Mayoral candidates weigh in on saving beloved Richmond Night Market | Daily Hive

Richmond Night Market at Duck Island. (Mr. Nikon/Shutterstock)

Two Richmond mayoral candidates who are both sitting city councillors agree that losing the Richmond Night Market would be a major blow to their city and the Metro Vancouver region as a whole, but they differ over how far their municipal government should go to keep the attraction operating.

Richmond city councillors Kash Heed and Alexa Loo, who are both running for mayor in the October 2026 civic election, expressed sadness over the night market’s announcement on Wednesday that its current season will be its last after 26 years. The night market’s last day at its current location on the large vacant waterfront site — situated next to SkyTrain’s Bridgeport Station and River Rock Casino Resort — is scheduled for Sept. 20, 2026.

In separate interviews with Daily Hive Urbanized on Wednesday, Heed called for an active effort by the municipal government to save the long-running tradition in the region’s events calendar, while Loo cautioned that the City of Richmond cannot necessarily rescue a private business facing substantial relocation costs.

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Richmond Night Market organizers announced they have made the decision to permanently conclude operations at the end of the summer because its lease at its current location is coming to an end. Approximately six weeks remain in the final season.

Every year, the night market is generally open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and statutory Monday holidays from late spring to late summer or early fall.

“I’m absolutely for doing whatever we can as a local government”

Heed said he was surprised by the announcement because most of the property remains vacant and is being offered for foreclosure sale through a court-ordered process. He said the night market has become an internationally recognized attraction and an important part of Richmond’s tourism industry.

“We have to find somewhere for this. We cannot let something like this leave Richmond. This is a staple of Richmond,” said Heed.

Heed committed to working with night market founder Raymond Cheung to either keep the event at its existing location or find another long-term home elsewhere in Richmond.

“I absolutely would work with the proprietor to find a place here in Richmond that’s suitable and long term,” Heed told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“I’m absolutely for doing whatever we can as a local government to make sure that the night market survives here in Richmond.”

Heed said potential alternatives could include City-owned land or another property where the municipal government could help negotiate an arrangement. He also said the City should consider incentives related to engineering work, safety requirements, and traffic management if those measures could help keep the night market operating.

He said the City should take a broader view of the attraction’s economic and tourism value. He pointed to Richmond’s close proximity to Vancouver International Airport and other nearby visitor destinations as reasons to invest more heavily in tourism.

Richmond Night Market at Duck Island. (Richmond Night Market)

Night market faces at least about $1 million in tear-down and potential relocation costs for its utilities and infrastructure

Loo offered a more cautious assessment, saying the central problem is not simply identifying another suitable vacant piece of land.

According to Loo, over the many years, the night market has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in utilities and infrastructure at the current site to accommodate up to approximately 280 vendors. That includes significant electrical connections, sinks, and drainage systems needed for the many food stalls the night market is renowned for. The night market footprint also sits on top of asphalt designed for the event’s specific use.

She said she understood that Cheung estimates dismantling the current setup upon the expiration of the lease and starting again at another location could cost at least $1 million, and potentially more. Such a major investment to continue the night market at another location may not be financially and economically feasible.

Loo likened the existing utilities and infrastructure at the current night market site to a miniature version of the PNE fairgrounds, given its technical capability and flexibility to host large outdoor events and festivals.

Cheung’s original Richmond night market operation began in 2000 as a much smaller event in the parking lot of the Continental Centre strip mall. It later moved to the larger parking lot at Lansdowne Centre, where it operated for several years, before relocating to an industrial waterfront site on Vulcan Way near Home Depot and IKEA.

The event then went on a four-year hiatus from 2008 to 2011. During that period, a competing event known as the Illumination Summer Night Market took over the Vulcan Way site. That separate night market permanently closed after its 2017 season.

Cheung’s night market has operated at its current site near No. 3 Road and Bridgeport Road every year since 2012, except in 2020 because of the pandemic. Over the years, the event has grown considerably, including the addition of theming, entertainment, and programming, such as the highly notable inclusion of a 600-ft-long zipline attraction for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The night market’s use of the site is now in the final year of a three-year lease extension that expires at the end of 2026.

While other cities may have suitable land or an interest in hosting a similar attraction to the night market, Loo said the expensive utilities and infrastructure already installed at the Richmond site would be difficult to replicate.

Approximately 1,000 people work at the night market each season. Loo acknowledged the permanent end to the night market would undoubtedly affect vendors, young workers, and entrepreneurs who use the event to introduce their products and businesses to customers.

She described the market as a major Richmond attraction and community space that has supported cultural performances and provided vendors with opportunities to launch small businesses. But she said it is not necessarily the City’s responsibility to fix the night market’s private lease and operating challenges.

“It’s not necessarily that the city needs to step in and like fix it, if you will,” Loo told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“We, as the City, need to be careful about how far we dip our toes into other people’s business.”

Richmond Night Market at Duck Island. (Richmond Night Market)

A major placemaking vision was included in Jingon International Development Group’s now-cancelled massive redevelopment of the night market site. One way or another, the night market’s use of the site was on borrowed time — a temporary use before the development plans were ready for the centrally-located waterfront site near two SkyTrain stations.

The cancelled commercial-only redevelopment would have contained 3.4 million sq. ft. of hotels (about 2,000 hotel rooms), office space, retail/restaurant uses, entertainment venues, and public waterfront spaces, as well as a series of permanent buildings for a reimagined night market. However, shortly after Richmond City Council approved the project’s rezoning application, the owners entered foreclosure in 2024 before the project could proceed to construction.

“Saving the night market does not mean turning it into another City-run bureaucracy or handing out a blank cheque”

The newly formed Conservative Party of Richmond — an offshoot of the Conservative Electors Association — has taken a position closer to Heed’s and in contrast to Loo’s. The party announced Thursday that, if its candidates are elected, preserving the night market would become an urgent economic development priority. The Richmond Conservatives pledged to work directly with organizers and private landowners to secure a larger, long-term site in the city, with enough space for additional vendors, attractions, and performances.

The platform promise by the Richmond Conservatives calls for an immediate search of public and private properties, a shortlist of potential locations within 90 days of taking office, and a single City project lead to coordinate land use, transportation, licensing and safety approvals. The party also wants current outgoing Mayor Malcolm Brodie and City Council to begin discussions before the election, and says it would pursue an interim site and expedited approvals in an effort to save the night market’s 2027 season.

“Saving the night market does not mean turning it into another City-run bureaucracy or handing out a blank cheque. The organizers built an enormously successful event. City Hall’s job is to bring and keep the right people together, remove needless obstacles, protect taxpayers and help make a long-term agreement possible,” said Richmond Conservatives city councillor candidate Alex Sagert in a statement. Other than Sagert, the party has yet to announce its mayoral candidate or any additional candidates for City Council.

“Our commitment is simple: save the Richmond Night Market, expand it, and keep it in Richmond,” added Sagert.

Upon inquiry, the City of Richmond told Daily Hive Urbanized it considers the Richmond Night Market to be an important cultural, tourism, and economic attraction that has helped shape the city’s identity over decades. Its hundreds of vendors draw over one million visitors each year.

The night market is currently allowed to operate under a Temporary Commercial Use Permit approved for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons. However, the City stressed that the future of the existing site depends on private lease negotiations between the operator and property owner.

“The City is not involved in those negotiations and does not control commercial terms between third parties,” stated the City.

City staff nevertheless said they would be available to help if organizers wish to consider other locations or arrangements in Richmond, including by providing guidance on land use rules, permits and licensing, and working with other relevant parties where appropriate.

Richmond Night Market organizers did not respond to Daily Hive Urbanized’s request for further comment on potential interest and ways to prevent the event’s cancellation before publication. Vanprop Investments, which owns and operates Lansdowne Centre, also did not respond to Daily Hive Urbanized’s inquiry by publication time about whether it would welcome the night market back to the shopping centre’s vast surface parking lot area. Long-term plans call for the entire Lansdowne Mall property to be redeveloped into a high-density, mixed-use district with housing, commercial uses, and major new public spaces.

Under foreclosure, the legal and ownership future of the 20.5-acre site currently occupied by the Richmond Night Market still remains uncertain.

James Lang, a vice-president with commercial real estate firm Colliers International who is overseeing the court-ordered sale, told Daily Hive Urbanized the property is divided into two key parcels that were both leased by the night market.

A court approved the sale of the 1.6-acre West Road lands on July 23, 2026. Lang said this smaller parcel was largely used as a vendor parking area and is separated from the main portion of the property.

The substantially larger Duck Island lands, measuring approximately 18.89 acres, remain available for sale. Colliers is continuing to seek a buyer for that portion of the site. That means the conclusion of the night market’s lease is not immediately being followed by any construction across the entire property. However, no new owner has been secured for this main and largest parcel, leaving uncertainty over its future long-term permanent use and whether any arrangement could still be reached to allow the night market to return.

According to Colliers, the entire site carries an assessed value of about $128 million, including $19.1 million for the West Road site and $108.6 million for the Duck Island site.

The two foreclosure sale parcels of West Road lands and Duck Island lands that form the Richmond Night Market site. (Colliers International)

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