A new arts festival is coming to Epcot in 2017

A new festival is coming to Epcot in just two months: The International Festival of the Arts will bring “visual, culinary and performing arts” to Epcot for six weekends in January and February, the Disney Parks Blog announced today.

Events will take place Fridays through Mondays, Jan. 13 – Feb. 20. Look for:

• Visual arts: Work will span the history of Disney, from historical favorites Mary Blair and Herb Ryman to current Disney artists Joe Kaminski and Costa Alavezos. Plus “you’ll watch the creative process live.” In addition, a new piece of artwork will be unveiled each week, encouraging locals to come back for repeat visits.
• Culinary arts: It isn’t an Epcot festival if it doesn’t include food — in this case, the Food Studios will feature “creations that look almost too good to eat.”
• Performing arts: The America Gardens Theater will host “Broadway talent” singing Disney tunes. (Pleeeeease, can Lin-Manuel Miranda make an appearance? Pretty please?) 

Epcot already is home to two seasonal festivals that cover nearly half the calendar year. The Food & Wine Festival ran 62 days from September to November in 2016, and the Flower & Garden Festival is scheduled to run 90 days from March to May in 2017. Add Holidays Around the World and the Festival of the Arts, and summer will be pretty much the only time there isn’t a festival going on at Epcot.

The new arts festival is a natural successor to the Festival of the Masters, an arts-centered event that took place at Downtown Disney until construction forced its cancellation in 2014. Last year, it made a minor comeback with the Art in August event, but it wasn’t nearly as elaborate.

Stay tuned for more information on events and scheduling as it becomes available.

Joe Kaminski will be among the featured artists.