Vibrant, creative, and packed to the rafters, the recurring Our Street Night Market infiltrates historic R Street’s up-and-coming arts district, proving that Sacramento is hungry for more.
Our Street Night Market Takes Over R Street
The “Our Street Night Market” play-on-words with R Street is intended to both stake local claim on the downtown grid and inspire continued innovation on a large scale. And the Night Market’s producers, Yellow Brick Group, do that brilliantly. This dynamic late-night Market is executed down to the finest detail. Yet it feels raw and organic reflecting Sacramento’s burgeoning cultural scene.
Yellow Brick pays homage to the classic Asian Night Market as a jumping off point then imbues the Market with an arts and food festival flare. Several blocks of R Street are cordoned off and lined with local food, drink, and artisans. Crowds buzz and light shows flash across the vintage artists’ lofts that loom above.
Our Street Night Market Spotlights Sacramento’s Food Culture
The Night Market borrows from its Asian inspiration with lantern strewn quadrants and pop-up food stalls that evoke Sacramento’s assertion as the farm-to-fork city.
Picnic tables are lit by strings of atmospheric market lights where people can linger and play precarious games of giant Jenga. Other Market areas feature an art gallery turned retro game arcade and still another a silent disco.
The inaugural Night Market in June was brilliantly realized. Even so, enthusiastic Sacramento crowds blew out the Market’s parameters making for more-than-cozy quarters. Enormously long waits resulted for locally crafted adult beverages and inventive food options. But the vibe of the crowd was laid back and ebullient across the carefully staged Market.
Even Night Market producers seemed taken aback by the success of their initial foray. So when they executed their follow-up Market two months later in August, they adjusted by increasing the size of the space by an additional large block with side lots too. But the word was out. The August Night Market swelled even larger as increased crowds of Sacramentans turned out to overrun R Street.
Beer drinkers in particular felt the squeeze. An attempt to streamline faster beer lines instead resulted in patrons waiting in two long lines. First one to obtain drink tickets, and a second one to redeem the ticket for a coveted local beer. Strategic customers were buying two beers at a time.
While it was tempting to stroll and peruse the wide variety of compelling local food and drink stalls, the tightly knitted crowds made that nearly impossible. The better strategy seemed to be to stake out a place in line, take in the Market buzz from your waiting vantage point, and socialize with your fellow line-holders.
The Our Street Night Market Embraces R Street Establishments
In an effort to seek refuge from the throng, my companion and I ducked for cover into the WAL Public Market – a small food and artisan market situated in the ground floor of the Warehouse Artists’ Lofts. This turned out to be a worthwhile impulsive move that resulted in a relatively short line for a local draft beer and a deliciously fresh poke bowl from Fish Face. With Camellia Coffee Roasters close by, we then opted for a dessert of their decadent Blueberry and Lemon Cream Cheese hand pie. There are many other bars and restaurants than line the R Street Corridor.
When we emerged from the WAL Market, R Street was still throbbing with nightlife. As we edged our way out of R Street around 11pm to grab an Uber home, the Night Market was still revving up. Friends who departed the Market at 1am (its intended end-time) reported that the Night Market was still in full swing. Some attendees tossed in the tempest of the lively Market, and unable to cross phalanxes of food and drink lines, may never return to the Night Market. Yet the high points of the Market far out-weigh the frustrations. The massive, pulsing crowd is an integral part of the Market atmosphere that imparts its own experiential thrill. Yellow Brick can hardly be blamed for giving Sacramentans what they clearly want.
The Future of the Our Street Night Market
The Our Street Night Market is well-thought out and will likely evolve with each rendition. Reports indicate that there may be one more Night Market this year with several additional events planned for 2019. Ultimately, what Sacramento needs is even more events like the Night Market to satiate its pent-up craving for inventive local events that reflect Sacramento’s unique culture and penchant for community. What Makes the Our Street Night Market so impressive is that it doesn’t feel remotely commercial. It feels like someone threw a fabulous neighborhood block party and invited the whole town.
If Yellow Brick can ever achieve the right balance of crowd revelry with the chill vibrancy of Asian night markets, they will have created a truly amazing nightlife gathering space for Sacramento. It’s well worth the iterative adventure to find out. What’s clear is that Yellow Brick has turned up Sacramento’s simmering burner to full blast, and there’s no going back.
