EPCOT International Festival of the Arts (or as I like to call it - FART!)

EPCOT International Festival of the Arts (FART for short) has to be the cutest festival at EPCOT! It is the shortest festival held at EPCOT and typically held from mid January to mid February. The main icon of this festival is the adorable Figment, from the attraction Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Figment has become a cult favorite as of late & I can see why! Everything about the festival is so vibrant, the colors are stunning, & Figment is just so cute!

The Festival of the Arts comprises of both food & you guessed it - art. There are booths solely dedicated to art which is available for purchase & food booths as well which have special, limited time offerings for the festival. The art is absolutely fantastic to admire, everything from paintings, to abstract figurines, metal & more! My favorite booth is hands down the Thomas Kinkade booth, IYKYK lol. I am obsessed with Thomas Kinkade x Disney & you can frequently find me putting together Thomas Kinkade Disney puzzles, or find the Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar hanging in my kitchen. Unfortunately for this trip, I did not purchase any art as we were flying & didn't have room to bring it home (I blame the Figment popcorn buckets). I could've spent a whole day simply admiring all of the art in each booth as each art piece was fascinating and offered something different than the last piece! But, I had some food to eat!

I have to admit, my sweet tooth went a little overboard here, but also, it's not my fault that Disney created the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine comprised of mostly sweets lol! Pictured above is the Orange Mousse with lemon cake & raspberry meringues. Yum! My mouth is watering all over again. The orange slice on top was candied, and the dots on the plate were sugar gel. Both were a nice touch to add to the delicious treat. This plate was definitely one of my favorites. This sweet dish can be found at Deco Delights, located centrally in EPCOT, directly in the center of the north end of World Showcase.

My favorite savory snack was hands down the Chorizo and Potato Empanada with Turmeric Aioli and Annatto Aioli. My husband knew that this would be my favorite simply from seeing it listed on the menu in the app. I guess you could say I'm slightly predictable. It did. not. disappoint! It was a baked empanada so there wasn't much grease, and it was the right amount of crispy around the edges. Inside it was filled with what my grandma would have made for breakfast at her house. Perfectly spiced chorizo and papas. The turmeric aioli gave it an extra kick but cooled right back down with the annatto aioli. Perfect mix of spice & flavor. I absolutely would've ordered 5 of them for a meal but I needed to save room to get through the World Showcase & I wasn't quite halfway there as this empanada is found in Morocco at Vibrante & Vívido: Encanto Cocina. This item is also part of the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine.

You're probably asking, "Cathyrn, what in the world (showcase - see what I did there) is the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine!?" Well, allow me to elaborate. If you pick up a festival passport which is available at select booths, you can turn to the back & see the options for the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine. There are 7 options which include:

• Gourmet Landscapes – Red Stamp

• Blood Orange-Braised Beet Tartare with Mustard Vinaigrette, Pickled Clamshell Mushrooms and Golden Beets

• Moderne (NEW) – Orange Stamp

• Pan-Seared Scallops with Vanilla-Butternut

Squash Purée, Brown Butter Cauliflower Purée and Lime Foam

• Vibrante & Vivido: Encanto Cocina – Yellow Stamp

• Chorizo and Potato Empanada with Turmeric Aïoli and Annatto Aïoli

• The Deconstructed Dish – Green Stamp

• Deconstructed Key Lime Pie: Flexible Key Lime Curd, "Key Lime" Mousse, Graham Cracker Cake and Meringues

• Deco Delights – Blue Stamp

• Orange Mousse with Lemon Cake and Raspberry Meringues

• Pop Eats – Indigo Stamp

• Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Belgian Chocolate

• Figment's Inspiration Station at the Odyssey: Art, Food and Little Sparks of Magic (NEW) – Violet Stamp

• Pop't Art: Sugar Cookie with Blueberry Filling

You only need to try 5 of the 7 options to complete the Walk & receive your surprise! The surprise is an artist palette cookie & a blackberry slush. Both items were mouthwatering, with the cookie being extra sweet which is exactly how I prefer my cookies! I had plans to get a piece of Figment Rainbow Cake but after having that cookie, I don't know how I would've gotten anymore sugar into my body. You can pick up both items after showing your completed passport at the Deco Delights booth, which is the same one you can get the Orange Mousse from!

The other items we tried from the Walk were the Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Belgian Chocolate & Pop't Art: Sugar Cookie with Blueberry Filling! I told you my sweet tooth enjoyed this day. The good news is, if you need multiple days to complete the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine, you can, as the passport is valid until the last day of the festival which is February 20, 2023.

We tried food from the Craftsman's Courtyard booth which serves the Beef Wellington: mushroom duxelles, prosciutto, and puff pastry with red wine demi-glace and baby vegetables & cast iron-roasted P.E.I. Mussels with sautéed tomatoes, garlic, and fresh herbs. My husband thoroughly enjoyed the Beef Wellington and went back for seconds! We also shared the Rainbow Cake & the Grape Smoothie from Figment's Imagination Station at the Odyssey, both which were topped with freeze dried Skittles. I was apprehensive about the freeze dried Skittles at first but after tasting them, I was hooked! There I was, in the middle of EPCOT, trying to devise a plan and figure out how to make freeze dried Skittles at home! They were airy yet crunchy, and retained all of the fruity flavors we know and love about Skittles. The grape smoothie itself was mediocre at best, perhaps I was spoiled and still on the sugar high from the blackberry slush from Deco Delights, but the grape smoothie did come with a super cute Figment souvenir cup! #worthit

We did score a Figment popcorn bucket to add to our collection at home, and thankfully it was a much smoother process to obtain one this year than it was last year! The Figment popcorn bucket is available via mobile order only & they had plenty of supply. Each bucket was prefilled with a sealed bag of the rainbow popcorn to enjoy, which was nice as we were able to bring it home & enjoy it later!

Beyond the treats & art, a fun thing for anyone to do is the scavenger hunt! You can purchase a palette shaped card which is titled "Figment's Brush with the Masters" & set out on a hunt around the World Showcase, stopping in each country to find an iconic art piece which Figment has taken over! It does cost $9.99 but does come with a paint your own character as a prize. You can select your prize either before or after completion, I chose to get it immediately so I didn't have to circle back at the end of the night. My husband and I had a challenging, yet fun time trying to find the paintings alone! Some were simple and obvious, but others were much harder such as the painting in Morocco, as Moroccan culture does not put animated figures in their art pieces. Disney respected this & found another way to still include Figment but it definitely made it much more difficult to find. I am glad that it was challenging even for two adults, as it felt like we were actually hunting versus just finding something obvious in nature.

All in all, this one of a kind festival was a blast & I wish I could go back again! The bright colors, the sidewalk chalk artists (both professional and kids), the awe inspiring art, the tasty small plates, & Figment everywhere, there is something for everyone to enjoy! Don't forget to take advantage of the limited time Magic Shots via PhotoPass photographers available throughout the event! I give this festival a 10/10!