Can't go on a trip around the world this year and indulge your taste buds? Just drive to Orlando.
Arguably Florida's biggest culinary event, the 12th annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, attracting more than 1 million visitors each year, serves up tastes from every corner of the world September 28 through Nov. 11 at Walt Disney World.
In addition to culinary treats, wine and beer tastings, this year the festival is not only a feast for the palate, but also a feast of the palette, with an exhibit of paintings inspired by food and wine.
The paintings, by artists in China, Italy, France, and beyond, are a sort of "side-dish" to first-rate food, wine and beer that spotlight regional experiences from Chile to Scandinavia during the six-week-long festival.
More than 25 international marketplaces serve appetizer-sized portions of regional specialties (including vegetarian and sweet bites) priced from $1.50 to $4.50. Recommended wines and beers at each marketplace kiosk make for interesting pairings.
Often, the samples of couscous in Morocco, the spicy tuna rolls in Japan and the crème brulee in France prove irresistible.
"We've been all over the place – munching foods from India, Thailand and Argentina," said Victoria Diaz, from Altamonte Springs, who took in last year's festival with her family. "Now we're off to Germany for apple strudel – and coffee in Turkey."
The event, which includes wine and beer seminars, cooking demonstrations, Eat to the Beat! concerts, and access to all the park's attractions, costs $71 for adults, $60 for children.
The Diaz family planned to spend about $100 sampling the dishes in the marketplaces, but there are also daily complimentary seminars that offer tastes of wine, beer and food from around the world. In addition, a series of ticketed programs features a lineup of winemakers, guest chefs and speakers participating in dinners, luncheons, seminars and wine schools.
The festival theme this year, 'Tastefully Inspired,' "is an opportunity to emphasize the relationship between two expressions of art – the canvas and the table," said Nora Carey, festival manager. The theme lets Epcot tell stories to visitors "that will surprise, enlighten and embolden them to think about food in a new way," Carey added.
Top musical entertainment pairs well with culinary fun during the nightly Eat to the Beat! concert series featuring a lineup of classic rock, oldies, jazz and funk hit-makers. Concerts are performed three times each evening at America Gardens Theatre on the edge of the World Showcase Lagoon.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
Culinary demonstrations by some 250 Disney chefs and guest chefs, and elegant dinners and tasting events. Some of the guest chefs to appear this year include Cat Cora, Alan Wong, Jeff Henderson, Keegan Gerhard, Colette Peters, Warren Brown, Robert Irvine, Tracy Griffith.
Complimentary samplings of beer and wine as part of nearly 1,200 wine and beer seminars.
International exhibits on the promenade, featuring authentic cuisine, entertainment and traditional crafts.
Music, dance, acrobatics and "improv" acts at Epcot pavilions.
Entertainment by Cirque du Soleil at the weekly Party for the Senses grand tasting.
Commemorative posters, a festival cookbook and a Champagne and sparking wine bar at the Festival Welcome Center.
Information courtes of South Florida Sun-Sentinel