THE smells of Thai food filled Bournemouth Square at the weekend for a celebration of cuisine and culture.

The third Thai Food Festival – which continues until 6pm today – aimed in particular to give those of mixed Thai and English heritage the chance to socialise and explore Thai food and culture.

As well as food on sale there was lots to see and do, including food workshops, Thai boxing demonstrations, classical dancing, songs and music.

Food came from restaurants from Bournemouth and beyond – including London, Surrey and Sussex.

One of the restaurants taking part was Thai Smile, from Boscombe.

Kam Grernsramoi, from the restaurant, said: “It’s a good event. It brings the Thai community together to enjoy food. It also means people can try new things.”

One of the organisers, Piyanan Tepnarin, of Bournemouth Thai School, said: “We hope to present the Thai food and culture to the world so they know about our culture and bring people in Bournemouth together. We get people from everywhere coming to the event.”

Deputy mayor Cllr Beryl Baxter, who helped open the festival with three bangs of a gong, said: “This is the third event now and it’s going from strength to strength. It’s a very successful event.”

Mark Smith, Bournemouth’s director of tourism, added: “What we’re trying to achieve with this event is to better understand Thai culture and Thai food.

“The Thai community are very special people and very similar to people in Bournemouth, as Bournemouth was voted the happiest town to live in.

“You will find happy people here and Thailand is known as the land of smiles.”

The event is the curtain raiser for the Thai Festival, which will be held in Kings Park, Bournemouth, on August 5.