One of the two long-running Asian-themed seasonal night markets in Richmond has met its end.

The Illumination Summer Night Market, held on a warehouse site on Vulcan Way, near the Home Depot just west of the Knight Street Bridge, will not be happening this year.

A former major contractor with the event told Daily Hive the night market is “permanently closed” and will not reopen.

Daily Hive also reached out to night market organizers, but they were not able to immediately respond to our inquiries.

The exact reason for the cancellation is unknown at this time.

However, the Illumination Summer Night Market should not be confused with the Richmond Night Market next to River Rock Casino and the Canada Line’s Bridgeport Station.

The Richmond Night Market is still going ahead this year, although its future on the 22-acre home it has held since 2012 is also murky. The landlord of the site plans to undergo a $4-billion redevelopment into an international shopping mall with hotels, entertainment venues, and convention space.

The Illumination Summer Night Market took over Richmond Night Market’s original site in 2008 and has been operating there ever since, with attendance in excess of 15,000 people per weekend night according to organizers. The larger Richmond Night Market sees about 30,000 per weekend night.

The Illumination Summer Night Market has taken on different names in recent years in an aim to theme itself and directly compete with the Richmond Night Market.

It rebranded itself in 2015 as the Panda Night Market before adapting to the Illumination Sumer Night Market brand in 2016 and 2017, which featured a large display of lanterns in addition to the usual night market fare of food stalls and merchandise vendors.

The 2018 Richmond Night Market is scheduled for May 11 to October 8.

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