Tickets No Longer Required For Queens Night Market

FLUSHING, QUEENS — The Queens Night Market will be free and open to the public starting this weekend, after re-opening with ticketed weekends to manage visitor capacity.

After cancelling last year’s season in part due to fear of putting vendors in a position where they would likely lose money — since the typical $5 price cap on food means vendors’ profitability depends on volume — The Night Market has returned to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and will be open every Saturday through Oct. 30.

“While we knew the exact number of people we were letting in the first three weeks by ticketing, we didn’t anticipate visitors spending as much money as they did supporting vendors. Visitors really just wanted to soak it up, which led to an amazing atmosphere, but also to some operational challenges for vendors who kept selling out, no matter how much food they brought,” said John Wang, founder of the Queens Night Market, in a prepared statement.

According to Wang, most vendors beat their own sales records and consistently sold out early, despite some bringing two or three times as many supplies as they had ever before.

In addition to maintaining the event’s $5 price cap on food, with some limited $6 exceptions, The Night Market is already expecting to make good on its promise of featuring a wide-range of traditional foods “made by the people who grew up eating them.”

The vendor lineup this year includes Afghan, Indonesian, Sudanese, Filipino, Hungarian, Burmese, and Taiwanese food. Plus, they’re still accepting food vendor applicants.

There will also be art and merchandise vendors, including vintage apparel, hand-poured candles, skateboards, travel photography, crochet toys, stationery, small batch soap, henna and more.

Saturday's performances include DJ Jordan Knoxx; Vasilios Tselios, a Greek guitarist blending Greek folk, classical Spanish music, and Middle Eastern scales; Alex Owen & His New Orleans Style Jazz Band; Anthony Anderson, who does improvisational percussion to accompany whatever track is playing; Gotham Dance Theater; and Graft, a five-piece classic rock band.

You can find updates about the event from The Queens Night Market website or social media platforms.