Friday marked the first Sunset Night Market in San Francisco. Event organizers are hoping it’s a way to bring people back to a merchant corridor that’s faced some challenging years.
For five hours on Irving between 20th and 23rd avenues Friday, it became the Sunset Night Market, a pilot night market as San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio calls it.
“It looks like people just don’t want a night market, they need it, and people are hungry for something like this,” he said.
Hungry is accurate as thousands came braving the long lines in the troubled merchant corridor.
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“The challenges here on Irving Street and parts of San Francisco is crime. A lot of businesses being broken into and graffiti and then, just getting people to come back and patronize this business,” Engardio said.
Celebrity chef Martin Yan attended Friday’s event and gave his thoughts.
“You go to Taiwan, you go to Bangkok, you go to Malaysia, they all have wonderful night markets. Thousands and thousands of people, so, I hope thousands and thousands will come,” he said.
Event organizers hope the crowded night market will also yield new customers for vendors and existing brick and mortar shops.
Gia Vang has more in the video above.
