By: Osna Hadef, SFU Student
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer, the Richmond Night Market has become one of Metro Vancouver’s most anticipated annual events since it started in 2000. The huge market offers over 500 food options, 100 retail shops, and a wide array of entertainment, attracting more than a million local and international visitors every year from April to October. It is the largest night market in North America and has even been featured in the New York Times.
This year will mark my fourth consecutive year returning to the market. I consider it a favourite hangout spot and a must-do summer activity with family and friends. While I spent most weekends working at one of the food vendors last year, I have visited it twice more — having a blast both times!
As someone who is not too adept at trying new foods, I will say that the food at the night market slaps! It is a paradise of primarily East Asian food, but it’s also full of magical fusions and creative food presentation — drinks in glowing light bulbs or churros in ice cream served in a cup in a tiny floaty, for example. Twisted potato, flying cup noodles, cheese coin, corn cheese, Korean corn dogs, and mango sticky rice are just a few of the popular foods featured.
Is everything about the Richmond Night Market overpriced? Undeniably, yes. Can you make the most of it and have a fun, enjoyable experience? You bet!
My personal favourite is the garlic shrimp with vermicelli noodles — glass noodles topped with shrimp soaked in rich garlic-based sauce and garnished with chopped green onions. This Cantonese dish has not left my mind since I tried it with my friend last year at the night market. Since then, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve kept bringing it up to her. It’s literally a chef’s kiss! Another love of mine is the Indomie Donut — spicy, flavourful Indonesian noodles fried into the shape of a donut, hence the name.
Besides the food, which is definitely the main character of the show, what also brings the crowd to the market is all the entertainment it offers. Visitors can spend hours exploring the rows of retail booths, enjoying live performances, or getting caught up in endless attempts to win carnival games with maybe 0.0001% odds of winning (trust me). The market also features different thematic festive decorations and spots to take photos for a fresh experience each year. To spice things up even more, the organizers even added a zipline over the market this summer! If being in the market itself wasn’t enough, now you can view it from the sky.
In the light of such enjoyment, the Richmond Night Market is definitely worth and deserving of the hype it is receiving. Being a go-to local event that runs for months and attracts so many visitors annually is a testament to that appeal. However, while I would say the market is not overhyped, it is undeniably overpriced. The general admission fee was hiked up from the $2.25 in 2015 to $7 today (before tax), and the food prices have also risen compared to the previous years. It is not uncommon to find snack-sized portions of food costing over $10 and the games are expensive considering their slim odds of winning. As people start to complain about breaking the bank every visit, the market risks losing some of its hype, causing regular visitors to reconsider how often they come in the coming years.
Is everything about the Richmond Night Market overpriced? Undeniably, yes. Can you make the most of it and have a fun, enjoyable experience? You bet! The sky-high prices may not be worth going there more than once or twice a year, but those who have not been there yet are missing out on one of the best local summer events. I recommend everyone to go there at least once. The event is more than the delicious and interesting foods it offers — it is a whole experience that can’t be found anywhere else in the Lower Mainland.
