ORLANDO, Fla. — When one Disney World festival ends, it's not long before another one begins.

Just a little over a week after wrapping its Festival of the Arts, Disney has kicked off Taste of Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, a modified version of the long-running springtime event.

The festival will last four months this time around after being cut short in 2020 when Disney World closed in mid-March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year's version of the event will include familiar offerings — as well as some new ones — including new Outdoor Kitchens, a new themed garden, and a new lineup of live entertainment.

Here's what you should know about Taste of Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

New Food Items to Savor

There will be more than 20 Outdoor Kitchens around the World Showcase serving up sweet and savory dishes. Two of the Outdoor Kitchens are new this year. At Epcot Sunshine Griddle, visitors will find a menu featuring brunch items like avocado toast, shrimp and grits, and fried cinnamon roll bites with cream cheese frosting. The other new booth, Epcot Farmers Feast, will feature a rotating season menu. The first menu will include spring onion soup and duck confit.

Concerts Have Returned

When Disney World resumed its festivals at Epcot last year, something was noticeably absent from the entertainment options: concerts. Live performances from Epcot staples like Voices of Liberty and Mariachi Cobre were offered but due to the pandemic, bigger musical acts were unable to come. So for this edition of the Flower & Garden Festival, six local bands will make up the "City Beautiful" concert series. The concerts will be offered every weekend (Friday through Monday) at the America Gardens Theatre. The bands scheduled to perform include EPIC, Motown in Motion, the Vintage Vinyl Band, and Latin Ambition. Check the Festival Guide for times and dates. 

Character Topiaries

The topiaries designed to look like various Disney characters are back. Many of the ones featured this year are the same as years past, although some are in different spots. Sorcerer Mickey Mouse as well as Broom and the Ostriches and the Hippo from Fantasia greet visitors at the entrance. Over in France, visitors will find Beauty and the Beast, along with Remy, who is getting his own attraction at the pavilion. Other topiaries include Anna and Elsa in Norway, Lady and the Tramp in Italy, and Tinker Bell in the U.K.

New Prehistoric Garden

The Flower & Garden Festival often has a number of gardens for visitors to explore or take pictures of, and this year is no exception. In addition to the Tropical Rainforest Garden at the Mexico pavilion, the Kokedama Garden at the Japan pavilion and several other gardens, the festival features a new "Prehistoric Garden" over by Future World East. The small garden contains stones with dinosaur fossils. Visitors can also see butterflies up close in the Goodness Garden Butterfly House.

The Taste of Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival runs through July 5.