THOUSANDS of visitors made Warwick Rotary Club 17th Thai festival last weekend, the best ever, according to organisers. Thousands packed Warwick Racecourse over two days, encouraged by warm weather and the chance to meet up again.
The event, which was originally rescheduled from June due to continued Covid restrictions, took place at Warwick Racecourse with partner Magic of Thailand which has run six festivals around the country this summer.
Warwick Mayor Cllr Richard Edgington opened proceedings on Saturday, introduced by Rotary President Paul Jaspal, and prayers and blessings by Buddhist Monks added to the atmosphere throughout the weekend.
Clothing sold well and spices and foodstuffs did a busy trade as the opportunity was taken to stock up on herbs and spices. Then it was time to get some food and a Singha beer and settle down to watch a programme of Thai traditional dancing, local Muay Thai kick boxers, and even ladyboys. It wasn’t long before the crowd started to party down by the stage!
Paul Jaspal said: “Warwick Rotary club has worked with the Thai people since the Tsunami in 2004 when it started an annual festival of culture and food to raise money to help orphans. We have stayed in touch over the years and recently sent aid to Thailand during the pandemic. It was good to be able to meet up again and it was clear that England and Thailand were having a great time in Warwick this weekend as no-one wanted to go home!”
The festival was sponsored by Kia Cars, Warwick Castle, and Singha Beer, and was attended by visitors from the Thai embassy in UK. CJ Events provided stalls, the 2nd Warwick Sea Scouts helped park all the cars for two days, Warwick Ambulance and Warwick Lions were in attendance as well as Rotarians from other clubs helping to marshal the event.
