By Spencer Sterritt

Downtown Nanaimo night market returning after successful first year

Apr 26, 2019 | 1:29 PM

NANAIMO — Thursday night is once again expected to be one of the busiest nights for downtown Nanaimo.

The Commercial St. Night Market, which ran for 11 weeks in the summer of 2018 hosted by the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, will return on June 20.

Chamber CEO Kim Smythe said the thousands of people who filled downtown each Thursday night significantly boosted an area which many were unsure about.

“We heard from businesses who told us they were able to keep their doors open for the rest of the year because of the business they did during the night market,” Smythe told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Between four-and-six thousand people visited the vendors and market stretching along Commercial St. from Terminal Ave. to Chapel St. every Thursday. Surveys done at the market showed roughly 1/3 of the crowd wasn’t from Nanaimo.

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“I had merchants come up to me on the last night giving me hugs and saying ‘Thank you for turning Thursday night into my busiest time of the week’ instead of Saturday.”

Smythe said the format will remain the same but some aspects of the night market will expand. Specifically, the farmers market in Diana Krall Plaza and back towards the Port Theatre will be expanded and sitting areas will be provided. Discussions are ongoing about a beverage garden.

For future years, Smythe said he looks over at open spaces such as the Pioneer Waterfront Plaza as options for expansion.

“I’m scratching my head thinking ‘Geez, how can we take part of this and add? What can we do over there that would be different, that would be a destination unto itself?’”

The first night market of the season runs from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 20.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit