Sep. 15, 2023 Updated: Sep. 17, 2023 10:41 a.m. (SFChronicle.com)
Three years ago it may have been impossible to imagine three blocks of Irving Street packed to the brim with people, performers and food.
But the inaugural Sunset Night Market Friday night was just as crowded as the night markets of Taipei it was inspired by.
From 20th to 23rd avenues, every corner brought a new experience: from Taiwanese pork cutlet sandwiches to a dozen purple tutued ballerinas waiting for their performance with the San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy. Thousands of people packed both local businesses and the 70 vendor booths in the street.
“This is beyond expectation,” Supervisor Joel Engardio, who represents the Sunset District, told the Chronicle. “The thousands of people who came out just shows how hungry they are to take back our streets and create our best San Francisco.”
Engardio echoed that sentiment when he addressed the crowd from the event stage, and drew cheers as he proclaimed: “We are not destined to the doom loop that we hear about on the news. We can overcome it, and it starts tonight on Irving Street.”
Sunset resident Peg Tran tackled the crowds with a plan: lock down a table with her 1½-year-old, Jett, while her husband battled the long lines for gumbo and mini dumplings.
For parents, it was a rare opportunity to bring their children to a family friendly event after dark.
“It’s nice to be able to go out and not be in a restaurant, because after five there’s not much for kids,” Annie Akin said, sitting at a table with her 1½-year-old, Reed. “I love that they’re trying this out.”
It was also a boon for local businesses, which nearly universally sported lines out the door.
Fili Mauai, an independent artist who sells his drawings as pins, key chains and stickers, said he had been to craft fairs across the Bay Area, but nothing compared to the foot traffic at the night market.
The diversity of the crowd meant getting exposed to an entirely new audience, Mauai said. Vendors ranged from those offering locally grown carnivorous plants and colorful mochi doughnuts to a local cannabis dispensary.
Engardio had the idea to bring a night market to the Sunset District last year during a visit to Taiwan with his husband, Lionel Hsu, who immigrated from Taipei. But the diversity of vendors was a reflection of the community in the Sunset District, Engardio said.
“People have been asking me why I love San Francisco so much. I say, because it’s such a unique place, so inclusive, that everyone can call it home,” Hsu said in a speech at the market. “To me, home is a place with lights and food at night, and the night market is exactly like that.”
The market’s success laid the groundwork for future night markets in the Sunset District and across the city, Engardio said. He hopes that sometime next year, the Sunset District will start hosting monthly markets in different parts of the neighborhood. But this time, they’ll know to bring even more vendors and more food to keep up with the crowds.
“It needs to be bigger,” Engardio said. “Three blocks wasn’t enough.”
Reach Megan Fan Munce: Megan.Munce@sfchronicle.com
Written By Megan Fan Munce
Megan Fan Munce is a reporter who joined the San Francisco Chronicle as part of the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship, spending her first year of the program at the Houston Chronicle.
Munce grew up in San Jose before attending Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, graduating with a B.S. and M.S. in journalism and a second major in political science.
She previously worked as an audience engagement fellow and a reporting fellow at the Texas Tribune, as well as an audience intelligence intern for KQED.
