Queens Night Market Returns Soon But You'll Need Tickets For The Opening Night

CORONA, QUEENS — This year's visitors to Queens Night Market will have to buy tickets for the opening nights to prevent overcrowding.

The night market, held in NY Museum of Science, drew unexpectedly large crowds in the last two years. An average of 8,000 visitors attended the market every Saturday in 2016 and more than 200 vendors represented over 60 countries.

The market convenes every Saturday night from 6 p.m. to midnight. The first two of the season will be held April 22 and 29 and the tickets, which are currently on sale, will cost $5. Entry will be free after May 6.

Queens Night Market — a foodie favorite — will offer a large variety of international food ranging from Taiwanese wheel cakes, artisanal Twinkies, Indonesian tahu magelang and Macedonian relish. The food, as always, will have a $5 cap.

Aside from the food, vendors will be selling art and merchandise ranging from Quechuan handicrafts to emoji paraphernalia. A long lineup of musicians and performers will be there to entertain visitors. A beer and wine garden will also be available for adults.

"I wanted to approximate the experience I get as a traveler, poking around foreign markets that cater mostly to the locals, which often seem so affordable to a tourist," John Wang, founder of Queens Night Market, told Eastern Queens Greenway.

Vendor and performer applications are still open and full list can be found here.

Half the proceeds from opening night tickets will go to three NYC charities:

• New York Immigration Coalition, which helps immigrants fully integrate into society and helps their voice be heard;
• New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund, which helps families of the city's police officers, firefighters, EMTs and Port Authority officials, who died in the line of duty;
• The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which helps NYC Parks preserve Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the benefit of the members of surrounding communities.

Visitors are encouraged to take mass transit due to limited parking space.

Image courtesy of Kyle C. Wong