Thai Festival brings food, dance and community to Portland this weekend

It’s hard to miss Portland’s enthusiasm for Thai food. According to Nick Stanley, the Thai honorary consulate general in Portland, the metro area is home to more than 125 Thai restaurants.

“You can argue that Thai cuisine is really one of the cornerstones of what makes Portland competitive with regard to tourism,” said Stanley.

Stanley, Mayor Keith Wilson and representatives from the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles will speak at Portland’s largest celebration of Thai culture and community on Saturday.

The Portland Thai Festival returns Saturday and Sunday, promising two days of Thai food, music and cultural celebration in the heart of the city. Held at The Yard Apartments in Portland’s Central Eastside, the free outdoor event invites visitors of all backgrounds to experience the warmth and creativity of Thai culture.

The diversity and abundance of Thai food in Portland was one inspiration for the festival, said Sith Chaisurote, president of Land and Houses USA, which owns The Yard Apartments and helped launch the festival.

Backed by a Central Eastside Industrial Council’s “Better Together” program grant, this year’s festival expands on last summer’s debut, which drew more than 10,000 attendees and sold out many vendor dishes.

“The responses from the visitors were great, and the vendors were also very successful,” Chaisurote said. “We want to activate the neighborhood a little bit… to enjoy everything that area has to offer.”

Around 80% of the vendors at last year’s inaugural festival will return. Among them is Sarah Jansala, chef and owner of Kati Thai Vegan on Southeast Division Street.

“I thought it was pretty amazing that we got together as a Thai community and to share the childhood experience through food and activity with new friends or Oregonians,” Jansala said of last year’s event. “It’s like bringing back my childhood memory. … On the streets of Thailand, we have street food festivals pretty much every weekend.”

This year, she’ll serve vegan-friendly dishes such as curry puffs, fresh spring rolls and mango sticky rice. The variety of Thai cuisine is one of the event’s large draws, Chaisurote said. However, other cuisines — such as Laotian and Japanese — will also be featured among festival vendors.

“It would showcase what the businesses can offer,” Chaisurote said about the festival. “It would show the uniqueness of the culture and also how it could blend in with the community. We are part of creative diversity, and that’s something to be celebrated.”

Beyond food, the event will also exhibit traditional Thai dance by the Thai Association of Oregon and Thai boxing demonstrations from Seattle-based Muay Thai Group. Chaisurote said the festival will highlight another important aspect of Thai culture: its focus on health and wellness with businesses such as the Oregon Meditation Center and Knot Springs, a spa inside The Yard Apartments.

“Health and wellness is also important,” Chaisurote said. “Showcasing meditation is a way to help cope with issues with anxiety, depression and uncertainty that we’re seeing in the world.”

The range of vendors and activities helps highlight the Portland Thai community’s diverse contributions, organizers said. Chaisurote and Stanley hope to draw even more attendees than last year to celebrate and uplift the Thai community.

“It’s good for all the people to get together,” Chaisurote said. “Not just Thai, but Asian, and also people who love food and cultural diversity to get together and celebrate.”

If you go: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, June 21-22; The Yard Apartments, 33 N.E. Third Ave., Portland; free to attend; tasteofthailandpdx.com

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated that former Mayor Ted Wheeler would speak at the Portland Thai Festival. Mayor Keith Wilson is the scheduled speaker.