Entertainment Acts Returning to Epcot!

There’s good news for fans of Walt Disney World entertainment! Three musical groups and performers have confirmed they’ll be returning to World Showcase at Epcot starting on October 1, 2021.

These groups will join the Voices of Liberty, Mariachi Cobre, and the JAMMitors (or JAMMin’ Chefs, as they’re called right now). Those musical acts currently perform in the America Gardens Theatre and Canada pavilion during the 2021 Epcot Food & Wine Festival.

Since the park reopened last July, those are the only normal Epcot entertainment acts that have performed with any degree of regularity. There have been other musical groups appearing at various festivals, but none of the other pre-closure World Showcase entertainers. That’ll change with the start of the World’s Most Magical Celebration…

You might’ve missed it in the chaotic news cycle, but right before Walt Disney World closed last March, the company terminated its relationship with numerous contract entertainment acts. World Showcase was hit particularly hard at that time, with the following all being cut:

• Matsuriza, the drummers in the Japan pavilion
• British Revolution, the band in the United Kingdom pavilion
• Serveur Amusant, the stacking-chair acrobats in the France pavilion,
• Master Juggler Sergio, the juggling clown act in the Italy pavilion.

These are just the entertainment acts that were notified in advance that they would not be brought back–and that posted about it on social media. Countless other performers simply have their statuses in limbo (literally too many to list here), and have not returned to Walt Disney World. Again, World Showcase has been disproportionately hit there.

Not to rehash the past or fixate on the negative. Simply the backdrop against which this news is set. In any case, let’s turn to the positive news, which is that World Showcase will soon become much more likely…

We’ll start with one of our favorite World Showcase groups: the Matsuriza Taiko Drummers announced on their Facebook page: “🚨WE ARE BACK AT EPCOT STARTING THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1ST!!!!🚨”

“We are so excited and grateful to come back for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration! All your continuous love and support during our time away has been sincerely appreciated and has kept our spirits high. Looking forward to seeing all your beautiful faces again. PLEASE COME SAY HI!!! We cannot wait to see you and perform for you at our Pagoda home once again. 🥰 This will truly be the world’s most magical celebration! Korekaramo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!!” (I wanted to include their full, excitement-filled post.)

Matsuriza Taiko Drummers will be performing in the Japan pavilion Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays. (Off Tuesdays and Wednesdays.)

Showtimes are as follows: 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 4:30 pm, and 5:30 pm.

Continuing around World Showcase to Italy, where Sergio the Italian Juggler will also return beginning October 1, 2021.

Per DisneyWorld.com, his performances will be at 12:30 pm, 1:35 pm, and 2:35 pm on 10/1, and then 11:50 am, 12:35 pm, and 1:20 pm thereafter. No showtimes are scheduled for Sunday or Monday.

Finally, Alberta Bound will be returning to the Mill Stage in the Canada Pavilion, beginning October 1, 2021. Showtimes will be 2:00 pm, 3:15 pm, 5:00 pm, 6:15 pm, and 7:30 pm.

(Apologies for the lack of illustrative performer photos. I’m working remotely and don’t have a single one saved in the cloud. I will rectify that this weekend!)

While this by no means fully restores the missing World Showcase entertainment, it’s a huge step in the right direction. For much of the last year, Epcot has felt dead in terms of atmosphere. There have been shows in the America Gardens Theatre and performances on the Canada Mill Stage, but that’s about it.

No live entertainment anywhere else, plus many merchandise locations and other offerings closed. We enjoy the serene atmosphere of World Showcase at night after the crowds have cleared out, but not during the middle of the day. Without the live performers that previously inhabited the pavilions, World Showcase has lacked its normal sense of conviviality.

This should help restore that sense of energy, making several pavilions feel much more alive than previously. Along with the other performers, the next big improvement will occur when the Cultural Representative program returns. That was suspended last year along with Disney’s other internship and professional programs, and the vast majority of those Cast Members returned to their home countries.

These Cultural Representatives staff their respective World Showcase pavilions, offering an added layer of authenticity to the experience. We absolutely love chatting with the Cast Members in World Showcase—everyone we’ve encountered has eagerly educated us about their home cities or countries, and offered opinions on working in the United States–they’re great informal ambassadors.

With that said, it is worth noting that there’s a difference between entertainment and the lack of Cultural Representative program–Walt Disney World’s hands are largely tied until broader border reopenings occur.

In any case, it’s great to hear that three World Showcase entertainment acts are returning in time for the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Here’s hoping we have more positive news like this in the near future, perhaps with confirmation of the Holiday Storytellers returning for the 2021 Epcot International Festival of the Holidays?

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Your Thoughts

What do you think of the news that Matsuriza Taiko Drummers, Alberta Bound, and Sergio the Italian Juggler will return to World Showcase beginning October 1, 2021? Hope this is just the start of more entertainment making a comeback at Walt Disney World? Optimistic about this restoration, or still disappointed by the lack of atmospheric acts in the parks? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!