Following 20 years of showcasing a mosaic of delicious Asian street foods, the longest-running night market near Toronto will not be returning this upcoming summer.
Night It Up! is one of Markham’s landmark summer events and treats thousands of visitors each year to mouthwatering eats in an outdoor festival that’s styled in the vein of night markets from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and across Asia.
The annual night market is organized by the Power Unit Youth Organization (PUYO), a volunteer-led group that strives to promote youth development and empowerment through philanthropy.
“Our goal as an organization has always been to promote youth development and empowerment through various philanthropic initiatives,” reads a statement from the PUYO board of directors representatives.
“To ensure we can continue this moving forward, we are pausing our flagship project in 2023 to shift our focus towards supporting our members, who have lost out on significant learning and developmental experiences of their youth due to COVID-19,” the post continues.
The bittersweet announcement was met with heartbreaking comments from loyal attendees who respected the organization’s decision but were sad to bid farewell to the annual summer tradition.
“What a pity! However, I appreciate your leadership and vision in nurturing our youth generation,” one person wrote under the announcement.
“Super sad news. Best night market by far, favourite TO/GTA food event of the whole year,” another person said.
“Sorry to hear this but excited to see what’s in store for Power Unit and hopeful for the return of Night It Up! in the future,” a comment reads.
Although the annual outdoor festival has been called off this summer, PUYO representatives did note that they’re “hopeful that the night market will return in the future.”
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