[photo credit: 626 Night Market]
626 Night Market wraps its August run at Santa Anita Park from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., the third and final day of a weekend that began Friday. The event takes its name from Southern California’s 626 area code, and it was founded in 2012 with a straightforward ambition: recreate in the San Gabriel Valley the bustling, communal night markets that many attendees grew up with in Asia.
What that looks like in practice is dozens of food and drink vendors alongside retail makers, games and a stage schedule that runs into the late evening. The food ranges across Korean corn dogs, taiyaki, chili garlic noodles, lobster rolls, Asian funnel cakes and tea-infused sorbet. Retail booths carry jewelry, crochet plushies, prints and accessories. Games have included a claw machine and bungee trampolines.
Organizers describe the intent as a space where Asian Americans and visitors of all backgrounds can “connect, explore, and immerse themselves” in Asian cultural traditions.
Practical notes matter here. Admission is $8 for a one-day ticket, sold online, with food and merchandise purchased separately. Parking is free, though traffic around Santa Anita thickens as the evening goes on; the Metro A Line stops at Arcadia Station, roughly a mile from the gates. There is no time limit once inside.
This is the market’s second Arcadia weekend of the year. A June run has already come and gone.
626 Night Market will run on Sunday, August 16 from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Santa Anita Park, 285 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia. Visit 626nightmarket.com. Tickets: $8 for a one-day pass, available online only. All ages. Free parking.
