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Central Mall is hosting a major two-day festival featuring Asian street foods and anime-themed fun, along with lion dancers, sumo wrestlers, cosplay and more.

Otaku Food Festival is set for noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Central Mall near the American Freight entrance of the mall, 3100 FM 365 in Port Arthur.

Vincent Tran, who is bringing the festival to Port Arthur, gave a run down of the action packed two-day fest.

Outside the mall will be food vendors making fresh dishes on the spot. This gives the customer a chance to see the ingredients and watch the cooking process. There will be food from across Asia, including Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Taiwanese, fusion foods, Korean and some Latin foods.

“It’s all street food but not food trucks, they will all be in booths,” Tran said. “The reason we prefer this way is the experience. You get to see the food made before your eyes. A food truck has a different ambiance. We want people to watch.”

There is a disadvantage though.

Depending on the product the wait time could be as long as two hours, he said.

It’s not that the cooks are going slow, it’s that the food is being prepared there and freshly made.

Going in through the mall’s main entrance near American Freight, patrons will see sumo wrestling on one side and an anime village to the left composed of 40 to 50 artists who create their own products.

There will be vendors inside and a stage area near Dillard’s, where there will be cosplay contests, local lion dancers from the Queen of Vietnam church group and Texas-based anime voice actors will be on site for photographs.

The event is free, and parking is free.

“This is a family friendly event. We don’t allow vendors to sell inappropriate items,“ Tran said.

Tran encourages visitors to bring cash, though other forms of payment are accepted. He said sometimes card readers may have a bad sign and thus delay the purchase.

The festival could bring in as many as 10,000 people over the two-day event, he said.

“I suggest people come early, the parking lot will fill up fast. If they want food, it starts around 11:30 a.m.

Tran said the sumo wrestlers are a nonprofit group out of Houston. In the past Tran sponsored a tournament for Houston groups and the Japanese Consulate came out to watch.

Benefit for Central Mall, city and area

The festival marks the first large-scale event held at Central Mall since it came under new ownership with 4^th Dimensions Properties.

Tammy Kotzur, executive director of the Port Arthur Convention and Visitors Bureau, is excited to see the ownership working to bring events to the community and hopes it leads to additional shopping.

“We’re excited to have the event coming to Port Arthur,” Kotzur said.

Tran believes the mall tenants will see triple their normal sales due to the foot traffic from the Otaku festival.

“Anything we can do to help the community,” Tran said. “We do want to come back, be honest and helpful. It has mutual benefits for both of us.”

He also hopes the festival brings younger people to the mall who may be visiting it for the first time.

“We hope people come and support the vendors. Most are from Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. It’s our first time here and the goal is to come every few months,” he said.
He anticipates needing more vendors in the future and more support.

For more information, go to Otaku Food Festival on Facebook.