Thai Temple Unveiled

Thai Culture & Food Festival opens up secret treasures for first time in Dallas

Thai dance troupes are on the menu at the first Thai Culture & Food Festival, taking place May 24-25.

Photo courtesy of Thai Culture & Food Festival

Dallas-Fort Worth does not lack for spring festivals, but the Thai Culture & Food Festival brings something new. The two-day affair premieres May 24-25 at the Buddhist Center of Dallas.

Organized by the Thai Community Center of North Texas, the festival's goal is to share Thai culture beyond the local Thai-American community, says spokeswoman Teresa Nguyen.

"Festivals are not new to the Thai community," she says. "There are two annual festivals — the Songkran Festival celebrating the Thai New Year in April, and the Loy Krathong, or the Light Festival, which happens in the fall. Those have been observed mostly by the Thai community.

Throughout the weekend, attendees can expect Thai dance troupes and boxing matches, Thai art for sale, and food from all four regions of Thailand.

"The organizers hope this will open it up to everybody and expand awareness of Thai culture, religion, food and products."

The festival begins with a parade and opening ceremony at 11 am on May 24. Throughout the weekend, attendees can expect entertainment such as dance troupes; Thai boxing matches; Thai art for sale; food-carving presentations; and Thai food from all four regions of the country, including vegan offerings, prepared by more than 200 Thai-owned restaurants in North Texas.

The Thai community in Dallas-Fort Worth began to coalesce about 30 years ago and estimates its size to be more than 25,000 people. Its biggest inroad into culture is through food, namely Thai restaurants. The community has several Buddhist temples located in Dallas, Keller, Irving and Arlington. There's a Thai Chamber of Commerce and a cultural center at the Buddhist Center of Dallas.

"The Buddhist Center is the heart of the Thai community," Nguyen says. "It's where they hold events as well as services on Sunday."

Those Sunday services include a kind of street fair from 1 to 3 pm, where vendors ply, among other things, a uniquely homey style of Thai food that will also be available at this event.

"It's women and men who have been making Thai food for 20 years," Nguyen says. "There's a loyal audience that comes every Sunday. It's so cheap, and the food is so good. I almost don't want people to know about it. It's been one of those cool little secrets."

The center just built a brand-new temple, which will be open to the public for the first time, with guided tours. "It's significant not just for religious purposes but also for the art," Nguyen says. "You have to see it. It has a mural filled with intricacy. It's beautiful."

Proceeds from the festival support the Buddhist Center of Dallas and Thai Community Center of North Texas. Established in 1998, TCCNT's mission is to preserve Thai culture, religion and tradition through educational training, counseling and informational programs, with specific emphasis on the needs of youths, the elderly and the poor.

The Thai Culture & Food Festival runs May 24, 11 am-9 pm, and May 25, 10 am-6 pm. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit the festival website.

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Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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