First Asian food festival offers cultural feast
THE first Gloucestershire Asian Food Festival was held over the weekend in Cheltenham’s Promenade.
There were stalls selling a variety of Asian cuisines – Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Sri Lankan, Iranian and Persian – and Asian cultural performances were staged.
There were also traditional products made by the indigenous people in the Borneo jungle.
The event was initiated by Josephine Laurence, director of the start-up company Global UK Asia and a graduate in international business management from the Royal Agricultural University. Originally from Malaysia, she saw the potential for starting something creative.
She said: “Participating in cultural events is a good exposure for people to broaden their perspectives and gain more knowledge of the world, which result in the acceptance and tolerance of other cultures.”
People had the opportunity to talk to the stallholders and meet the performers and join in with the performances.
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