11 fun facts about the 2018 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

The 23rd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival kicks off today for 75 days of delicious dining.

From Aug. 30 to Nov. 12, 2018, the event features more than 30  global dine-around marketplaces circling the World Showcase Lagoon and stretching into Future World.

There are ethnic and specialty cuisines, new beverages and a diverse entertainment lineup.

1. The festival is now 75 days long. When it first started in 1996 it was just 30 days.

2. There are more than 30 global marketplaces.

3. There are more than 35 new marketplace dishes and 70 new non-alcoholic beverages, cocktails, wines and beers, including seven festival-exclusive brews.

4. More than 50 domestic and international wines will be offered at global marketplaces.

5. More than 65 wineries and 40-plus breweries from around the world, including local craft beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces.

7. 197 Disney and guest chefs will present culinary demonstrations and will cook for festival events.

8. During Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak festival scavenger hunt, guests help Remy scour the park for the ingredients to make his signature dish, ratatouille. Along the way, they’ll find 15 Remy statuettes hidden throughout World Showcase and the global marketplaces.

9. There are more than 240 hours of scheduled seminars will take place in the Festival Center, including the fun-filled Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It!interactive events and more.

10. 32 musical acts will perform during the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, where nine new headliners will join a lineup of returning fan favorites playing everything from rock and soul to funk and blues.

11. 100,000-plus desserts will be served, such as Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts from the Hawaii marketplace.