Richmond Summer Night Market
Opens May 30th and runs to October 5th, 2008.
Press release from May 21st, ripped from the website:
Following a public hearing at Richmond City Hall last night, Paul Cheung of Lions Communications was granted a land-use permit to operate a Summer Night Market for the next two years. Cheung confirmed that his group is set to open the market on Friday, May 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Although the site was targeted by vandalism recently, Cheung says that the event will be powered by emergency generators while electrical repairs estimated at $100,000 are underway. The main service pole was cut down and the fuses and wiring were ripped out. The RCMP are currently investigating this incident.
Several Richmond business owners spoke at the public hearing, citing concerns such as parking and garbage. Cheung says his team of experienced event producers has consulted extensively with neighbourhood residents and businesses and will be able to effectively manage these issues with the hiring of professional traffic controllers, a large janitorial crew, and ongoing consultation with neighbours after every weekend.
“I’m thrilled that the City gave us approval, and I want to thank everyone who supported and helped us during this process,” says Cheung. “We are committed to making this year’s Night Market a safe, fun, family-friendly event and I’m so happy that we were given the opportunity to do so.”
Over 160 vendors are registered to set up shop. In addition, Lions Communications has donated two booths: one to the Tzu Chi Foundation to raise funds for China’s Sichuan earthquake victims, and the other to the Richmond Firefighters Union. Last year, Richmond Firefighters raised $33,000 for various charities.
Lions Communications plans to run the weekends-only Summer Night Market from May 30 through October 5 at 12631 Vulcan Way, a large site behind Home Depot. Event hours will be from 7:00 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, and from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday and holiday Monday. Admission is free, with a $4.00 fee for parking on site.
Previous night markets held at the site, with more than 300 vendors selling everything from clothing to food, have attracted from 12,000 to 14,000 visitors a night. Improvements to be made for this year’s night market include reduced parking costs, professional traffic management and additional buses to provide better access to the 400,000 square foot site.
I haven’t been to one of these markets in Richmond but I understand that the food is plentiful and cheap, the vendors are hawking “cheap” goods, and it gets quite busy and loud. Might appeal to the younger crowd but it may be worthwhile to atleast check it out once.
The food is cheap and plentiful at the night market and quite literally has me drooling as I think about it…very delish.
According to the CBC:
The Asian night market in Richmond will reopen Friday night as planned, but a major part of the popular attraction will be missing.
Operator Paul Cheung told CBC News he has spent about $500,000 over the past two weeks to get the site ready for opening night, but the plumbing for the food court isn’t ready yet
Cheung says the problems should be worked out by mid- to late June, but in the meantime, there will be regular carnival-type food available.
“There are going to be self-contained stands that will provide food,” said Cheung. “I think a lot of the Asian foods are affected, but in terms of other foods — the mini donut truck [for example] — they’re all going to be there. So its not completely like there’s no food.”
The previous version of the night market, run by a different operator, was one of the biggest summer events in Richmond, attracting more than 10,000 people a night with its discount shopping and a range of hot Asian food.
But the operators shut down the night market last year, saying high rents made it impossible to keep operating.
Cheung is still hoping for a good crowd for his opening night and hopes the spotlight will be on the other attractions, including the shopping.