Between Miyazaki film screenings and live music, Boston Night Market brought Cambridge to life last Saturday with its Central Square by Night event. With more than 30 vendors, dozens of food options, and four live performances, the market offered something for everyone.
This weekend’s event was one of many organized by Boston-based Ho-Sik Group, who draw inspiration from traditional night markets in Asia.
Since 2018, Boston Night Market has attracted more than 16,000 customers and hosted over 160 vendors. Saturday’s event was the first since 2019, when Boston Night Market went on hiatus in keeping with COVID-19 pandemic regulations.
Nha Truong, involved in marketing the event, thinks they’re back stronger than ever. This was their first foray into Central Square, and she feels it was a huge hit. Truong grew up around local community organizations in Dorchester who introduced her to the Boston Night Market.
“There’s a huge aspect of community in planning these types of events. Because honestly, if there was no community, we wouldn’t have anybody here,” said Truong.
Truong says she loves the Market because it’s inclusive.
“There’s something for everybody: food, merch, alcohol, photo-ops, and games. I don’t think that it’s a place where you would feel excluded at all,” Truong said. “Especially after the pandemic, a lot of people are isolated now, so it’s a nice way to bring unity to the community.”
Boston Night Market primarily features East and Southeast-Asian vendors, but Saturday’s event offered fare from every corner of the globe—including West African moi-moi with stew, Jamaican coco bread, and Southern mac and cheese.
“The event has been much more diverse than I expected it to be,” said Chika Ogawa, a Cambridge local who attended the event. She said her favorite feature of the event was its live set with DJ Lightfoot.
Boston Night Market is a hit for vendors too; like Destinee Joe, co-owner of hand-crafted candle shop JUJU.BEE. She says the Night Market gave her business a chance to shine.
“We sell candles mainly online, because me and my partner both have full time jobs,” Joe said. “Boston Night Market gives people like me a space to showcase my business when we can’t do it online.”
In an age where consumerism and online shopping are inescapable, Joe says events like Night Market give prospective small businesses a rare opportunity.
“I feel like nowadays we’re always consuming, consuming, consuming. It’s hard to start something new and different, it’s kind of scary too,” said Joe. “So we kind of did Night Market as a way to push ourselves to do something outside of what we would normally do.”
Central Square by Night offered an escape from that comfort zone, and Ho-Sik Group says it won’t be the last one. For foodies, small-business owners, and music-lovers alike, Boston Night Market promises Beantown’s night-owls more evenings of diverse, community-based festivities.