| 626 Night Market | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location(s) | Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California; OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California; Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California |
| Established | 2012 |
| Website | 626nightmarket |
626 Night Market is a regular night market located in the 626 area code region of San Gabriel Valley, northeast of Los Angeles. As of 2022 it is the largest night market in the United States.
The event is held multiple times a year from May through September. Each 3-day night market event draws up to 100,000 attendees [1] with more than 250 participating food, merchandise, and craft vendors, as well as art and music. [2] [3] The market is held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. [4] It is the largest night market in the United States. [1] [5]
The events are known for their large selection of Instagram-friendly foods, ranging from traditional night market snacks found in Asia such as stinky tofu and meat skewers to fusion cuisine such as pho tacos and ramen burgers. [6] [7] Vendors are local artisans and aspiring chefs plus entrepreneurs who already own a restaurant, retail store or food truck, or those who are launching a new product or brand or test-marketing a new concept. [1] [8]
Conceived by Jonny C. Hwang, a businessman born in Taiwan and raised in southern California, [9] [10] the market was inspired by the night markets of Asia, especially the Shilin Night Market in Taipei. [11] The inaugural market was held in 2012 and drew an unexpectedly large crowd that clogged the streets of Old Town Pasadena, initially drawing negative criticism from attendees and allegations of mismanagement. [12] [13] The market subsequently relocated to Santa Anita Park. [14]
626 Night Market established OC Night Market at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. [4] DTLA Night Market was held for a limited run next to Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles in the same year. [15] In 2018, 626 launched NorCal Night Market at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. [4] [16] [17] As of 2020, all events were renamed to 626 Night Market, with OC Night Market rebranded as 626 Night Market/OC and NorCal Night Market as 626 Night Market/Bay Area. [18] In 2022 626 launched in Santa Monica. [19] The various locations do not overlap dates. [20]
Since the first 626 Night Market event in 2012, a number of other night markets have emerged in Los Angeles and Orange County, including the KTOWN Night Market, the Little Saigon Night Market and the MPK Night Market. [21]
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,861,224 residents estimated in 2022. Its population is greater than that of 40 individual U.S. states. Comprising 88 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas within a total area of 4,083 square miles (10,570 km2), it is home to more than a quarter of Californians and is one of the most ethnically diverse U.S. counties. The county's seat, Los Angeles, is the second most populous city in the United States, with 3,822,238 residents estimated in 2022. The county has been world-renowned as the domicile of the U.S. motion-picture industry since the latter's inception in the early 20th century.
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Stinky tofu is a Chinese form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands as a snack, or in lunch bars as a side dish, rather than in restaurants. Traditionally the dish is fermented in a brine with vegetables and meat, sometimes for months. Modern factory-produced stinky tofu is marinated in brine for one or two days to add odor.
The Asian American influx into the southwestern portion of the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, grew rapidly when Chinese immigrants began settling in Monterey Park in the 1970s. Just east of the city of Los Angeles, the region has achieved international prominence as a hub of overseas Chinese, or hua qiao. Although Chinese immigrants were a noteworthy presence in the establishment of Southern California from the 19th century, significant Chinese migration to suburban San Gabriel Valley coincided with a trend of white out-migration from the 1970s onward. This opened an opportunity for middle-class Asian Americans to begin settling in the San Gabriel Valley.
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Asian Californians are residents of the state of California who are of Asian ancestry. California has the largest Asian American population in the U.S., and second highest proportion of Asian American residents, after Hawaii. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, there were over 6 million Asian-Americans in California; 15.5% of the state's population. If including those with partial Asian ancestry, this figure is around 17%. This is a jump from 13.8% recorded in 2010.
The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was a railroad founded on September 5, 1883, by James F. Crank with the goal of bringing a rail line to Pasadena, California from downtown Los Angeles, the line opened in 1886. Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was sold and consolidated on May 20, 1887 into the California Central Railway. In 1889 this was consolidated into Southern California Railway Company. On Jan. 17, 1906 Southern California Railway was sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and called the Pasadena Subdivision. The main line closed in 1994. The railroad later reopened as the MTA Gold Line Light Rail service in July 2003.
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