Virtual food festivals highlighting Thai food and culture // 2020–2021
Building on Turnstile’s experience with food-focused tours and virtual programming, we were engaged by marketing and communications agency ELMNTL on behalf of Thai Select USA to produce two series of online programs about Thai cuisine and culture. Produced during the height of the pandemic in the fall of 2020, the first series “Thai Food in America,” featured certified Thai Select restaurants from across the US with tutorials on Thai ingredients and cooking techniques and live cooking demos from 11 different restaurants across six hour-long virtual programs, including a live broadcast from Thailand. The second series in the summer of 2021, “Passport to the Northeast,” engaged not just restaurants in the Northeast region, but food suppliers, tour guides, and scholars to explore topics related to Thai foodways, diaspora communities, language, and culture. The series also included an interactive map of more than 100 certified restaurants and Thai business and cultural sites stretching from North Carolina to New England.
Photo by Clay Williams Photography