It’s almost Frushi and Orange Bird time! We got some exciting Flower & Garden Festival Announcements from Disney this week! This is my most favorite EPCOT Festival! There are flowers and bright colors everywhere and everything smells so good. This years festival starts March 4th and runs through June 1st. Get ready for flowers, fun and lots of Orange Bird!
Topiaries & Gardens
This years Flower & Garden Festival will feature more than 60 topiaries. These are always so much fun to see! Last years Goofy blowing the dandelion was my favorite! I really hope they finally do an Orange Bird topiary. I always find it weird that he is the mascot of the festival but never gets a topiary. Maybe 2026 will be his year! There will be nine different gardens to explore. The Butterfly Garden is always a favorite. You can walk through this beautiful garden and maybe even have a butterfly land on you. The Camp Get Out ‘N’ Play Garden is where you need to go when the kids just need to run around! This will be a garden playground for the kiddos.
Blossoms of Fragrance is presented by Scentsy and is throughout the festival. There will be certain topiaries that smell like Scentsy’s Strawberry Sweetie. In the UK Pavilion you will find the English Tea Garden presented by Twinnings. You can explore different types of teas and learn what makes some of Twinnings favorite teas. The Rain or Shine Fruit Stand is presented by Outshine and celebrates the cycle of water. You will see how liquid, vapor and ice nourish plants of all kinds. Finally, the Honey Bee-stro Garden is hosted by The National Honey Board and where you can learn all about bees and how important they are!
New this year will be these last three garden areas. Pluto’s Pet Friendly Garden, the wildlife Crossing Garden and Trendy Tropicals Garden will be fun and unique at this years Flower & Garden Festival! If you want to see what characters will be in topiary form and where to find them head over to Disney to see a full list.
Communicore Hall
Over in Communicore Hall you will find Spikes Larger than Life Garden. This garden changes from day to night! Fireflies come out at night and there are flowers that only open in the moonlight. I can’t wait to see this garden! There is usually some shopping and a food booth in Communicore Hall as well.
Flower & Garden Festival Merchandise
Obviously, part of why I love this festival is because Orange Bird gets his time to shine! And my bank account gets its time to cry! Haha! They have not given us all the looks at the merchandise, and honestly I wouldn’t mind being surprised by some. This week though we got to see a few things. Disney gave us a sneak peek at a Spike the Bee backpack, Orange Bird Loungefly and an Orange Bird hat. All very cute and very I need them! I’m sure we will get more sneak peeks of merch in the next few weeks. I am hoping for an Orange Bird popcorn bucket instead of another sipper this year.
Garden Rocks Concert Series
The Flower & Garden Festival Announcements included a full calendar of the concert series. There are a few new performers and plenty of returning favorites. New this year is the Music of ABBA, Information Society, Katrina and Iam Tongi. Returning this year is Simple Plan, Sugar Ray, Blue October and Plain White T’s. In addition to others returning, those are always great shows! You can see the full list with dates here. Don’t forget that you can do a dining package for a guaranteed seat at whichever concert is your must see.
Flower & Garden Festival Outdoor Kitchens
We have not gotten the official food guide just yet but it sounds like there will not be any new kitchens. The official post says “returning favorites and brand new dishes”. So that sounds like we are getting new food but no new or different kitchens this year. But maybe in the next round of Flower & Garden Festival announcements we will find out for sure. I always love the menu’s at this festival, they are always os light and fresh! As long as there is Frushi my crew will be happy! You can see what was new last year at this festival here!
The Extra Fun At Flower & Garden Festival
EPCOT Festivals always give us a little extra fun and Flower & Garden Festival is no exception. The Spikes PollenNation Exploration is the festival scavenger hunt. You will find Spike the Bee all throughout World Showcase and you place your stickers on the map as you go. We get an extra scavenger hunt during Flower & Garden Festival for Easter too! The Eggstravaganza Scavenger Hunt also takes you around World Showcase on a character Easter Egg hunt. These are always so much fun to do and really help you explore all the pavilions and different festival displays.
Conclusion
Anyone who knows me knows one big reason this is my favorite festival. Two words, Orange Bird! But that is not the only reason I love this festival. EPCOT is at its most beautiful during this festival to me. The flowers and garden everywhere, all the colors and smells, it’s just so pretty. I also really love the food at this festival the most of all. Hopefully on the next round of Flower & Garden Festival announcements we will find out what kind of new dishes we will see. If you are in Disney World between March 4th and June 1st, make sure you make your way over to EPCOT to experience Flower & Garden Festival. Here’s to spring coming soon! Thank you for reading along and hope you have a WARM and magical day!