By Dominic Abassi

Weekly downtown summer street market to debut in June

Mar 29, 2018 | 5:50 PM

NANAIMO — Thursday nights in downtown Nanaimo will be a lot more vibrant this summer.

The Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce announced it is going ahead with the Commercial Street Night Market. The market will see Commercial St. shut down to vehicle traffic and packed with local merchants and vendor booths for 11 weeks, starting June 21.

“Nanaimo’s downtown core needs a bit of a lift. People who work down there and operate stores and restaurants have seen a bit of a decay going on and have felt a little bit left out,” Chamber president Kim Smythe said. “I think an exciting event like this will give a lot of those people hope there are shinier, happier days coming.”

Smythe said the Chamber heard nothing but positive feedback since they pitched the concept for the summer night market in November of last year. He said downtown merchants appear to be buying in.

“We’re planning this carefully so we don’t overcrowd the street with temporary vendors. We want to leave plenty of room for the downtown merchants to show themselves off too.”

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The Thursday market will run up Commercial from Terminal Ave. to Church St. from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The plan is to include food trucks, live entertainment, artisan food and craft vendors and a variety of family activities. 

Smythe said they’re hoping to create an atmosphere of “family celebration. Maybe a little bit of surprise at what is downtown currently, what the merchants and activities are like.”

The market is supported by $11,000 in City funding recently approved by Council.

A similar market concept in Parksville has developed a near-cult following heading into its 15th year. It features nearly 200 vendors and draws upwards of 4,000 people per night in peak tourist season. Smythe said the goal is to have 100 vendors for their market this summer.

Smythe said the Chamber also hired an employee to work part-time as a downtown ambassador. He said the ambassador will work with downtown businesses to help connect them with the broader community and also act as a go-between with the City to ensure they are aware of efforts to deal with public safety concerns in the downtown core.

“With the commitment that Council made a few weeks ago to inject some cash, the time is right to start spreading the good word and sharing news among the merchants. One of the problems I think the merchants have downtown is they’ve lost a central communications point.”

For details on applying to be part of the market, visit the Chamber’s website.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi