artists, best known for these popular songs:

Aug. 30-31                Blue October – “Into the Ocean”

Sept. 1-3                   Tiffany – “I Think We’re Alone Now”

Sept. 4-5                   NEW! MercyMe – “I Can Only Imagine”

Sept. 6-7                   NEW! Glass Tiger – “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)”

Sept. 8-9                   NEW! Tauren Wells – “Hills and Valleys”

Sept. 10-11               Postmodern Jukebox – Known for vintage-style covers of modern hits

Sept. 12-13               NEW! Vertical Horizon – “Everything You Want”

Sept. 14-16               Baha Men – “Who Let the Dogs Out”

Sept. 17-19                Plain White T’s – “Hey There Delilah”

Sept. 20-21                Living Colour – “Cult of Personality”

Sept. 22-23                NEW! Sheila E – “The Glamorous Life”

Sept. 24-26               Sugar Ray – “Every Morning”

Sept. 27-28                David Cook – “Light On”

Sept. 29-30               Jeffrey Osborne – “On the Wings of Love”

Oct. 1-2                     NEW! Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts – Known for their soulful rhythm & blues covers

Oct. 3-4                     Everclear – “Santa Monica”

Oct. 5-7                     Mark Wills – “19 Something”

Oct. 8-10                   Air Supply – “All Out of Love”

Oct. 11-12                 NEW! Anderson East  – “All on My Mind”

Oct. 13-14                 Smash Mouth – “All Star”

Oct. 15-16                 NEW! 98 Degrees  – “Give Me Just One Night”

Oct. 17-18                 38 Special – “Hold On Loosely”

Oct. 19-21                 The Devon Allman Project – “Ragged and Dirty”

Oct. 22-23                 Kenny G – “Songbird”

Oct. 24-25                 Billy Ocean – “Get Outta My Dreams”

Oct. 26-28                 Starship featuring Mickey Thomas – “We Built this City”

Oct. 29-31                 Hanson – “MMMBop”

Nov. 1-2                   NEW! High Valley – “She’s with Me.”

Nov. 3-4                   Taylor Dayne – “Prove Your Love”

Nov. 5-7                   Boyz II Men – “End of the Road”

Nov. 8-9                   The Hooters – “And We Danced”

Nov. 10-12                Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – “Go Daddy-O”

(Songs listed are for artist recognition only and may not be included in the concert set list)

Festival-goers can book Eat to the Beat Dining Packages at 15 popular Epcot restaurants, guaranteeing a breakfast, lunch or dinner reservation and confirmed seating at a same-day Eat to the Beat concert. Reservations can be booked at (407) WDW-FEST or (407) 939-3378. Visit TasteEpcot.com for details.