Chinatown Night Market closing after 17 years
Posted June 4, 2014 10:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A Vancouver councillor says alternatives are being explored for the Chinatown Night Market — which will no longer be setting up for summer evenings on Keefer Street after a 17-year-run.
Cost is still a major hurdle.
Because the night market was set up on a street, tents had to be put up and taken down every night — and that’s not cheap.
Add two competing night markets in Richmond, and the organizers feel it’s no longer feasible.
Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang says options are being explored, including a different site…
“That’s certainly one of the things we’re looking at, is where we can host a night market that’s not on a public street,” he tells News1130. “Other things we’re looking at is whether we can help them find a place to store their tents every night because they have to rent commercial space to do it.”
Jang says a three or four day festival could also be considered.
But he says as important as the night market is to the community, it’s tough for the city to help out.
“The problem is that the Chinatown Night Market, put on by the [Chinatown] Merchants Association, is a commercial event,” he points out. “It’s not a civic event, so it’s there to make money — and that doesn’t work with some of the city aspirations.”
Jang says what the city can do is continue to promote and invest in developing Chinatown, and he feels life is starting to come back to the community.
