If you’re a regular visitor of Walt Disney World, you probably know that more often than not Epcot is running some sort of festival. So far we’ve visited during Food & Wine and Flower & Garden. In 2022, we got to experience Festival of the Arts for the first time. Safe to say I think it’s our new favorite festival! We had so much fun exploring this festival and its creative, colorful offerings! Here’s our must-do list!

Two dads and two kids painting squares on a giant paint-by-number mural at Festival of the Arts.
Paint by Number Mural

This was hands-down my favorite Festival of the Arts experience. I’d seen people post about this on Instagram for years and always REALLY wanted to do it. It really lives up to the hype!!

The mural is located right across from The Land pavilion (where Soarin’ is). At a little booth across the way, they’ll give you a numbered cup of paint and a paintbrush and then point you toward the line. When you get to the mural, the cast member there will direct you to a certain spot where you’ll paint six squares that match the number of your paint color. When you’re done, don’t forget to pick up a card that will show what the finished mural will look like!

This is so fun, and our kids loved it! It’s also fun if you’re back in Epcot later in your trip to stop by and see how much it’s progressed!

There’s also a kids’ chalk art area right outside The Land pavilion. If you have littles, this is a great little spot for a break and to let them get creative!

The painting Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir set up as a 3D photo op. A group of people sit and stands around a table filled with bottles, glasses, grapes, and other food. One girl in the painting is kissing a little dog.
Artful Photo Ops

These are such a blast and make great photo memories! We found the one pictured above at the International Gateway Epcot Entrance, but they’re all over the park. You can find a list of them all and where they are located here!

A lightpost in the foreground and a building in the background with a silhouette of Peter Pan drawn next to a window.
Chalk Art

You’ll find chalk art everywhere during Festival of the Arts! Some very talented artists create 3D chalk art on the walkway between World Celebration and World Showcase. These can be easy to miss, especially in the dark, but don’t miss them! Some of them even have a designated spot you can stand in for a photo! So much fun!

There are also chalk art Disney characters throughout the World Showcase (Peter Pan pictured above in the UK Pavilion is one!). We love to make this a scavenger hunt and see how many we can spot!

A hand holding a small black plate with an empanada topped with stripes of yellow and orange sauces and a bit of cilantro.
Colorful Cuisine

It just wouldn’t be an Epcot festival if there weren’t 800 snacks and drinks to choose from! 😂 The fun thing about the food at Festival of the Arts is it looks (and tastes!) like art!

If you’re overwhelmed by the options, try the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine. You should be able to pick up a Festival of the Arts Passport at any food booth. Look for the specially notated colorful cuisine items, and get a stamp after you purchase each one (you collect these on the last page of the passport). After you’ve collected all five stamps, you can take your passport to the Deco Delights booth for a free reward (an artist palette cookie)! This is a great way to try new things you normally wouldn’t try, but it’s fun to look through the passport and just try whatever looks good, too. One of our faves was the house-made chorizo and potato empanada (pictured above) from the Encanto Cocina booth (which is located between France and Morocco). So good!

Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red striped lights on Spaceship Earth and reflected into a glass sculpture in front of it—part of a special light show of Rainbow Connection for Festival of the Arts.
Rainbow Connection

If there is one thing on this list you do not miss MAKE IT THIS. This light show on Spaceship Earth is just for Festival of the Arts and features the Muppets Rainbow Connection. It happens after the Beacon of Magic light show (which starts at sundown), and it plays approximately every 20 minutes or so after that.

We were so lucky to catch this twice on our January 2022 trip, and I’ll honestly never forget it. It’s just so special! 🥺

We had an absolute blast checking out all that Festival of the Arts has to offer. This was hard to put into a “must-do,” but my favorite night of our trip we ate and drank our way around the World Showcase and browsed through all the art booths. We stopped for a drink at the Regal Eagle bar outside the American Adventure Pavilion and listened to the Broadway Concert that was happening in the theater for a bit. (You can grab a seat in the theater for the concert if that’s your thing, and there are also dining packages available.) It was just such a great, chill night—a core memory day for sure! ❤️

What’s your favorite Epcot festival and festival offering? Let’s chat below!

If you won’t make the festival this year, but maybe next year—save this post by pinning the below image to Pinterest! And if you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World, check out some of my other tips and tricks! I appreciate you reading! 💖

Epcot International Festival of the Arts sign with rainbows and paint tubes in a bed of flowers with text must-dos for epcot's festival of the arts.