Sunday January 19th 2025

Disney’s International Festival of the Arts at EPCOT began on Friday. This is my second favorite EPCOT festival. Only the Flower and Garden Festival that starts in March is higher on my list. Not being willing to wait I headed for the park Friday afternoon. I should have waited. Note to self, Don’t go to EPCOT on the first day of a festival. Lots of other people had the same idea.

The International Festival of the Arts is a giant art show and sale. Kiosks around the park show paintings and sculptures that can be purchased or just admired. Most of the art is Disney focused, but there are some pieces with a broader appeal. Along with the art you can watch artists developing new items or even get your hands dirty painting a giant size paint by number mural.

I only had a little more than two hours of daylight left once I got into the park. Getting the car parked and walking in from what seemed like the next county took longer than expected. I was parked much further away than I usually have to park. Once inside the crowds were heavy. To look at most of the artwork you had to stand four or five people deep. Once it got dark you had to be closer to be in the lights than many of the crowds allowed. I really enjoyed what I could see, but will return a time or two before it ends in late February. Getting there earlier with more daylight and smaller crowds is necessary for better viewing.

As usual the chalk drawings on the walkways were one of my favorites. The artists were still working on the drawings. Only one side of the walkway had any completed. The other side was waiting for another day. Today (Sunday) it rained very hard so the artists will need to start over tomorrow.