The annual Thai Cultural Festival, hosted by the Thai embassy, is a Canberra ‘must do’ foodie event , the second last Sunday each September.
The sense of community, fun, elegance and style is everywhere amongst those hosting cooking and dancing demonstrations, stall holders and the roaming band of musicians.

Many of Canberra’s finest Thai restaurants have gone to an enormous amount of trouble to bring an abundance of Thai dishes and delicacies to the beautiful embassy grounds.
Gracious cooks take great pride and interest in introducing fellow Canberrans to their much loved cuisine. A whole afternoon can be enjoyed here, picnicing in the grounds and enjoying the food and entertainment.
It is surely the next best thing to actually travelling to Thailand and a welcome reminder of all the joys of Asian foodie travel.

 
A few good tips to know include:

1. Take spare plastic takeaway containers and plastic cutlery to make sharing a few dishes easier, so that you can sample a larger range of flavours, and take some home for dinner.
2. While it’s fun to enjoy the energy at lunchtime, it’s also easier to chat with restaurant staff about their food after about 2pm when the crowds at the food stalls have dwindled (and even get some bargains to take home, if some dishes are reduced).
3. Take a good look around before making food decisions as there is so much variety, including some delicious desserts.
4. Be prepared to really enter into the community spirit and have fun.