Sunset Night Market: The Vibe Is Pure Joy
Sunset Night Market on Irving Street in San Francisco
By Joel Engardio
It was an honor to help launch the Sunset Night Market in my first year as a city supervisor.
My husband Lionel and I travel to Taipei every year to visit his family. After eating our way through Raohe Night Market, I was inspired to come back to San Francisco and work with community partners to create a similar event on Irving Street in the Sunset.
Since 2023, the Sunset Night Market has proven what’s possible for night markets on commercial corridors in San Francisco — and now they’re all over the city. It’s a wonderful thing.
The Sunset Night Market is a collaborative effort by Sunset Mercantile, the Sunset Chinese Cultural District, Wah Mei School, ASIAN, Inc., and Into the Streets. They produce a magical event unlike anything seen before in San Francisco.
One of my favorite moments of the night market was the stinky tofu eating contest, a crowd pleaser where everyone had lots of fun with my husband’s favorite Taipei street snack.
It’s amazing to see the Sunset Night Market become nationally recognized. USA Today named it one of the 10 best night markets in the United States!
The vibe is awesome and pure joy.
Now, I’m a volunteer for the Sunset Night Market. I sign up for as many shifts as I can because it’s meaningful to support the continued success of this event.
The crowds are hungry for more than just the great food. They are hungry for a positive experience to bring people together, make streets safer, and give small businesses a boost — everything we need to create our best San Francisco.
Photo by SF Standard
Watch highlights from past Sunset Night Markets and feel the joy:
Size and scope
Compared to other night markets in San Francisco, the Sunset’s version stands apart in size and scope. It has a larger footprint and is a full service night market with hot food cooked on the street. There is a focus on Asian cuisine from local vendors and an effort to source specialty goods like stinky tofu.
Arts, crafts, and retail vendors complement the foodie experience. There are live bands, DJs, and dance performances on multiple entertainment stages.
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.
Watch my husband and I explain the larger purpose of the night market:
The food editor at SFGate 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.
Who produces the Sunset Night Market?
The Sunset Night Market is produced by a collaboration of Sunset-based organizations and street fair experts including Sunset Mercantile, the Sunset Chinese Cultural District, Wah Mei School, ASIAN, Inc., and Into the Streets. This group was awarded a grant funded by the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. They also received funding from the Civic Joy Fund.
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 the importance of a night market and what it means for our community:
News headlines also told the story:
The night market opened with 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 5pm and teenagers could hang out enjoying boba tea and music until 10pm.
The mayor spoke and gave chef Martin Yan a proclamation. But my favorite speech was by my husband Lionel Hsu. A night market in the Sunset was inspired by the famous night markets in Taipei where he grew up.
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!”
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 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.
