LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Walt Disney
World Resort guests will join the 20-year celebration of Epcot
International Food & Wine Festival presented by Chase from
Sept.
25-Nov. 16, 2015, as they taste global and specialty cuisine, sip
new beverages and eat to the beat of live entertainment.
The 53-day festival at Disney’s Epcot theme park will expand with
new Future World marketplaces featuring fresh culinary concepts to
pair with select wines, beers, cocktails and other beverages. ABC’s
Emmy Award-winning lifestyle series, “The Chew,” will broadcast from
the festival for the first time and will participate in two of the
new Future World festival marketplaces: Sustainable Chew and Chew
Lab. The festival is believed to be the largest food and wine event
of its kind in the world.
Here are 20 fun facts about the 20th festival celebration.
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- Now 53 days long, the Epcot
International Food & Wine Festival began in 1996 with a first
run of 30 days
- At the 2015 festival, a record
30 global marketplaces will include the new Sustainable Chew,
Chew Lab and Artistry of Wine & Cheese marketplaces
- Producers of ABC’s “The Chew”
will tape 5 episodes of the show before 5 festival guest
audiences numbering in the hundreds for each show
- The 20th festival will feature
32 new marketplace dishes and 75 new cocktails, beers, wines and
ciders
- In 1998, 200 domestic and
international wines were poured at the festival. This year, at
marketplaces and premium events, more than 300 domestic and
international wines will be offered
- More than 60 wineries and more
than 40 breweries from around the world, including local craft
beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces
The 20th Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Cookbook by
Pam Brandon and the Disney Chefs features 75 recipes from the
global marketplaces that span the entire 20 years of the
festival.
- 3 Rockin’ Burger Block Parties
and 5 Party for the Senses grand tastings will take place at
World Showplace during the festival run. In all, the festival
will feature 193 premium events ranging from Signature Dinners
and Food & Wine Pairings to Beverage Boot Camps and Festival
Events in World Showcase pavilions
- Guest chefs and Disney chefs
numbering 250 will present culinary demonstrations and will cook
for festival events
- Celebrity chefs and visiting
culinarians from 6 countries and 26 U.S. states will participate
in the festival at culinary demos, book signings, and special
tasting events and dinners
- Nearly 400 culinary demos,
beverage and mixology seminars will take place during the 53-day
festival
- During the new Remy’s
Ratatouille Hide & Squeak festival scavenger hunt, guests can
help Remy scour the park for the ingredients to make his
signature dish, ratatouille. Along the way, they’ll find 12 Remy
statuettes hidden in each of 11 countries of the World Showcase
and at the African Outpost location. Guests can redeem the 12
stickers they’ve collected for one of 6 special pins at Port of
Entry
- 159 Eat to the Beat concerts
will be performed; 4 musical acts will appear for the first time
at this year’s festival featuring entertainment ranging from
rock and soul to funk and blues
- The Marketplace Discovery
Passport was introduced in 2010 for the 15th annual festival;
today, the free passport will feature pages with all 30 festival
marketplaces that guests can have stamped during their
dine-around-the-world culinary adventure
- More than 1,200 fireworks will
explode each night over World Showcase Lagoon in IllumiNations:
Reflections of Earth nightime spectacular
- Chase is the festival’s
presenting sponsor for the 4th year; its Chase Lounge at
American Adventure Parlor features guest amenities that include
complimentary beverages and comfy furniture where guests can
chill out and recharge
- The Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog,
back for a fourth year, is filled with 900 pounds of the tart
red fruit and is accessible to cast members who wear waterproof
waders
- 100,000-plus desserts, including
the Chocolate Cherry Explosion and Strawberry Basil Champagne
“Toast” at Desserts & Champagne Marketplace, are expected to be
served
- In 1997, during the festival’s
second year, festival planners introduced the first Grand
Tasting culinary extravaganza; in 2002, the event was renamed
and moved to World Showplace as Party for the Senses, now
featuring up to 50 food and beverage stations and breathtaking
entertainment by Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba” performers
- At the new Artistry of Wine &
Cheese, each keg of premium wine on tap will hold the equivalent
of 26 wine bottles, eliminating bottle, cork, cardboard and
paper waste from labels. Recycling and repurposing of glass
bottles and corks from other marketplace locations will be part
of the 20th-year festival story
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