Originally known as night bazaars and popular in places like Taiwan and Hong Kong, night markets have staked their claim all over Metro Vancouver.
Local communities have put their own spin on the night bazaar, offering an array of styles, shopping choices and even yearly themes – not to mention cotton candy, chicken skewers, barbecued squid and Betty’s Vodka Iced Tea. When the sun goes down, the bazaar choices are plenty.
With the Vancouver Chinatown Night Market on indefinite hiatus due to financial constraints according to the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area Society, other sites are filling the void. The latest addition to the scene is North Vancouver’s Shipyards Night Market, which started in 2011 and runs at Shipbuilders’ Square.
The night market’s founder, Ingrid Doerr, said when it comes to running the market, two words guide every decision: local and sustainable.
“It’s pretty much our No. 1 mandate. The whole reason we started this was to support local, to really introduce local to North Van through kind of a one-stop shop.”
Doerr said she originally started the Shipyards Night Market for local farmers and artisans to sell their goods, but it has grown organically and exponentially since its inception.
“We’ve also turned into one of the largest food truck festivals; we’ve got almost 40 food vendors now. There’s craft beer that we have on tap and a beer garden, and it’s all about having a green market, which means we go through and sort all the garbage after for recycling. We got down to one bag for the whole market.”
To the south is probably Metro Vancouver’s best-known market, the Richmond Night Market, celebrating its 15th year.
This year’s “Lolliduck’s Magical Adventure” theme encompasses a 45-foot pirate boat and smoke-spewing cannons. Manager Karen Wan said the market, which has more than 300 retail booths and 100 food vendors, attracts about 10,000 people per night.
“I think it’s about having a lot of variety,” Wan said. “And outdoor entertainment, good food and fun for everyone in the family – that’s what makes it good.”
Richmond also has the International Summer Night Market, which is in the midst of a Hug-A-Thon campaign, with the help of Olympic snowboarder Alexa Loo, to set the Guinness World Record for most hugs in a hour.
To the east in Surrey, Satbir Singh Cheema and his business partners are hoping for the one thing they can’t control when it comes to the night market scene – good weather.
“Everything is on track, and everyone is supportive,” said Cheema, who serves as the market’s media spokesman. “Fraser Health, the city, bylaws, the fairgrounds people – everybody wants to help out.”
In 2014, Surrey’s inaugural market was initially met with long lineups and some mixed reviews during its two-month run. This year, Sunday has been added each weekend, and Cheema is hoping they can learn from their inaugural glitches.
Cheema said an average of close to 3,000 people attended the market each night last year. •
– With files from Tom Zillich
