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Coming up roses
In today’s Calendar section, Dewayne Bevil goes inside Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival. Savor the sights, sounds and tastes of this year’s blooming celebration. Also, find interviews with cabaret star Alan Cumming and comedian Elayne Boosler and reviews for “The Shack,” “Logan” and more.
It would probably be inappropriate to say that the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival has been growing like a weed. But it would be pretty accurate. Walt Disney World’s springtime event will have a 90-day run this year, and some of its more popular elements are undergoing expansions and improvements.
The festival’s trademark topiaries are in place, but one of the figures has had an upgrade. Again, it would probably not be appropriate to say Belle, the heroine of “Beauty and the Beast,” has had a face-lift, so let’s just say she’s had a makeover.
This version of Belle has joined the next generation of topiary figures with realisticlooking facial features — not just a blank, green, leafy expression. Disney sculptors had a hand in her face, in a good way.
“When you look at Belle, you’re not looking at a piece of horticulture. You’re looking at an individual piece of Disney artwork that we’ve been working on now for quite a few years,” said Eric Darden, horticulture manager of the festival.
It makes sense for Belle to be beautified a bit because Disney’s live-action version of the film, starring Emma Watson, debuts March 17. Her topiary stands alongside the Beast figure in a spot in the theme park’s France pavilion, just uphill from the fountain. The new Belle is the fourth one to get a more realistic look. This year, her cohorts Anna and Elsa (the “Frozen” sisters) stand in the Norway pavilion and Snow White — flanked by seven dwarfs — is in Germany.
Also new to the festival is a Figment topiary that rests between Spaceship Earth and the Fountain of Nations. The 6-foot dragon, sitting atop a 5-foot ball, actually debuted during the recent Epcot International Festival of the Arts, but it will stay in place through the end of Flower & Garden. Disney has changed out its surrounding
flower bed with more colorful blooms.
New eats
The festival’s edible offerings also are growing. Two outdoor kitchens have been added to the lineup of World Showcase options: Northern Bloom, which concentrates on Canadian cuisine, and Berry Basket, near the entrance of World Showcase, on the Mexico side of the loop.
The berry-centric marketplace echoes a pattern set by last year’s outdoor kitchen devoted to tomatoes.
“We really thought that featuring the one food group, especially during springtime, would really resonate with our guests,” said Gregg Hannon, culinary director of Epcot. So get ready for lamb chop with blackberry gastrique or a wild berry buckle.
At Northern Bloom, seared scallops with green beans, butter potatoes, brown-butter vinaigrette and applewood-smoked bacon is one of the items on the menu. “We wanted to feature the great produce that’s being harvested during springtime in a certain region of a country,” Hannon said.
Meanwhile, at Florida Fresh there will be carne asada and a key lime tart.
“We wanted to go a little south … South Florida,” he said.
On stage
The Garden Rocks concert series has expanded to four nights a week. Artists put in three performances nightly at the park’s America Gardens Theater.
“Whether you discovered music as a child of the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, even ’90s, this music still rocks, it still moves, it still excites today,” said Marsha Jackson-Randolph, a show director at Walt Disney World.
Jon Secada (“Just Another Day”) will sing today and Saturday, with Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx, performing Sunday and Monday. Upcoming singers will include the Pointer Sisters, the Little River Band and the Spinners. New to the lineup this year are Simple Plan, Exposé and Berlin.
There’s a throwback feel to the series, which was once known as Flower Power.
“It’s so great to be able to share the music that I grew up listening to with my kids,” Jackson-Randolph said.
Rest of fest
Other festival notes include:
The flower bed near the Epcot entrance will feature topiaries of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Pluto and a maypole. Donald Duck and his nephews are part of a photo op closer to World Showcase.
Cruz — a new topiary based on this summer’s “Cars 3” release — will be parked in the Road to Florida 500 Garden.
Dozens of character topiaries are installed in the weeks leading up to the festival. Among the returning favorites: Simba, Tinker Bell, Winnie the Pooh, and Lady and Tramp.
There are more than 70,000 bedding plants forming the murals on the banks of the lakes of Future World.
Some adult beverages available to explore include the Twinings berry mint julep; the maple popcorn shake (made with Crown Royal maple whiskey); and the urban fairy (made with absinthe). dbevil@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5477