Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

Each year, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival features marketplaces with ethnic cuisine samplings from the top "foodie" cities of the world. More than 25 international marketplaces from Hawaii to Belgium will offer tasty treats at the 18th anniversary of the event and chefs will be debuting the tastes of Scotland.

Festival Count

More than 300 national and international wines

More than 1.5-million sumptuous samplings throughout the festival

More than 100 of America's most celebrated chefs and 160 Walt Disney World chefs

More than 300 wine and beer seminars

More than 1,200 fireworks exploding each night over World Showcase Lagoon in "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" grand finale

138 Eat to the Beat! concerts

33,000 bottles of wine and champagne

1.5 million samplings throughout the festival

300,000 wine servings

360,000 beer servings

100,000 desserts served... sweet!

Festival Highlights

The Festival Welcome Center will again host daily wine seminars, bottle signings, author events and culinary demonstrations. Eat to the Beat! concerts will again entertain guests three times nightly at America Gardens Theatre. World Showcase will be the backdrop for performers from many countries as they sing, dance, perform arobatics and comedy for the festivities. A sampling of entertainment includes:

High-energy Celtic music of Off Kilter (Canada)

The Arabic rhythms of Mo'Rockin (Morocco)

Perfect harmony of Voices of Liberty (American Adventure rotunda)

Infectious beat of internationally acclaimed Mariachi Cobre (Mexico)

Retro British hits by British Revolution (United Kingdom)

Jaw-dropping stunts by The Jeweled Dragon Acrobats (China)

Hilarious antics of World Showcase Players (United Kingdom)

Along with the entertainment showcased at Epcot pavilions and special exhibits, festival guests can enjoy Eat to the Beat! concerts performed each evening at America Gardens Theatre in World Showcase. The evening concerts are scheduled daily at 5:30, 6:45 and 8:00 p.m. and are included with regular Epcot admission.

Canadian Culture

In the past, Canada had to fight for their cultural identity, the influence of its southern neighbor was just overwhelming. Over the last three decades of this struggle grew a whole galaxy of great writers, including Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Robertson Davies, Michael Ondaate, Mordecai Richler and Regina Ducharme, as well as a wave of world-renowned musicians such as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell , Neil Young, "Coubeaux Yankees and Diana Krall.

English and French - 2 official languages in Canada, although only New Brunswick is officially bilingual, all the maps, tourist brochures and labels on the products in 2 languages. French spoken in Canada, is slightly different from the language spoken in France. In Quebec, whose population is mostly of French origin, the local dialect called Quebec. Almost all residents understand the literary French. The differences between Quebec and the rest of the English-speaking Canada is not only in language. French influence in Quebec is manifested in architecture, music, cuisine and religion. Given the existence of cultural differences, it is clear why the relationship between French Quebec and English Canada often are, to put it mildly, problematic.

The official religion is Catholicism in Canada, which professes a large proportion of the population, but in addition there is a lot of Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and indigenous Indians and their traditional beliefs. In fact, going to church is not an obligation for members of all faiths. Recipes in English Canada has always been based on the rule, the thinner the better ", and although there is no any specific national dishes or unique culinary finds, you will always find a lot of delicious food. Almost all major cities have excellent Greek, Italian, East Indian and Chinese restaurants. In Quebec, on the contrary, there are a few typical national dishes that are worth a try: French onion soup, tourtieres (meat pies) and poutine (fries with sauce, baked with cheese). In the Atlantic provinces are preparing a special pie (pate a la rapure), something like a meat pie (meat, chicken or oysters), covered on top with ground paste to the potato state, from which all the starch is removed. Quebec is also known worldwide as the largest producer of maple syrup, made from the boiled sap of sugar maple. In Canada, produces some very good cheeses, particularly cheddar cheese. On that note, on the other coast rich in fish and seafood, which are very tasty. There are numerous laws and regulations governing the sale of alcohol in Canada: as a rule, you need to buy exclusively in the state shops (except Alberta, where there is a private trading firm, and Quebec, where beer and wine may be sold in local shops, called dipaneury that sometimes closed in the evenings, on Sundays (except Ontario), and always on holidays.