Do you enjoy eating a variety of delicious food from around the world? Then I’m fairly certain that you’d be interested in the Richmond Night Market!
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The market is an annual event, it happens every year, and it is open from the end of April to October on the weekends. It takes place in Richmond, and is basically just a massive international food festival, but there are also vendors selling other, non-food related wares. It was founded 23 years ago by Raymond Cheung, and has been expanding and developing ever since, and is now considered the biggest night market in North America. Each year features a new theme, with this year being “Summer Wonderland”. When I hear summer wonderland, I imagine Alice in Wonderland going on summer vacation…but I’m not sure how they’ve done it over at the night market, since I haven’t been yet this year! Apparently, there is a wonderland forest, and a ton of rainbow-colored decorations to explore.
Opening day was April 28th, and the market is open every weekend from then until October 9th, so there is plenty of time to visit throughout the summer.
Food is the main attraction of the night market–there are stalls upon stalls, each offering different things. According to their website, the market has over 600 different food items, which is a crazy amount! The foods also come from all sorts of cultures–this year’s market includes foods from Turkey, Mexico, and Indonesia for the first time! The market is a great opportunity to try street foods in particular, which can be very different from stuff you’d get in a restaurant. The only drawback from the market is the prices of everything…on top of the $8 entrance fee, the food itself can be somewhat expensive. But if you’re getting only a couple things, it really isn’t too bad!
In addition to the food, the night market also has entertainment! The market has a live stage with performances ranging from martial arts demonstrations to musicians and dancers. There’s also a giant bouncy castle for kids…but I do wish that they’d let adults in, too, because that sounds really fun, and I cannot remember the last time I went into a bouncy castle. But now that I’m thinking about it, maybe combining eating a lot of food with jumping up and down in a bouncy castle may not be the greatest idea.
If you’re looking for something fun to do in the evening, I recommend the Richmond Night Market!