This Essay article is part of a Narcity Media series. The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
Last month, I ended up visiting the largest night market in North America and I was totally shocked by a bunch of things there.
The Richmond Night Market is located in Richmond, B.C., and it is open every weekend from April 29 to October 10, so there are still a few weekends left to hit up this popular place.
The night market had amazing wild foods, cute accessory shops and so many carnival games that I had never seen before. If you're looking for the perfect weekend plan, this is such a fun and unique thing to do while you still can.
Plus, there are some things about the market that might surprise you just like they did for me.
Random people will ask you split a pass to skip the line
A night market entrance Zoom pass.
I tried to get to the night market as soon as it opened, but the lines were already curling down the street and looked to be over an hour's wait just to get in.
A group of strangers ended up asking me if I wanted to split a Zoom pass to skip the line.
I definitely encourage buying a Zoom pass, especially if you are with a large group or can find some people to split it with you.
Basically, it'll even out the ticket costs, and you can skip the line completely.
It had some of the cutest accessory shops I had ever seen
Ashley Harris at the Richmond Night Market.
The accessories at the Richmond Night Market were so darn cute that I couldn't walk past and not buy something. I ended up buying a necklace and some groovy sunglasses from the Cocomolo Marché jewelry stand.
Plus, the best part about it all was that the accessories were not pricey compared to the ones I would find at a regular mall.
Some of the foods were really unique
From flying noodles to rainbow grilled cheese, the Richmond Night Market has it all. I didn't get the chance to taste these particular snacks, but I did end up trying a fried chicken waffle cone and some drool-worthy Nutella deep-fried bao buns.
It was so busy I felt slightly claustrophobic
To be fair, I knew the Richmond Night Market was going to be busy. It's only here for a few weekends through the spring until the fall, and everyone wants to try it out before it's over.
That said, I still didn't expect it to be so busy. I was literally shoulder to shoulder with strangers while trying to maneuver through the crowds.
The worst area for this was definitely the food stalls, so if you hate crowds, I recommend trying to get there as soon as it opens.
The carnival games were different
The Richmond Night Market has so many carnival games, including all the classics and a few unique ones that really caught my eye.
One of the games was a beer pong type of setup where you could compete with an employee to win a prize. I thought this was totally random but also pretty cool to see.
Most of the vendors only accept cash
I was really surprised about many of the stands being cash only. Honestly, I wasn't really prepared for it and had to hit up one of the ATMs to take out some money.
A few places do except e-transfer or cards — but not very many.
So, if you plan on visiting and want to avoid those ATM fees, you'd do well to bring some cash with you.
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