Richmond Night Market

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Richmond Night Market

1 Overview
2 Origins
3 Festivities
4 Summer of Love
5 Controversy
6 External link
7 References

[edit] Overview

The Richmond Night Market is an extremely popular annual Night Market held through out the summer months in Richmond, British Columbia. It is held every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night from May through October at 12631 Vulcan Way.

[edit] Origins

The Richmond Night Market was first held in 2003 in Continental Square. It soon grew rapidly, and its location was moved to Lansdowne Park Shopping Centre in 2004. It became so crowded that it was later moved to Vulcan Way, where is currently held. Over 30,000 people visit the Night Market each night it is held.

[edit] Festivities

The Richmond Night Market has over 400 booths selling mostly Asian cuisine, merchandise, and entertainment. Entrance to the market is free, and customers find that the merchandise sold there is sold at a price much lower than one would usually find in a retail store.

[edit] Summer of Love

During the 2006 Market, the theme was "Summer of Love." Every second week a matchmaking contest was held on Saturday nights, with four bachelors taking part in competitions to "win" a date with a woman.

[edit] Controversy

Though the Night Market is good for business, it does have its opponents. Thousands visit the Night Market each night, and traffic has become grossly congested on Bridgeport Road and other roads in the area. Many local merchants complain that night market customers park in their customer's spots instead of the Night Market parking spots.

The Richmond RCMP have complained about the huge numbers of pirated DVD's and other items sold at the Market. Policing the market is also expensive, consuming around $80,000 of police resources annually.