Richmond Night Market confirmed to permanently end after Summer 2026 season

Richmond Night Market will permanently conclude its decades-long run at the end of the Summer 2026 season, with organizers announcing today that its lease at its current location is nearing its end.

The popular summer attraction has stated that approximately six weeks remain before its final season concludes.

For more than a quarter century, the market has grown from a local community event into one of British Columbia’s best-known summertime destinations, drawing millions of visitors with its wide range of food vendors, retail stalls, games, and live entertainment.

“As the owner, I have had the privilege of organizing and operating the Richmond Night Market for the past 26 years,” said Raymond Cheung, founder of the Richmond Night Market, in a statement today.

“It has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable journeys of my life. Watching a single local event grow into one of Canada’s best-known summer attractions has been an incredible honour.”

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For the 2026 season, the market first opened on April 24. Its last scheduled operating day is Sunday, Sept. 20. The opening hours are from 7 p.m. to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday holidays, and from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on regular Sundays and other statutory holidays.

A 600-ft-long zipline attraction was first introduced in 2025, and it returned this year. Over the years, organizers also invested heavily into special theming and programming.

According to the organizers, the decision to end the night market follows the expiration of its lease, ending its operations at the current site after the 2026 season. The announcement did not provide details about any potential future new location or a replacement event.

Cancelled hotel and entertainment development plans, with the site under a court-ordered sale process

However, it has long been understood that the Richmond Night Market’s current location — occupying most of a vacant, 20-acre gravel waterfront site next to Bridgeport Station and River Rock Casino Resort — was on borrowed time, as it would eventually be developed. The annual event, which operates from late spring through late summer or early fall, was always intended to be a temporary use of the property.

In 2024, Richmond City Council approved the application by Jingon International Development Group to redevelop the site into a 100 per cent commercial development, entailing 1.32 million sq. ft. of hotel uses (with nearly 2,000 hotel rooms), 910,000 sq. ft. of office/institution space, 540,000 sq. ft. of entertainment space, and 622,000 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant use — all within nearly a dozen mid-rise buildings up to 12 storeys. This was intended to be a lively vibrant tourist and regional destination. Jingon had also partnered with Cayan Group, a developer with offices in Dubai and Riyadh.

However, this project is no longer going ahead. Shortly after, the developers found themselves in financial trouble, with the property subsequently entering foreclosure. A court-ordered sale process of the property is currently underway.

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to the City of Richmond, developer, and Colliers International, the commercial real estate firm overseeing the court-ordered sale process.

Daily Hive Urbanized previously reported in 2024 that the night market at the time was operating on a three-year lease extension, expiring in 2026. This means the lease was not renewed.

This centrally-located waterfront property near two SkyTrain stations — with Bridgeport Station to the west, and Capstan Station just to the south — has a total value of about $128 million.

Richmond Night Market first opened at its current location in 2012

Cheung first began the night market as a small operation at the first location of the Continental Centre strip mall parking lot in 2000. It then relocated to various other locations.

Cheung was then behind the first large night market operation at the industrial waterfront site on Vulcan Way near Richmond’s Home Depot and IKEA. A competing night market, known as the Illumination Summer Night Market, opened at the same location from 2008 to 2017.

After a four-year hiatus, Cheung’s original night market operation reopened in 2012 at the current vacant waterfront location, where No. 3 Road and Bridgeport Road meet. Since 2012, it has been open every year, except in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The current night market site is known as “Duck Island,” a name that dates back to when the area was a separate island until the 1930s. It was later filled in for industrial use and became home to an aggregate plant that produced construction materials, including concrete, until the 1990s. After the plant closed, the land was sold and gradually assembled by its previous developer owners, who leased the site to Cheung for the seasonal night market as an interim use.

The presence and competition from both the Richmond Night Market and the Illumination Summer Night Market also greatly contributed to the demise of Metro Vancouver’s original large-scale night market in the streets of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. Held on summer weekends from 1996 to 2014, the free, urban-style event was modelled after the traditional in-street urban markets commonly found across Asia.

Since opening at Duck Island, the market has become a showcase for Richmond’s cultural diversity and food scene. It has also served as a launching point for small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to introduce their products to large crowds. Organizers said thousands of businesses have participated over the market’s history, while the annual event has created seasonal jobs for generations of young workers.

With as many as 250 vendor booths and close to 100 food stalls, the night market saw up to approximately 10,000 visitors per night and employed approximately 1,000 people on a seasonal basis.

Although the various night market operations in the 2000s were free events, an admission was later charged. The 2012 return of the market at the current location began with an admission fee of $1.00. For the 2026 season, the general admission is $7.00, with children (under seven years old) and seniors (60 years and over) able to enter for free. A season pass, called the “Zoom Pass,” can also be purchased for $40.00.

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