THE MAGICAL SOUTH MELBOURNE MARKET NIGHT MARKET

South Melbourne Market will again be transformed into a magical night market on balmy Thursday evenings throughout summer – and this year will be bigger and better than ever before.

From twilight tonight (Thursday January 5), Melbourne’s oldest Market will buzz with a cultural feast of hawker-style food vans, market stalls and free entertainment and music, every Thursday for eight weeks until February 23, 2017.

Tightly woven into the fabric of South Melbourne and its surrounds, South Melbourne Market has served the community for nearly 150 years.

A must-do on Melbourne’s summer events calendar, South Melbourne Market’s Night Market is now in its ninth year and attracts an enthusiastic community of locals, along with visitors from Melbourne and beyond. Punters can enjoy worldclass food and wines from restaurants, bars, food trucks and carts, which offer cheap, cheerful and delicious street fare.

Entertainers and musicians will perform from four acoustic stages, showcasing emerging talent as well as crowd favourites. To provide more space for people to relax, eat, drink and soak up the Night Market atmosphere, this year the market’s broad centre aisle will open for the first time during the evening event.

As well as the Night Market activities, several of the regular South Melbourne Market stallholders will open their doors or set up a special stall for the evening to sell fashion, homewares, artisan goods and fresh, local produce. These include traders in the Market’s SO:ME Space – The SuperCool, The SuperCool Kid, Lost in Seasons, Spin, Stone and Glint & Bone – and restaurants along Cecil Street, such as Simply Spanish, Paco Y Lola, Köy and Claypots Evening Star.

New sassy artisans and designers will join regular Market traders to offer an array of unique, hard-to-find goods, such as clothing, accessories and jewellery, vintage and collectibles, artisan wares and art.

Here’s nine things you need to do while you are here:

1. Try the Paella Valenciana from Simply Spanish, awarded the World’s Best Paella Outside of Spain this year at the 56th Concurs International De Paella Valenciana (Valencia International Paella Competition);
2. Quench your summer thirst with a COCOFIX fresh coconut;
3. Wrap your mouth around a slider like The Fisherman featuring calamari, lettuce and lemon mayo on a golden milk bun from Sliders on Tyres;
4. Sashay along to Frencheese for a taste of Europe with their raclette fondue poured on sautéed potatoes, fresh charcuterie, pickles and salad;
5. Stop by the Colonial Brewing Co. caravan for a craft beer or cider;
6. Get some hand-made gnocchi with slow-cooked Tuscan beef ragu from Pasta Face;
7. Taste a Nutella crepe from social enterprise Crepes for Change who are helping alleviate youth homelessness;
8. Green tea gelato from Bibelot will top it all off very nicely;
9. Do some shopping, stopping by The SuperCool in SO:ME Space for something for the home and then East Gippsland’s Boisdale Best for summer berries and Azalea for fresh blooms.

A must-do on Melbourne’s summer events calendar, South Melbourne Night Market is now in its ninth year and attracts an enthusiastic community of locals, along with visitors from Melbourne and beyond.

According to Night Market Festival Director, Sophie McCarthy, “this year will be bigger and better with more food, stalls, music and more space to relax. Coventry Street will be closed to traffic on the Market side to accommodate up to 14 food trucks each night, and the Market’s Centre Aisle will be open for the first time involving more than 30 permanent stalls”.

Entertainers and musicians will perform from four acoustic stages (Coventry Street, Cecil Street, York Street and SO:ME Space), showcasing emerging talent as well as crowd favourites.

“South Melbourne Market is a culturally vibrant public space that helps to connect diverse segments of our community, strengthening the social fabric of our community,” Cr Voss said. “The Night Market is just another way we achieve this. It provides a great opportunity for friends to gather and celebrate good food, cultural diversity, local design and live music in an authentic, much-loved community Market.”

Dates/Time: Thursday evenings 5 January – 23 February 2017, 5.30pm – 9.30pm
Price: Free live music and entertainment
Address: South Melbourne Market, Coventry & Cecil Streets, South Melbourne.
Walk, drive or catch the 96 or 11 tram to South Melbourne. Free rooftop parking from 5.30pm.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/southmelbournenightmarket
Twitter: @sthmelbnightmkt
Instagram: @southmelbournenightmarket
Website: www.southmelbournenightmarket.com.au

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