Night Market

The Richmond Night Market, Fort Langley Night Market and North Vancouver’s Shipyards Night Market are great places for food, shopping and entertainment.

New for 2024, there’s also the White Rock Night Market. It’s a free monthly event that runs on the last Fridays of May, June, July, August and September. Another night market in July and August is Fridays on Front. It happens in New Westminster with a different theme each week.

The Shipyards Night Market takes place on Fridays between late spring and early fall as well. It includes concerts with awesome bands. It also has a beer garden, artisan vendors and free admission. This event happens at the waterfront in North Vancouver and it’s awesome!

The market in Fort Langley is good too. When it happens, it takes place on Friday evenings and is free to attend. You have to pay though to get into the market in Richmond, which is famous for its Asian theme, food stalls and imported products.

Weekend Night Markets in Vancouver

The Lower Mainland has had a number of night markets over the years. One that no longer happens is the Illumination Night Market in Richmond. There also used to be the Surrey Night Market and a Vancouver Chinatown Night Market.

Night markets that still take place in Metro Vancouver are the Richmond Night Market, White Rock Night Market, Fridays on Front, Fort Langley Night Market and Shipyards Night Market. There is also the Vancouver Christmas Market, but it’s just in the winter and runs all afternoon and evening from mid-November until Christmas Eve.

North Vancouver’s Shipyards Night Market

North Vancouver also hosts an exceptional night market. It’s very different from the Richmond Night Market, but equally as impressive in its own way.

Whereas the Richmond market is amazing for all its Asian tastes, smells, sounds and products, the North Shore event has a beer garden, great live bands and views of Vancouver and Burrard Inlet. It also features farmers’ market-style vendors and dozens of food trucks selling every kind of food imaginable.

North Vancouver’s Shipyards Night Market takes place at Shipbuilders’ Square near Lonsdale Quay, just a short walk from the North Shore’s SeaBus terminal. In 2024 it’s open on Friday evenings from May 10th until September 13th. Hours are from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm each week.

For information about North Vancouver’s summer event on Friday evenings, see our article about the Shipyards Night Market.

Food Trucks at the Shipyards Night Market — Shipyards Night Market

Fort Langley Night Market

The Fort Langley Night Market is a relatively new addition to the scene. It debuted in 2021 and has been a success. The market is entirely free to attend and runs every Friday from June 28th to September 27th in 2024.

Fort Langley’s market features a few dozen vendors each week. The exact lineup changes a little week to week but expect to see plenty of clothes, cosmetics and other artisanal products. The event is fully licensed with various drinks available for those who are 19+. There’s also live music with different artists each week!

The market happens at the corner of Glover Road and Mary Avenue from 5:00 to 10:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to drop by and check it out.

To learn more click Fort Langley Community Market.

White Rock Night Market

The White Rock Night Market is a new series of events in 2024. The market happens on the last Friday of each month from May to September. It’s held at Memorial Plaza and the White Rock Promenade.

Presented in part by the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival, each market features about six food trucks and close to a dozen local artisan vendors. There’s also live music to enjoy.

2024 market dates are May 31st, June 28th, July 26th, August 30th and September 27th. Hours are from 3:00 to 10:00 pm each night, except for the final day when it closes one hour earlier.

For more information about the monthly event, see our White Rock Night Market article.

Richmond Night Market

The Richmond Night Market has a distinct Chinese theme and offers tasty Asian smells, music and imported things to buy. It takes place at 8351 River Road. The market attracts as many as 30,000 shoppers per weekend and boasts over 1,000,000 visitors a year.

The Richmond event is huge and quite the sight to see, with its hundreds of vendor stalls and crowds of people. In fact, it claims to be the largest night market in North America for the last dozen or so years running.

The Richmond Night Market costs about $8.50 and runs from April 26th to October 14th in 2024. It’s open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays. It’s highly recommended – you’ll think that you’re in China!

Night Market Food Stalls — Richmond Night Market

Fridays on Front in New Westminster

Fridays on Front is a night market in New Westminster. It runs on select Fridays in July and August each year. The market happens beside Westminster Pier Park on Front Street Mews.

Each Fridays on Front event features vendor stalls, live entertainment and food trucks. However, there’s a different theme each week. This year’s themes include Bollywood Bash, Car Free Day, New West Pride and more.

In 2024 the market runs on July 12th, 19th and 26th, as well as on August 9th, 16th and 23rd. Event hours are from 5:00 to 9:00 pm.

To learn more about the market, see our article about Fridays on Front.

Other Lower Mainland Markets

In addition to night markets, Vancouver and the surrounding region is also famous for its farmers markets. For a list of Lower Mainland farmers markets in alphabetical order, see Metro Vancouver’s Farmers Markets. For lists of farmers markets on specific days of the week, check out the following:

Wednesday Farmers Markets: Downtown Vancouver, Surrey and Whistler.
Thursday Farmers Markets: New Westminster, Port Coquitlam and False Creek.
Saturday Farmers Markets: Abbotsford, Burnaby, Fort Langley, Haney, Squamish, Trout Lake and the West End.
Sunday Farmers Markets: Ambleside, Coquitlam, Kitsilano, Steveston Village, White Rock and Whistler.

And for farmers markets taking place outside the summer season, check out Lower Mainland Winter Markets.

Vancouver Christmas Market

In addition to the above, there is also the Vancouver Christmas Market which runs from late November until just before Christmas. It takes place during the day too, but gets especially lively in the evenings.

The Vancouver Christmas Market obviously isn’t a summer market, but it is a night one, which is why we mention it here. It takes place at Jack Poole Plaza beside the Vancouver Convention Centre in downtown Vancouver. Its theme is 100% Christmassy and definitely European.