Seattle Night Market

Bella Yang arranges flowers to sell at the Ia's Garden vendor booth at the Seattle Night Market and Autumn Moon Festival outside the historic Union Station at the Chinatown-International District neighborhood of Seattle in 2013.

((Marcus Yam / The Seattle Times))

Asian folk music, lantern light and the licorice-scent of Thai basil will fill a Southeast Portland parking lot four consecutive Saturdays in August and September.

The Jade Night Market promises to be part festival, part Portland Saturday Market, part food cart pod. Dancers will perform and games will be available for children. Vendors will sell hot dinners and handmade crafts.

Night markets are known as a center of social life throughout Asia, said market coordinator Jessie Burke. She hopes the Jade market will help create the same sense of community on Southeast 82nd Avenue.

The four-weekend night market is a pilot project for the Jade District, which was designated as a Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative by the Portland Development Commission in 2011.

The area still lacks a cohesive brand, Burke said. The event is meant to both bring local business owners together and draw the larger Portland community to the multi-ethnic neighborhood.

"There's not very widespread knowledge that it's even called the Jade District," she said.

The market is partially funded by the PDC, Burke said, which hired the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon in 2013 to determine how the prosperity initiative could best serve residents. According to APANO's website, the organization created a steering committee of residents and business owners to develop community-building projects. The night market is the latest enterprise.

The district will likely expand the market next year if the pilot project is successful, Burke said.

The market will be open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 23 and 30 and Sept. 6 and 13 in the Fubonn Shopping Center parking lot, located at 2850 S.E. 82nd Ave. Parking will be available in the Fubonn lot.

Here's APANO's description of an Asian night market (from the organization's website):

When the sun sets over Taipei, the market at Shilin is just heating up. Smells of stinky tofu and sizzling sausage mingle with plumes of smoke above stalls strung with white lights, while performers and musicians amuse the crowds. Shops are bustling and there are games to be played. At this night market and others around the world, people come together to browse, socialize, and unwind. Sure, there are daytime markets, but under the cover of darkness, night markets feel exhilarating, drawing locals relieved to be off from work. They're entertainment venues pulsating with life; there's plenty to see and do, and dinner's cooking. This is the vision the residents of the Jade District want to see become reality.

-- Melissa Binder