Approximately 13,000 participants attended the Festival over the course of two days on22 – 23 October 2022. Highlights of the event includedtraditionalThai dance from the Office of Performing Arts, the Department of Fine Arts, the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, which had an MOU on cultural exchange with Saga Prefecture, restaurant booths using local ingredients to cook Thai food, Thai handicraft workshops anda booth exhibiting a pen pal project between Thai and Saga students.

The Royal Thai Consulate-General in Fukuoka,the Tourism Authority of Thailand, FukuokaOffice, andthe Office of Thai Trade Representative in Hiroshima,joined hands toorganize a promotional booth on Thailand’s tourism, handicrafts and products.

Saga Prefectural Government has beenorganizing the event for six consecutive years since 2017. The event was warmly welcomed by both Thai and Japanese people, which reflects close and warm friendship that Saga people have towards Thailand and Thaipeople.The number of Saga residentsinterested inand travelling to Thailand has increased every year.

Saga Prefecture also has close relations with Thailand in otherdimensions. The prefecture wasthe host town for the Thai national archery and rowing teams during Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2020. Recently, the prefecture andthe Fine Arts Department of Thailand also co-organize“The Endless Epic of Japanese-Thai Ceramic Relationship in the World’s Trade and Culture”Exhibition held from 14 September to 14 December 2022at the National Museum Bangkok, in honor of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother’s 90th Birthday and Her Majesty’s dedicated work in promoting crafts and ceramic works. The said exhibition also commemorates the 135^thanniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Thailand and Japan.