On March 3rd, the 2021 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival officially kicked off!

We spent the day giving you live updates, eating just about everything at the food booths, and showing you some of the activities and entertainment at the festival. But did you know that there are several things that you can do for FREE at this year’s Flower and Garden Festival? Let’s take a look at the activities around EPCOT that you can do without spending another penny!

Tea Tour

If you head over to the United Kingdom pavilion, you will find The Tea Caddy. Here, you can pick up a guide to the Flower and Garden Tea Tour!

Along with some fun facts about Twinings Tea, there is a self-guided tea tour that guests can participate in. Usually, the tour is lead by a Cast Member and you have to pay for it in advance, but now that it is lead by YOU, it’s free!

Your goal is to find the 12 Twinings teacups planted throughout the English Tea Garden. There is a map in the guide that will tell you where to find each tea.

When you finish and find all 12 teas, tell a Cast Member in the Tea Caddy and you’ll get some free tea! We were told to take two: one cold and one hot. However, on our next visit, they let us take one of each flavor! We doubt this will happen every time, but you should at least get one or two tea packets!

This is a super fun activity and the only map activity that is completely FREE! Not only do you get to walk through a gorgeous tea garden, but you also get a prize in the end. Head to the United Kingdom pavilion during the festival to participate!

Check out past Tea Tours at EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival!

Live Entertainment

Several entertainers are part of the festival this year! On opening day, we checked out the Jammin’ Gardeners. These guys are also known as the JAMMitors, and they are known for making music with ordinary objects. Since it is the Flower and Garden Festival, they are using some gardening tools to create some fun, upbeat music! You can find them in the Canada pavilion.

You can also expect to see the acapella group, Voices of Liberty, on stage at the America Gardens Theater! The group used to perform in the American Adventure pavilion, but now they have become an EPCOT festival staple! They’ll be performing songs “celebrating America’s spirit and beauty.”

Mariachi Cobre will ALSO be performing at the America Gardens Theater! They play traditional folk-music, and have been a hit at EPCOT festivals lately.

For some good ole’ piano, head to the World Showplace located in between the Canada and United Kingdom pavilions! The pianist will play “songs of the season”, and it’s super relaxing.

NEW to the festival this year, there is a concert series featuring local Orlando artists! In past years, the Garden Rocks Concert Series has been a major part of the festival, but Disney is switching it up this year. You can see a full list of the bands that will be performing at the America Gardens Theater here!

An All-New Concert Experience is Coming to EPCOT’s 2021 Flower and Garden Festival

Butterfly Garden & 19 Other Gardens

There are a whopping TWENTY gardens at this year’s Flower and Garden Festival! The gardens are beautiful additions to the park, and offer educational experiences for guests.

There is a NEW garden this year called the Prehistoric Garden! It’s located near Future World West and shows you plants that have been around since prehistoric times.

Perhaps the most popular garden is the Butterfly Garden! Guests get a chance to interact with butterflies AND watch them break from their cocoons.

Each garden is completely free to enter, and you can visit them as many times as you want for the duration of the festival! Check out the entire list of gardens here.

ALL 20 Gardens Coming to the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival

Topiaries

The Disney character topiaries really make the Flower and Garden Festival stand out. These stand ALL over EPCOT, and they are super fun to find and take pictures with!

There are some giant and beautiful butterfly topiaries near the entrance of the park.

In Future World, you’ll find characters from Fantasia, Bambi, Toy Story, and topiaries of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Daisy!

You can find Kermit, Miss Piggy, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh characters in the United Kingdom pavilion!

In the Mexico pavilion, the Three Caballeros are singing to the crowds.

Anna and Elsa take over Norway, along with a Norwegian troll!

Pandas play with bamboo in the China pavilion, Lady and Tramp admire the Italy Pavilion, and the majestic Dragon topiary has returned to the Japan pavilion.

Belle and Beast are dancing in the courtyards of the France pavilion, and Remy is awaiting the grand opening of his new attraction!

Plus, you’ll find characters like Figment, Snow White, and Simba!

Even though the eyeballs creep us out a bit, we can’t help but have major heart-eyes for these Disney topiaries!

Dear Disney, Please Stop Giving Plants Eyeballs

The Flower and Garden Festival has just begun, so you have plenty of time to take advantage of all of these FREE activities! The festival lasts until July 5th, so be sure to find some tea, play with butterflies, and admire gorgeous character topiaries before the festival ends. And if we find any more free activities, we will be sure to update this post!

ALL of the Activities at EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival

Do you plan on visiting the Flower and Garden Festival this year? Let us know in the comments!