Promoting Taiwan’s Night Market Culture: North America’s Largest “626 Night Market” Heads to Downtown LA

▲ North America’s largest Asian night market, the “626 Night Market,” will venture into downtown Los Angeles this year. (Photo / Courtesy of626 Night Market Facebook page)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Taiwan’s night market culture is celebrated globally, and this cultural trend reached as far as Los Angeles—thousands of miles from Taiwan—as early as 2012. The largest Asian night market in North America, the “626 Night Market,” which takes place every summer, will this year take over downtown Los Angeles to further showcase Taiwan’s night market culture.

Launched in 2012 by three Taiwanese-born young people in San Gabriel, the “626 Night Market” derives its name from the local area code “626.” Its inaugural event attracted over 30,000 attendees, causing temporary traffic gridlock that even required police helicopters to help maintain order, instantly making the “626 Night Market” famous. By its 2013 summer edition, it had grown to host more than 200 vendors and over 50,000 visitors.

This summer, in addition to returning to Santa Anita Park on July 18–19, August 15–16, and September 12–13, the “626 Night Market” will make its first foray beyond the 626 area code into downtown Los Angeles, setting up at the Stauffer Stadium on June 20–21. Co-founder Huang Zhi-ming shared that while the downtown event will still feature plenty of Asian street food, it will also include a notable number of American-style food stalls, along with a variety of entertainment and cultural activities aimed at attracting more local Americans.

%In 2013, the organizers of the “626 Night Market” even created the world’s largest bubble tea for some attendees to try. (Photo / Courtesy of 626 Night Market Facebook page)

Additionally, although the downtown edition won’t be as large as those held at Santa Anita Park or the earlier May edition in Orange County, it is the only one of the three locations that allows alcohol vendors. Unfortunately, Taiwan’s iconic dish “stinky tofu” will not be available in the downtown market. Huang Zhi-ming emphasized that there are currently no plans to make the night market a regular event, as maintaining high quality is more important than increasing the frequency of occurrences.