2009 Food and Wine Festival
Click the link for the full details and information about the 14th Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.
And here’s Disney’s Official Press Release on the 2009 Food and Wine Festival:
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Epcot kitchens turn up the heat for a global tasting experience worthy of every palate Sept. 25-Nov. 8 at the 14th annual Epcot International Food &Wine Festival at Walt Disney World Resort. During the six-week, entertainment-packed event, park guests can taste fine cuisine and wines from the top “foodie” cities of the world.
Whether sampling bites of Camarões com Palmito (shrimp with palms) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, or sipping the trendiest wine from Buenos Aires, Argentina, festival guests can enjoy the flavors of more than 25 international marketplaces dotting the World Showcase promenade. The festival will spotlight tastes from cities on six continents, including Bologna, Italy; Bangkok, Thailand; Wellington, New Zealand; Santiago, Chile; Marrakesh, Morocco; Shanghai, China; and, from the United States – New Orleans.
Tapas-sized portions of regional specialties run $2-to-$7 each, and recommended wines and beers make perfect pairings at each kiosk. Puglia, Italy, returns as a sponsor this year, presenting culinary demonstrations with regional chefs and showcasing “Adventures of Pasta and Olive Oils.” Live regional entertainment is scheduled throughout each day along the promenade.
Daily wine and beer tastings serve up sips from around the world, and culinary demonstrations dish up featured taste treats. A series of special culinary programs features a lineup of renowned winemakers, guest chefs and speakers participating in elegant dinners, luncheons, seminars and wine schools.
Live music kicks the festival up several notches each evening during the Eat to the Beat! concert series featuring acts from many musical genres including classic rock, jazz, R&B, funk and soul. Concerts are performed three times each evening at America Gardens Theatre along the World Showcase lagoon. Scheduled to appear for the first time on the Eat to the Beat! stage are: Richard Marx, Better than Ezra, Vanessa Carlton, John Waite and Billy Ocean. Returning acts scheduled are Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Starship, En Vogue, Sister Hazel, Kool & The Gang, Spyro Gyra, Jon Secada, Sister Sledge, Taylor Dayne, Boyz II Men, Night Ranger and Los Lobos.
Each fall, the festival attracts a diverse audience of more than one million guests ranging from wine connoisseurs and epicures to neophytes wishing to boost their wine IQs. Beer aficionados can raise their steins at several tasting locations, including Germany’s Biergarten, which specialize in brews from light to dark.
Festival highlights include:
The Festival Welcome Center, with a Champagne and Wine Bar, educational wine seminars, celebrity chef book signings, and festival keepsakes including exclusive festival pins and an official festival cookbook.
Some 250 chefs including Disney chefs and guest chefs from across the country conducting culinary demonstrations and hosting elegant dinners and tasting events. Guest chefs who appeared last year included Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace, Rock Harper of “Hell’s Kitchen,” Robert Irvine from Food Network’s “Dinner Impossible,” plus Jeff Henderson, Todd English, Warren Brown, Mary Meyers, Jamie Deen, Iron Chef Cat Cora and many other culinary stars. This year’s lineup currently is being booked.
New culinary programs to feature Celebration Dinners, Culinary Adventure Signature Dining and Celebrating Family and Friends in the Kitchen. Popular returning events include French Regional Lunches at Bistro de Paris in the France pavilion, Epcot Wine Schools, Food and Wine Pairings and Sweet Sundays. The weekly Party for the Senses grand tasting event with tempting bites from eminent chefs, more than 50 wines and beers and live entertainment.
Festival guests can enjoy free admission on their birthdays as well as fresh Epcot experiences including the re-launched Spaceship Earth attraction in Future World and the high-tech, ultra-interactive Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. Also in World Showcase, several new and updated restaurants welcome guests: at the Italy pavilion, Tutto Italia, with cuisine from different regions of Italy; at the Japan pavilion, Tokyo Dining and Teppan Edo restaurants; and at the China showcase, the redesigned Nine Dragons with a new menu.
Included with Epcot Admission:
Samuel Adams beer seminars, Authentic Taste seminars and Authors without Borders programs with special book signings at the Festival Center, Eat to the Beat! concerts, culinary and cultural adventures, and all attractions and park entertainment are included with regular Epcot admission.
Special Programming by Reservation:
The Party for the Senses grand tasting events, Food and Wine Pairings at select Epcot restaurants, Signature Dining, Epcot Wine Schools, Sweet Sundays, and other special wine and culinary programs require reservations and separate event admission.
Guests can call 407/WDW-FEST (939-3378) for information and to make reservations for special events and programs. Festival details will be available by late July at www.disneyworld.com/foodandwine, and guests can book special events and programs beginning Aug. 11.
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Augh! Clearly, I was premature in traveling to WDW this spring. I should have waited. The food and music lineup for this sounds fantastic!
I KNOW! We just returned from a quick weekend trip, but I’m hoping we can solidify fall plans soon (fingers crossed). I’m especially excited about the music lineup.
HI there, you mention in the blog that the festival will feature tastes from six cities, including Welllington NZ – we wondered who was representing Wellington? We are the economic development agency in Wellington NZ and would be interested to see if we could offer our assistance to the Wellington representative at this festival?
Regards
Sharon Stephenson
Great question, Sharon! I’m not sure who’s representing Wellington yet; Disney hasn’t yet released the participants. Stay tuned–they’re supposed to announce the list in early July! So great to have you on the blog!
2009 Food & Wine here we come!!! What is a must do this year??
They haven’t released all the details of what’s available yet (July will bring more info), so I can’t wait to find out what’s a must do food-wise! BUT, if you’re an 80’s and 90’s music fan, check out the Eat to the Beat Concert Series Lineup–those are definite MUSTS in my book!! Have you planned your trip, yet?
We will be staying at Boardwalk, just a short walk to the fun.
Has anyone done the “Sweet Sundays”?
I did the food and wine pairing at the Living Seas in 2006. It was great not too pricey and wonderful wines.
LOVE the Boardwalk. I’ve always wanted to get a room right over Jellyrolls so that I can hear all the fun!
I haven’t done Sweet Sundays, yet, but have definitely been interested. Thank you for the review! Any other special events you’ve taken part in?
We have gone to many events At WDW. Just ask away.
Would love to hear more about Party for the Senses!
Me too! I didn’t do that one, my in-laws did. They loved it the food was out of this world and the wine was flowing. They said they would do it again. There were also performers as vines and trees ect. it was amazing.
Fantastic! I’ve heard such great things about that event. And, yes, the entertainment seems to be over the top! I’ll have to take a look at the pricing again this year…
ARGH!! I took my mother last year to the food and wine festival and she just loved it. I am trying to book us again for this year but can’t decide when to go – I wish Disney could let us know the schedule! It’s killing me to see all the airfare specials and not know what I would be seeing. This will be my fourth food and wine festival and I have missed my favorites each year because I just don’t seem to be lucky enough to plan the right week to visit. This year especially I’ll have to watch every penny to get there! ARGH!
Saskia–I KNOW! I just gave up and booked; figured I’d take it as it comes. I’ll keep an eye on all the sites I can to get you the info ASAP!
Thanks! I like the new logo for this year, but do we know if it has a movie theme? Last year was Wonderlands (Alice) and the year before that was Ratatouille, but I don’t recognize the logo as relating to a particular movie. Any clues?
http://www.examiner.com/x-8506-Walt-Disney-World-Events-Examiner~y2009m5d13-2009-Epcot-International-Food-and-Wine-Festival-serves-up-worldly-flavors-from-Sept-25–Nov8
Events, dates, time, pricing
http://family.go.com/community/groups/walt-disney-world-without-kids-grp/2009-epcot—s-international-food—wine-festival-7360/
Hey guys, Sorry I didn’t get tis informatin to you sooner. Please for give me:(
@Melissa — Thanks for this info! I haven’t seen a press release about this schedule from Disney yet; I’m assuming this is unofficial?
My Pleasure. I enjoy doing my little part to make sure everyone has a Wonderful Disney Day. 😀