THOUSANDS of people enjoyed a taste of Thailand this weekend... without leaving Sussex.
Crowds packed Preston Park in Brighton for the Magic of Thailand Festival.
The two-day event arrived in the city after touring the country over the summer.
Festivities kicked off at 10am on Saturday and Sunday and went on until 7pm, with lots of events for families and visitors to get a sense of Thai culture.
A wide range of Thai activities and entertainment were on offer, including live cooking demonstrations, authentic cuisine, carving and produce, Thai boxing demonstrations, Ladyboy shows, fairground rides, a Thai beer garden, traditional music and dancing and massage stalls.
There was even an “I'm British… Get Me Out of Here!” eating competition.
The weekend, which was bathed in sunshine, proved a great success. People of all ages took part in the activities and sampled the vast variety of different food and drink.
Among those enjoying the festivities was Duncan Ladkin from Hollingbury who took his dog along.
Duncan said: “It’s great, the sun is shining, lots of nice-looking food and good music.
“It’s our first time at the festival but I’ve been to Thailand a couple of times before and a lot of the food stalls and things look like they’ve been taken right out of the country. It’s great.
“Preston Park is obviously much easier to get to.”
One of the organisers, Daniel Biggs, said: “It’s been lovely, the response we’ve been getting from everyone is great.
“Everyone has wanted to get outside, enjoy different cultures, obviously travel has been difficult over the past two years so we offer a little taste of being abroad.
“We’re very family focused, kids come in for free so it’s a nice exposure for them as well, to see different things, taste different things, smell different things.
“Brighton’s got a special energy about it, even when we arrived and the field was empty and we built the event you could just tell the energy of the city - it’s really enthusiastic and happy.”
Eve Khunjirateerawat, who co-presents the event on the main stage with Daniel, said: “Everything has been great, we love bringing a little of Thailand to the UK. I’m really enjoying it so far.”
Daniel and Eve and their teams will be travelling to Ealing in London for the final event of the summer tour the week after next.
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