Quiet nights in downtown Langley could soon turn much more lively, if a suggestion for regular night markets comes to fruition.
Steve Nicol, from Lions Gate Consulting, suggested the possibility of an evening bazaar, similar to the one in Richmond, in an economic development strategy report he delivered to City council on Monday, June 27.
“You want more vibrancy; You want more people; You want more pedestrians; You want more locals; You want more visitors. This is one way to do it,” he said in an interview with the Times.
Nicol said downtown Langley’s cluster of services makes it work well for a night market.
Food, crafts, and other goods would be found for sale in the market and live music could also be a possibility, he said.
He said night markets tend to attract more visitors to an area, compared to those in the daytime.
Coun. Paul Albrecht, co-chair of the City’s economic development committee, said he is interested in pursuing the idea and he would be an attendee of such a market.
“We’re more than interested in exploring every opportunity to create more life, more vibrancy, more activity in the downtown area,” he said.
“We’ll be sitting down with the downtown merchants and business community to find out the interest level there.”