By Lucy-Claire Saunders

The Richmond Night Market is no more...at least not in the way the public has come to know it. The host, Target Events recently announced that it will no longer be holding the market, also known as the Richmond Night Market Summer Festival .

“It is with great regret that we announce that we have not been able to find an alternate location for this year's Richmond Night market,” said Raymond Cheung from Target Events Group.

The landlord of the property where the market took place had “significantly” increased the rent forcing Target Events Group to refrain from renewing its lease, according to Cheung. 

“We continue to actively consult with the City of Richmond to find an alternate location for 2009.”
It is estimated that Target Events Group would need about 15 acres of paved land to hold the event

But there's another party on the scene vying for control over the Richmond Night Market-- Lion Communications Ltd, an Internet company based in Vancouver.

“Lion Communication filed an application for a Temporary Land Use permit to zone the land for the market,” said Cynthia Lockrey, spokesperson for the City of Richmond.

After several bureaucratic steps, if all goes well, city council will hold a public hearing where anyone is invited to share opinions. Upon reviewing all the comments, the council  will then decide whether to issue Lion Communication Ltd. a Temporary Land Use permit.

If all goes smoothly, Lockrey said the night market could start at the end of June.

Lion Communications Inc., have already taken steps to hire professional companies to set up the site for this year's event, according to press releases.

Cheung and the staff at Target Events are aware that Lions Communications Ltd. has filed an application to hold a similar night market on the property.

“We want to make sure the public is aware that that we have no association with that group and whatever is held on that site is not Target Events' Richmond Night Market,” he said.

Cheung has indicated the plumbing, wiring and sanitary facilities were removed by his company at the end of last year's market closing day.

It is unclear at this time how Lion Communication's market will be different from the one held by Target Events Group.  As far as the possibility of having two Richmond Night Markets--  “You can have to farmer's markets, two gas stations, so why not?” asked Lockrey.

Lions Communications Inc. has experience organizing various night markets both in Richmond and Vancouver, notably the first night market of its kind for Richmond in the 1998 Continental Square Mid Autumn Festival along with the Chinese New Year Night Market at Lansdowne Park Shopping Centre which ran for 6 consecutive years starting from 1999.

The Richmond Night market, which was located at Vulcan Way and Sweden Way behind the Home Depot, has attracted 30,000 people nightly over the past eight years. Vendors would set up tents, where the public was encouraged to bargain for a variety of goods from inexpensive electronics to dirt-cheap clothing.