May is an awesome time of year to be in Japan, it is starting to get hot without being unbearably comfortable and there are a ton of international or cultural events taking place each weekend. In Osaka alone there are a few events and festivals happening every weekend! This weekend on the 23rd and 24th May, the 13th Annual Thai Festival comes to Osaka! If you are a big fan of thai food, I highly recommend it.
It takes place in the Osaka Castle grounds so its a good excuse to enjoy the local sights while also enjoying some foreign food. Unlike other events, there is no entry fee, you can come and go as you please and there is no problem with taking out your food an drinks. Which is a blessing considering that the available seating is ALWAYS full if you don't get there early. Near the event there were a ton of people sitting on the grass and walls happily enjoying a Singha while munching on some Pad Thai.
So you enter the area and are faced with this...!
It takes place in the Osaka Castle grounds so its a good excuse to enjoy the local sights while also enjoying some foreign food. Unlike other events, there is no entry fee, you can come and go as you please and there is no problem with taking out your food an drinks. Which is a blessing considering that the available seating is ALWAYS full if you don't get there early. Near the event there were a ton of people sitting on the grass and walls happily enjoying a Singha while munching on some Pad Thai.
So you enter the area and are faced with this...!
The layout of the area seemed a bit...bare to be honest. Everything was laid out in a big semi circle with food stands on the right and centre, a stage and culture related goods in the middle, and general thai stores on the left. The remaining space was filled with lines, lines and more lines, like every festival event in Japan...the line for mango ice alone was roughly 60 people long!
There were a variety of drinks available, with 3 local beers and 2 local wines, with a variety of extra cocktails too, thankfully the booze bars had the shortest lines! So stock up on something to drink while you wait for food.
As you can see here the food was reasonably priced! Comparable to local prices for food at Japanese festivals, it doesn't break the bank. Normally international events like this charge WAY more, for example at Octoberfest, they were charging 1200+ for a small selection of sausages, whereas here I can get a big packet of pad thai for 500yen, good stuff! This combined with the open entry meant that this event felt a lot more 'free' than the others which often restrict you.
The food was pretty reasonable, it obviously doesn't compare to a decent thai restaurant but if you want your fix you can definitely get it here. I don't recommend the pad thai as the flavour was lacking but the noodle curry dish above was epic, really really good value for the price. The fried goods such as chicken and spicy pork were really good too. Most of the servers and cooks appeared to be Thai which was a nice bonus!
However, apart from the food and drink, there was a lot going on...events were few and far between with long lulls between performances. The cultural stores too were located too far away from everything else and too small to actually have an impact. The one thing I did get hyped about was the Thai Boxing ring but found out that I had sadly missed the time slot!
I did managed to catch a music performance as well as some Muay Thai fighters doing a traditional dance though.
Overall I would say that the Thai Festival is worth it but don't plan on spending the whole day there, especially if you don't get there early enough for seating. It is best enjoyed as a few hour detour on a day out, due to its location you can go and enjoy the castle grounds or hop on a train to Shinsaibashi or something with a belly full of Thai food and beer!
To find out more information you can visit the official website at http://www.thaifes.com/
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