More details on the upcoming Epcot Flower & Garden Festival

If you’re suffering through an arctic blast like much of the country is this week, it might lift your spirits to think of spring. For Disney, that means the 20th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, scheduled to start March 6 and continue through May 19.

© Mary Liebman

This week Disney announced more details of the 75-day festival:

HGTV seminars: Every Friday through Sunday, HGTV designers will host seminars in the Festival Center. The opening weekend schedule features Chris Lambton of “Going Yard”; other designers on the schedule include Brandon Johnson of “My Yard Goes Disney” and Meg Caswell of “Meg’s Great Rooms.”

Mini food festival:  What does “festival-themed food” mean? Backyard barbecue and “garden-inspired and global tastes,” according to Disney. Booths will be scattered around the World Showcase promenade.

Land of Oz Play Area: “Oz: The Great and Powerful”is set to open in movie theaters March 8, the day before the Flower & Garden Festival opens. Disney working the movie into the Epcot festival with a new children’s play area featuring “play systems adorned with giant flowers and designed to stretch kids’ imaginations and muscles,” according to the company. This means “midway-style games, red-and-white circus-themed tents and the ‘Oz Movie Garden’ of intriguing plants.”Also to be found: the “great and powerful Oz’s” crashed hot-air balloon.

“Radiator Springs” interactive play zone: If Oz isn’t your thing, there’s also a Cars-themed play area built around topiary stars Lightning McQueen and Mater the tow truck.


Illuminated Gardens: Those of us who still miss the Lights of Winter archway that used to brighten up Epcot during the holidays might be comforted to find twinkling lights in many of the Flower & Garden Festival’s topiaries and gardens.

Tinker Bell’s Butterfly House: Tinkerbell and her friends muscle out Bambi and his crew, taking over the Butterfly House this year.


Flower Power concert series: There are a lot of familiar names in the lineup this year, but there also are some new faces: 1970s disco band The Village People (April 19-21) and 1960s singer-songwriter Tommy Roe (May 3-5). The complete lineup:

• March 15-17: Chubby Checker & The Wildcats
• March 22-24: The Guess Who
• March 29-31: Nelson
• April 5-7: The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie
• April 12-14: Paul Revere & the Raiders
• April 19-21: The Village People (new)
• April 26-28: The Orchestra, Featuring Former Members of ELO and ELO II
• May 3-5: Tommy Roe (new)
• May 10-12: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
• May 17-19: Starship starring Mickey Thomas.

For more information about the 20th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, call 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or visit www.EpcotinSpring.com.