Wichita’s first Asian Night Market so unexpectedly crowded, it’s moved to baseball stadium

Wichita’s first Asian Night Market was put on last May in downtown Wichita’s Naftzger Park, and its organizers were hoping that 3,000 people — maybe 5,000 if they were lucky — would show up to check it out.

Instead, the event was overwhelmed with 10,000 people who stood shoulder-to-shoulder in long, chaotic lines waiting to order food.

“It was probably one of the larger events the park has ever seen,” said Taben Azad, a member of both of the groups who put the event on: the Wichita Asian Association and the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

The two groups were pleasantly surprised by the interest in the event, which was inspired by popular nighttime bazaars regularly put on in Asian countries like China and Thailand as well as in big cities across the United States. They decided to do it again, but this year, they’re moving the event to a much larger venue.

This year’s Asian Night Market will happen from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Wichita’s Riverfront Stadium, 300 S. Sycamore. It will feature 60 vendors, about half of them food vendors. That’s up from last year’s roster of 40, which included food vendors that all sold out.

The list of vendors that will spread out on the ball field on Saturday also will include booths stocked with arts and crafts items like henna body art, jewelry, T-shirts and anime figurines. Among the many food vendors will be Wichita favorites like Kobe Steakhouse of Japan, Great Wall, Rice & Roll by Xing Xing, Tiger Rice Japanese Kitchen, Mochinut and Komugi Japanese Bakery. Several other Asian associations and home cooks also will be serving food, and five boba tea vendors, including Feng Cha and Joy Tea, also will be there.

The evening will also include games and activities for adults and kids, an interactive community art project lead by a local Asian-American artist, and an Asian-American film that will be played on the big screen at 9 p.m.

Azad said that after last year’s chaotic, hard-to-navigate market, the “not-so-experienced event planner in me said that we wanted to make that as efficient as possible.”

But on the other hand, Azad said, night markets in Asian countries are also chaotically crowded, and that’s part of the allure, he said. The older Asian-American Wichitans who visited last year’s market were excited to see the crowds, which they said brought back memories.

“It’s like a hidden craft to be able to navigate through that,” he said. “I know people hate long lines, but that’s kind of the purpose of the event — to bring back a little bit of our home to where we are right now.”

Tickets to the family-friendly event are $7 if bought by Friday. Day-of general admission is $10. VIP tickets that offer early admission are $20. Get them at www.tickettailor.com/events/waa/883874

Asian Night Market vendors