Our planet feeds us, shelters us, and provides great fun. The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will celebrate Earth Day all weekend April 22-24.
Start your Earth Day fun by checking out the Festival’s first-time expansion into The Land, where you can see large overlays of edible flowers. The greens harvested from the pavilion are part of the Field Greens salad at the Cider House outdoor kitchen. Can’t get fresher than that!
For an occasion that celebrates environmental protection, the Festival folks certainly sniffed out the right guest for the weekend-long festivities.
A pocket beagle named Captain Ron is gearing up for beach season, and is taking a break to meet guests at The Seas. During the summer, three days a week, he can be found at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, assisting Disney’s Sea Turtle Conservation team in detecting the location of freshly laid eggs in sea turtle nests. This helps the team protect the nests.
You’ll have a chance to meet Captain Ron and his trainer Pepe Peruyero, at 10:30 a.m, 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Earth Day weekend. The duo will give a short presentation about their work, and will be available for photos.
You can help our butterfly scientists collect data about these creatures and their plant preferences in our new Citizen Science project at the Pollinator Garden. The data will be used to help some of the endangered butterfly species.
As we’ve shared a few weeks ago, purple martins enjoy visiting Walt Disney World Resort too – they even have their own “resort” at Epcot! At 11:00 a.m. each day during Earth Day weekend, you can get an up-close look at a nest with a purple martin expert, presented by the The Florida Audubon.
At the Festival Center, catch horticulture and wildlife experts leading seminars about aquaponics, making your property wildlife-friendly and how to grow new plants from the plants you already have.
And don’t forget young guests can frolic in our play gardens, Music Garden Melodies and Cactus Road Rally. At night, stroll through our gardens adorned with twinkling lights before ending your time at the Festival.
Cheers to you, Earth!
