The Bronx Night Market, is now in its ninth year. On May 16, the event filled the intersection between 161st street and Grand Course with more than 50 vendors selling food, drinks, merchandise and handmade goods, alongside live performances from Son Con Tres, Morrisania Band Project and DJ Riddim.
When it started raining heavily a few hours into the event, the weather did not deter local residents from coming out.
“The Bronx just pulled up umbrellas and ponchos,” said Marco Shalma, the event’s founder and organizer. “Lines were still busy, people were dancing in the rain with no cover, right in front of the music. We looked at each other and realized: it’s going to be okay. We are very proud of the Bronx.”
The market began nine years ago as a response to what Shalma saw as a gap in the Bronx’s food and culture festival scene. Events like Smorgasburg and pizza markets were drawing crowds across the other boroughs, but nothing comparable was in the Bronx.
This year, for the first time, it became a biannual event: one market in the spring, one in the fall. After nearly a decade of monthly markets, Shalma said he wanted the festival to be bigger and more meaningful.
“When people know there are only two of them in the year, they don’t leave when it rains,” he said. “They commit.”
Among the vendors was Mani Pops, a family business run by Jada Diggs and her mother Jasmine Diggs, who specialize in 3D cake pops shaped like everyday objects: coffee cups, pizza slices, tacos, chicken wings.
During the night market, they brought apple pie cake pops and pizza cake pops, among others. By the end of the afternoon, their limited edition flavors had sold out entirely.
“A lot of people showed support today,” Jada said. “We made connections, we met a lot of people. It was a really great experience.”
A few stalls down, Oscar Valencia was serving Colombian and Puerto Rican dishes including pork belly with cheese, rice and beans. His stand is a family operation that has been running for 35 years.
Valencia said the business has been working New York street fairs and markets every weekend across the boroughs and New Jersey since 1990. By the time the afternoon wound down, he estimated the booth had brought in around $3,000, despite the weather.
Not all of Saturday’s attendees were from the Bronx. Sid Ghanta, 22, and Annika Barron, 24, had come from outside the borough after seeing the event on Instagram. The rain, Ghanta said, had made him more determined rather than less.
Some of the people they had planned to come with had dropped out because of the forecast. “I’m going to enjoy myself so much that they feel bad for not coming,” Ghanta said.
Nadine Russell, a South Bronx resident who has been attending the market for about four years, said she wouldn’t have missed this event even if it meant wielding an umbrella while holding her food.
“The music and the food, food, food,” Russell said. “It’s a vibe. It’s your whole community getting together.”
The next Bronx Night Market is scheduled for October 10 at the same location on 161st Street and Grand Concourse. Shalma said additional events in other Bronx neighborhoods are also planned throughout the year.
“The Bronx Night Market is part of its identity now,” he said. “It’s something people look forward to, get excited about, and want to support.”
Carol Chen is a student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
