Festival of the Masters

Another late review!
Festival of the Masters is an event that is held at Downtown Disney where art from various locations are displayed around the West Side and Marketplace. There are chalk artists drawing in front of World of Disney as well as along the marina at West Side. There are also art and crafts kiosks set up around West Side displaying different types of art. This passed year in 2013 there was also food trucks scattered around for the event which was a pretty festive touch!
If you’re into art I would highly suggest popping by for this event!

The Festival of the Masters is an open-​air arts festival with more than 300 artists held at Downtown Disney in the fall. Being able to walk through each of the tents and admire the art is such a joy. We always leave feeling inspired!
Throughout the festival there is a variety of music artists at various location and many of the sit-​down restaurants have tents to purchase a quick bite to eat. Michael’s hosts a handful of interactive craft activities, from creating souvenirs to contributing to a huge Mickey mural. We have never partaken in these, but they look enjoyable.
The Disney Artist Tent is somewhere we always make sure to stop by. It features over 20 official Disney Artwork artists and festival merchandise. The artists are often there throughout the day for meet and greets. We have been able to have some of the artwork we purchased at the tent signed in the past.
I believe our number one highlight at the festival is the sidewalk chalk artists. The chalk artists are from the Central Florida Chalk Artists Association, with an adult and youth division. I can never get over the pure magic they create with chalk. Often they are going off a photograph or famous painting, and they look like exact replicas! We typically attend the festival on Saturday, so we can see the chalk artists further in their pieces.
It may make us a kid at heart, but we like to contribute to the interactive Lego Mural. At the mural station they provide a small block for attendees to build with various colors. It sounds easy, but they can be challenging because many of the colors look similar. After we finished our blocks, we were able to place into the larger mural with assistance of an employee. It is rewarding to see the progress of the mural throughout the festival.
I will continue to keep this event marked on our calendar for years to come.

I know I signed up for the food truck event but instead ended up coming to the Festival of the Masters because a friend of a friend was competing in the sidewalk chalk art event.
All of the entries were amazing and we were talking about how it’s amazing to think that there are so many people out there who have true artistic talent.
There were a couple that stood out for me such as: «Steam Punk» and «The Thai Mermaid» They were just really different and made you think about what drove them to do these artworks. I wish the artists had stuck around towards the end though.
The weather was perfect and the smell of food coming from all directions combined to make it quite the enjoyable (and hungry) evening. If you enjoy art and photography, this is a fun little event to go to.