Right now Epcot is celebrating the Flower and Garden Festival. I haven't been over for that yet, so I want to talk about the International Festival of the Arts that was at the park on the weekends in January and February.
The Festival celebrated all different types of art--including the culinary arts, visual arts, and performing arts. It ran for six weekends, and I went for five of the six.
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| This was a massive paint-by-number that guests could help with. You went up to a table at the front and got a small container of paint with a number on it and a brush, then you went and painted a few boxes with that number on it. It was a really cool idea. |
There were also seminar classes on a whole variety of topics...photography, animation, henna, even watermelon carving. Erin, Liana and I went to the seminar on the art of henna. Two of the women who work with henna in the Morocco pavilion spoke to us about how to make your own henna paste and all about the different designs.
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| Henna seminar |
Each weekend, a different Disney artist did live performance art. I got to see two different artists perform, and they both were amazing. They started with a blank canvas and then painted a Disney character with everyone watching. The first artist I saw was James Mulligan, and I watched him paint Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney. He started with a scored canvas and threw glitter over pretty much everything while he was going.
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| At the beginning |
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| Partway through |
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| Final result! |
I also got to see Stephen Fishwick perform. He basically finger painted his painting and it was incredible to watch. He did the whole thing upside down, so it was hard to tell which character he was painting until he was almost done. He also did the whole thing in time to the music, which was so cool.
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| During |
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| Final result! |
Erin, Liana and I also went to Le Cellier for lunch when we were at the festival. Le Cellier is the nicer sit-down restaurant in the Canada pavilion. It's a steakhouse, but I'd read really good things about an accommodating chef for being vegan there so I wanted to try it. Unfortunately those things are no longer true, but the chef did pull something together for me.
One of my favorite parts of the Festival was the Disney on Broadway Concert Series. Three different pairs of actors/actresses who have performed in Disney shows on Broadway came for two weekends each. They performed a medley of songs from Disney Broadway shows, and each show gave me chills.
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| Josh Strickland--he originated the role of Tarzan on Broadway |
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| Kissy Simmons and Alton Fitzgerald White--she played Nala and he played Mufasa in The Lion King |
I also absolutely loved Animation Academy. They had different artists teaching classes on how to draw Disney characters. I learned how to draw Tigger, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Merida, Tinker Bell and Rapunzel. Each class was about 20 minutes and I was kind of amazed at the end of every one that the drawing I had produced actually looked like the character it was supposed to be.
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| She taught me how to draw Minnie, and then she let me take her sketch home too! |
So many different Disney artists were there at the festival. Their works were available for sale, you could watch them painting, and just talk to them. I didn't meet a single one who wasn't lovely, and they were all so humble.
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| James Mulligan painted this Figment during the Festival |
Each time I visited, I just walked around and appreciated looking at all the pretty Disney things. Finally, on the last weekend, I decided which prints I wanted to take home with me. Thank you Fairma!
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| This one is by Irene Sheri. She wasn't at the Festival, so I didn't get to meet her, but I love this little girl |
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| This one is by Rob Kaz. It's my favorite Disney scene, so I knew I wanted it as soon as I saw it |
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| I got to meet Rob Kaz! I went after work just to meet him. He's super sweet, and he's a local artist (he lives in Celebration). We talked for a while, and I told him all about Wild Africa Trek and the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) |
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| Erin and Liana left Florida at the end of January, so visiting the Festival was one of our last hurrahs as roomies :) |
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| Excellent Festival--it's my new favorite :) |
I loved visiting the Festival. The Broadway performances, the art classes, getting to meet famous Disney artists...it was wonderful. This year was the first time the Festival has been put on, but it was so popular I can't imagine it's going anywhere. Definitely recommend coming down to visit next year during this time!
