Sunset Night Market Continues to Create Record Amounts of Joy
By Supervisor Joel Engardio
The Sunset Night Market returned this year at more than double the size. We created a lot of joy with a series of night markets attended by 48,000 people.
We expanded the Sunset Night Market experience to meet demand. At the first-ever Sunset Night Market last fall, 10,000 people showed up. They were 10,000 antidotes to San Francisco’s “doom loop” narrative. The crowds were unexpected. But they were hungry for a positive experience to bring people together, make streets safer, and give small businesses a boost in San Francisco.
This year, we increased the night market from three to seven blocks on Irving Street over two evenings. The Sunset Night Market attracted 20,000 people on August 30 and another 20,000 on September 27.
We also held a Taraval Night Market by the Beach that drew a crowd of 8,000 on September 21.
Want to participate in future night markets? Contact the Sunset Night Market producer here. And the Taraval by the Beach producer here.
Watch some highlights of the Sunset Night Market and feel the joy:
The Sunset Night Market showed what was possible when it comes to activating city streets — and now there are night markets in neighborhoods across San Francisco.
The size and scope of the Sunset Night Market makes it unique. We are twice as big as other night markets and feature much more live entertainment and music.
We are a full service night market with hot food cooked right on-site to highlight the best of the Sunset. There is a focus on Asian cuisine and we try to source specialty foods like stinky tofu.
More than 100 arts, crafts, and retail vendors complement this foodie experience. There are live bands, DJs, and dance performances on multiple entertainment stages throughout the night.
Did you say stinky tofu?
Yes, the Sunset Night Market featured a stinky tofu eating contest. Local media celebrities and brave residents competed with each other.
San Francisco Standard reporter Han Li was a contestant and wrote a fun story about his experience.
Watch the contest:
Durian was also on the menu
After the success of the stinky tofu eating contest at the August night market, we turned our attention to durian in September. Watch the contestants devour the “world’s smelliest fruit” with great intensity:
Dion Lim of ABC7 News was one of the durian contest winners! Durian expert Mary Choi volunteered to cut all the fruit for the contest.
SFGate food editor Jessica Yadegaran celebrated the Sunset Night Market in words and photos. Be sure to read her story.
The Sunset Night Market offers more than food. It’s a carnival of entertainment.
This is the feeling in the crowd at the Sunset Night Market:
Our “Sunset Nights” series also included a Taraval Night Market by the Beach:
The beach party vibe was produced by Artyhood with support from the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
Sunset residents of all ages attended the beach party edition. There were lots of families with strollers and Dorothy Lathan, age 90, enjoyed the evening with a cane in one hand and a margarita in another. Her neighbor, Margaret Graf, in her mid-80s, was bopping to the DJ music. Now, that’s how I want to roll when I’m a senior!
Both Dorothy and Margaret have lived in the Outer Sunset for more than 60 years. They joined residents decades younger who share a love for community that night markets promote.
Hopefully we can do more night markets throughout the Sunset next year. The goal is to uplift local businesses and our neighborhoods.
Let’s celebrate the joy in our lives and create more of it.
What inspired bringing night markets to the Sunset?
The Sunset Night Market is inspired by the great night markets of Asia, in particular the famous Raohe Night Market in Taipei. My husband is from Taipei. When we visit his family there every December, we eat our way through the Raohe Night Market. I felt we needed to bring this experience to San Francisco and Irving Street in the Sunset was the perfect place for it.
Read more about how the Sunset Night Market was created.
Watch my husband and I explain why the night market matters for the community:
Who produces the Sunset Night Market?
The Sunset Night Market is produced by a collaboration of Sunset-based organizations and street fair experts including Wah Mei School, Sunset Mercantile, Into the Streets, and Asian Inc. This group was awarded a grant funded by the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
If you want to be a food vendor or musical/entertainment act for the Sunset Night Market, please contact the producers here.
Special thanks to Kevin Kelleher and Emily Trinh from Kemily Visuals and William Zhou of Wah Mei for the photos on this blog post.
The Taraval Night Market by the Beach is produced by Artyhood, which was awarded a grant funded by the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
If you want to be a food vendor or musical/entertainment act for the night market by the beach, please contact Artyhood here.
Read and watch news reports about the return of Sunset Night Market:
San Francisco Chronicle
SFGate
San Francisco Standard
The Bold Italic
ABC7 News
CBS Bay Area
Highlights From the First Sunset Night Market 2023
The inaugural Sunset Night Market was September 16, 2023 on Irving Street. At the opening ceremony, my husband and I explained what the night market means to our community:
News headlines also told the story:
The event opened with a rousing performance by the Lowell High School drum corps and an entertaining cooking demonstration by celebrity chef Martin Yan.
Celebrity Chef Martin Yan gives a cooking demonstration
For the next five hours, there were musical and dancing acts on three stages. There was literal dancing in the street with a DJ at the intersection of 21st Avenue and Irving.
A kids zone featured a giant inflatable slide and games. There was something for all ages. Families with young kids could get an early dinner when the night market opened at 5p and teenagers could hang out enjoying boba tea and music until 10p.
The mayor spoke and gave Chef Yan a proclamation. But my favorite speech was by my husband Lionel Hsu.
He was the inspiration for the night market. Lionel’s family lives in Taipei, which has some of the world’s most famous night markets. We attend those night markets every year. I always thought the Sunset deserves its own night market and now we do.
Here’s what Lionel had to say:
“I immigrated from Taiwan to America many years ago, and people have been asking me why I love San Francisco so much. I said because it is such a unique place, so inclusive, that everyone can call it home! To me, home is a place with lights and food at night, and the night market is exactly like that — it feels like home! I hope you feel the same. So, please make yourself at home, and have a great time!”
By all accounts everyone had a good time despite the immense crowd and long lines. We simply never could have anticipated 10,000 people showing up, even in our wildest dreams.
There was a positive energy as folks marveled at a community gathering we’ve never seen in the Sunset before.
Starting something new isn’t easy. Here’s one example: Overcoming the hurdle to put the booths in the center of the street. Typical street fairs in San Francisco place the booths against the curb with people walking in the middle of the street. This creates a wall of booths against the physical businesses, which discourages exploration and discovery of everything a merchant corridor offers.
With booths in the center of the street, people can move freely between the booths and the businesses along the sidewalk. This configuration required approval from the fire marshal. We met on Irving Street and measured the street to figure out how we could make center-street booths work while still maintaining a fire lane.
Thanks to the center-of-street booths, all the brick-and-mortar restaurants along Irving had record business for a single night with lines out the door for hours.
We owe a big “thank you” to all the innovators who made our history-making night market a reality. Angie Petitt and Carol Lau from the Sunset Mercantile curated the entire event. Their colleague Kevin North booked all the musical acts. Avenue Greenlight and the San Francisco Parks Alliance helped get it funded.
Thank you to all the vendors and brick-and-mortar storefronts who pioneered something new. Many reported their businesses had one of the busiest nights on record. I'm so proud to partner with everyone who believes in the vision.
Thank you to the 10,000 people who showed up to support joy.
This is how we will create our best San Francisco.