Night it up! Is a decent open air night market with a good selection of food albeit with higher prices than you would like. The atmosphere is lively and the place is bustling. If you don't like being around tons of people, this event is not for you as the event is absolutely packed with people (or Asians). Also, this is definitely not a family friendly event as kids will be trampled, and the place is too noisy. Just taking a look at the demographic there, everyone is on the student/young adult/yuppie crowd. And there's a strong stench of stinky tofu in the air from at least three vendors. I didn't think it was too bad but sometimes I really did feel as if I was punched in the face with tofu odour. Now for the food; I didn't try too many things but I think there's something for everyone, from drinks to food to desserts. Food encompasses all asian countries too, from Philippines to Korea to Japan.I ended up trying 'new' items for this year: the ramen fries (from raging ramen) and the poke bowl (from pokito). Stay away from the ramen fries. In wouldn't even bother trying them. I would rate it zero stars. They were $8 for a bowl and $15 for two. I don't know what we were thinking getting two: It is simply instant ramen cooked and fried with some random skimpy sauce and toppings. It was flavourless, the texture was unsavoury. Just all around terrible, and they only gave 5 pieces per bowl ouch. Not like it mattered, because you wouldn't even eat all five of them.. Poke was awesome. I've wanted to try it for ages! It was $10 for the bowl, I ordered the 420 queen st bowl which had tuna and salmon chunks, sweet and sour sauce, papaya, tangerines, taro chips, seaweed salad, on a bed or rice. It was light and fresh, and was a delightful combination of flavours and textures with the sweetness and tang of the fruit contrasting with the crispiness of the taro chips. Night it up is a fun event that you should attend at least once to experience the atmosphere and the wide array of food. I won't be going for the crowd but for the unique items they offer. read more

Night It Up! - Holy smokes, smoke is every here. I am not exaggerating - Street Vendors Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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We come here once every year. But every year I feel older and older coming back. Full of kids...super loud... so hot...pungent smells...long lineups. I usually order a Jap fried tofu dish but didn't see it. So after all the walking around for nothing, all I got was chatime. Course, we were also very full from eating dinner so we no longer had the appetite for something big. Tried a bit of the oreo shaved ice japanese dessert (Kakigori). That was nice but melted rather quickly due to the hot temperature. I couldn't stand the performers. Either they were too loud (I thought my heart rate was escalating as the music kept pumping) or just destroying my favourite songs. Free entertainment is wonderful. However, auditions should be mandatory. No one really wants to be covering their ears almost the entire time. Was really lucky this year and found parking nearby. read more

Night it up is a free event held at the corner of Warden and Highway 7, northwest corner. Do yourself a favour and park across the street at the Hilton for a small charge and nice air conditioned washrooms. Leave your dogs at home as it is always way too hot. We have been going for several years, usually on the Sunday afternoon as it is quieter. I find I don't last an hour because I don't do well in extreme heat and the heat from the grills adds to the pounding heat from the sun. 45 minutes and I was spent and lobster red. Today we ate quickly and got out. We enjoyed an early dinner of: Lemonade - necessary Meat skewers from Marcelina's - yummy Fresh scallop in the shell from Crazy Good Scallops - best Pork belly bao from Bao is Life - good year after year Chicken lemongrass taco from Los Vietnamina - good Taiwanese fried chicken from Chick-in TFC (I think) was a good deal and yummy We cheered on the University of Waterloo hip hop group even though we could not see the stage, because Waterloo. I have no idea how people were playing in a volleyball competition right next to the event. That is dedication read more

The rating is actually a 2.5 star rating. I'm in between Meh, I have experienced better and A-OK. Night It Up! is a free annual outdoor festival showcasing a mosaic of delicious Asian street foods complemented by local talents' nightly performances, styled in the vein of night markets from Taiwan, Hong Kong and across Asia that's held at the Markham Civic Centre in Markham. All onsite proceeds go towards a selected beneficiary charity each year. I go every few years and the Markham Civic Centre is definitely a better location than the previous Metro Square location. I got there around 2:45 pm on a Saturday afternoon shortly after the festival just opened. I was kind of surprised how busy it was already for that time but definitely not as busy as it would get at night. Venue: The grounds of Markham Civic Centre as I mentioned earlier is definitely better than their old location at Metro Square years ago but with the huge Asian population in Markham even the current location is getting small because at night, it's pretty much shoulder to shoulder. Food: This is where I think the festival kind of fails, there is a lot more misses than hits and some of the prices some of the vendors are charging are becoming pretty ridiculous for street food that's not gourmet. I'll give you an example, Miku one of the top Japanese restaurants where selling 4 pieces of their aburi sushi for $10 at Taste of Toronto last year which is reasonable because you're selling samples at a reasonable price at food festivals to get people to come into your bricks and mortar restaurant for example. I'll provide examples of what I tried at Night It Up and some ridiculous prices. Raging Ramen Fries: I tried the Ramen fries ($10 tax included) which was essentially deep fried ramen topped with cabbage, bonito flakes and some wasabi mayo. It was a little oversalted and nothing special, more of a novelty item and definitely a few dollars overpriced. Bar Code: Probably one of the best deals at the festivals. 5 lamb skewers and a bowl of cold noodles for $10 tax included. They were definitely one of the best places for skewers at the festival, great seasoning and juicy meat. The cold noodles were really good and refreshing on the hot day topped with cucumbers and slathered in a spicy sauce. Saiko Tako: I got a dessert called a cherry blossom rain drop ($7 tax included). Beautiful to look at especially with an edible flower inside the dessert but the taste was nothing special, could have been a little sweeter especially for a dessert. I tried a few other items that aren't worth mentioning and I saw one place selling tacos for $10 each when Seven Lives downtown sells their tacos for $6 each. I'm not sure what the vendors are getting charged by the festival for the booths but the food they are producing for the majority by most places aren't worth the money when compared to a festival like Taste of Toronto and the gourmet food you get there for around the same price. The only really saving grace, is that admission to the festival is free. Entertainment: There are live music performances that go on throughout the day and you can watch volleyball and basketball games. They also have a kids area. Overall, it's a decent festival for people looking for hot new food trends or for people looking for a way to spend a day. I also think it's popular because people are looking to reconnect with their Asian culture since we don't have night markets that happen on a regular basis like in Asia. I also love the fact that the proceeds each year go towards a good cause but with the outrageous food prices and how busy it is especially at night, I'm not sure it's something I would attend every year. read more

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Good variety. I prefer Night It Up to Taste of Asia necessary it is not as dominated by bbq lamb skewers as the latter. The crowd is also different, as is the entertainment. Well organized. Good facilities. Please don't push inside the residential complexes in the area. You will get towed and you deserve it. read more

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I appreciate the night market theme and that is captured fairly well. However I wasn't overly impressed by the vendors. Many of them were clearly amateurs, which I eagerly support, but the quality was not all there. The BBQ scallops and oysters were not as fresh as needed. The Banh Mi was sub par. The stinky tofu - look I'll eat anything that attempts to be good, but smell is 70% of the eating experience so when it smells disgusting, it is disgusting. The washroom facilities were way under resourced. The south side had only one sink and it was out of water. With messy food and kids, that's a recipe for disaster. Lastly, and by far most importantly, this is a dry event, not a beer tent in site. read more

Night It Up! - BBQ scallop and oyster - Street Vendors Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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Born and raised in Hong Kong...this has got to be the biggest rip off compared to all Asian food markets I've been to, not as ridiculous as the Richmond Night Market in Vancouver which charges for an entrance fee but seriously though. $8 for a sugar cane drink? $8 for a tornado potato? Go for the vibe, not the food. read more

Food 2.5/5 (50% of final grade) Typical East-Asian Festival foods, so what can be said? Ambiance 3.5/5 (15% of final grade) There wasn't enough music all around to hype up the atmosphere, but in general the crowd was big enough for it to feel festive! Service 4/5 (15% of final grade) The service was quite typical of East-Asian Festivals, what can be said? All the vendors were much too busy preparing foods of all sorts to really give any impressive customer service. Why I gave it a high score though is that the volunteer staff there were all very friendly, refreshingly youthful people! They would help you the best they can-- there were some complications with the Chatime vouchers that were being given out, but the volunteer attending the booth giving out said vouchers was very interactive and handled the crowd pretty well -- a friendly face! Cost 2/5 (10% of final grade) It did cost slightly above what normal East-Asian Summer Festivals would charge for the food quantity and quality, but in general not a PIVOTAL point. Other 4/5 (10% of final grade) It was really nice to get a free Chatime fan :) There were other booths giving out freebies as well, which isn't ENTIRELY rare, but the sheer quantity and quality of the freebies made it worth a while. The performances onstage were very lovely. THE PORTABLE POTTIES WERE SO CLEAN (well, in comparison to conventional portable potties). There was a company that did Bubble Soccer as well. They let you slip (for free) into one of their giant bubbles and wrestle a team of 4-6 people around-- ABSOLUTELY FUN (might actually pay to play next time). I also got a Yelp sweat/wrist band that says "Blood, Yelp, & Tears", which I totally love. It's so quirky and legitimizes what I do, writing Yelp reviews. :') Final Grade = 59.5/100 = 3 Stars TLDR: Attend for the festivities, but not something that's OMG-SO-NEW-AND-COOL. I recommend that you come with a small group of friends (believe me, you'll lose them anyway otherwise), bring $20 each for a nice after-dinner walk and snack, and you'll be good for the entire event. Photo Credits to George Zhao. read more

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Night it Up is one of Markham's annual Asian Night Market specializing in food and other fun activities that are not always offered in the area year round. Frankly it's a festival that I look forward to every year because it's definitely an experience that you don't get anywhere else. It's not for everyone and if you come in with high and snooty expectations you're going to not have a good time lol. 1. Lots of Food Options: every year there's the crowd favourites and new trends and rages. This year it was the ramen burger. The usual classic is the takoyaki and big squid on sticks and skewers. This year I enjoyed the Thai iced tea as well. There's always hits and misses though. 2. Bring cash to this event. Usually there's no tax on anything and a very large majority only accept cash. Depending on how long you go and what items you buy, in a typical night I spent about $20 because I shared items with someone else. 3. I stress this point for people who don't like crowds: Come in the off peak hours. NIU is open not only at night (5pm on the first day, I believe 2pm on the other days). Saturday night is also the worst. When people are done their dinners around 8 is where it starts to get PACKED. Like claustrophobic, why did you bring your young child/dog here, packed. Oh yeah, don't bring your pets or babies here. Just... No. That's one of the reasons why it's not 5 stars. 4. There's also other sources of entertainment such as dancing, singing, basketball, volleyball, and much more. They also have stalls for playing simple carnival games and sell toys as well. I really like Night It Up and I'm proud of the Asian culture that is fused here. That's what makes Markham special. I recommend it to all my friends because it's definitely an experience. read more

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Great time . awesome weather. Food was mouth watering. The korean BBQ chicken squers where the high light for me.(TWO PARK).Close second was the Japanese fried chicken the size of your face. So crispy so good. My fav with nori. Won Yelp sunglasses. So cool.but my son scoped them .had an awesome refreshing drink from chatime and a fan as a sovenier. read more

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Asians, Asians and more Asians. I'm Asian too so plus 1 to the super large crowd. The place opened at 7pm on a Friday night and I got there around 7:20pm and it was already packed. I don't really like crowed places so I guess I wouldn't really fair well in an actual Asian country. Born and raised in Canada so and that's what I'm use to. There were a lot of different vendors but none that really caught my eye. It seemed like all the food offerings were some kind of skewer. Tried some Malaysian chicken skewers 5 pieces for $10. Came with some cucumbers and peanut sauce. Meat was tender and portions were pretty good. I really liked it. Chatime was available. Got my usual milk tea with pudding. $5 for large. Also got some squid on a stick for $8. I really didn't like it at all. The sauce used to marinate the squid was not to my liking. I really can't describe what it tasted like but I only took one bite. Parking is available but I decided to park next door at the Nofrills but there was a security guard there stopping people from parking there. Just sneak around him and you're good but park at your own risk. Just a note for you single guys out there; Asian eye candy was everywhere. I don't even think I needed to point that out. Its a given. LOL read more

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Scene: Food vendors, crowds of people, night time. This place is full of energy for a summer night! I get really excited coming here as I come every year to sample and see the food that it has to offer! It's quite a foodie's dream to try so many types of food in one night. It looked like there were more food vendors this year, compared to the other years that I came but with the regular - stinky tofu, lamb skewers and fresh fruit juices in the original fruit that they always have. I tried lamb skewers, stinky tofu (these 2 of course!), popcorn chicken, and the potato twist. The food isn't the best since it is prepared without a full kitchen, and the line ups are long but I like to think it's all worth it because as you wait in line, there is so much going on around you! I would definitely recommend it as a summer activity to enjoy with friends and family. read more

-- My First Experience -- This was my second time going to Night It Up (NIU)! (Last time was 5-6 years ago). My first experience was definitely bad. I used to live in the condo across from Markham Civic Centre. I remember during NIU, the stinky tofu smell was all over the building and I seriously hated that smell. I stopped going there after I moved out. And today I just felt like maybe I should give NIU a second chance. I was surprised there were activities other than eating. There were bubble soccer booths, gold fish scooping stations, live sports, etc. -- Food and Drinks -- I love to try new stuff and I didn't end up ordering anything that I ate the last time I was here. We ordered 4 items in total: 1. Japayaki Ramen Poutine from Raging Ramen Fries $8 - The wait time for this booth was so long. They split up their queue into 2: you have to order first, then line up again to wait for your food. This was definitely one of the better ramen dishes at NIU. The ramen fries were fried perfectly and the ramen wasn't soggy/greasy. The katsuobushi on top added extra texture to the poutine! It was quite windy yesterday night and the katsuobushi was flying everywhere. The teriyaki sauce and the wasabi mayo was spot on! 2. Takoyaki from Authentic Osaka Takoyaki - 6 for $7 - Best Takoyaki in Toronto for sure. The texture was so soft and was cooked thoroughly. We loved how the surface was very crispy and flavorful! 3. Pork Belly Ramen Burger from Ramen & Rice Burger - $12 - This was a big disappointment. The ramen was bland and tasteless. The ramen patty was very hard and greasy. I was so shocked they didn't season the ramen patty at all. I tried better pork belly elsewhere. The pork belly here only had fat. You couldn't find a strand of meat in it. If I could choose again, I would never order this dish. 4. Original Raindrop Cake from AAAGrills (with edible Sakura) $7 - I was surprised there was no line up for this booth because this is definitely one of the most unique looking dishes at NIU. It was more like a jello than a cake. If they didn't have any almond powder or brown sugar syrup on the side, the jello would be tasteless. There was an edible Sakura in one of the jello. This was an Instagram worthy dish, and for me this was only a one-time thing. -- Overall -- NIU was still overcrowded. I would suggest pet owners not to bring their pets because it was way too overcrowded. I will be back in 5 years to see if they've improved by then. read more

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Where do you even start when it comes to this Nightmarket? I always intend on spending less than $40 but end up spending wwaayyy over $100 because I literally want to try EVERYTHING and it is a dangerous habit. Depending on the time you go, it can be Jam packed and you spend time waiting in line for stinky tofu, squid, grilled beef or lamb, or some yummy fried goodness either in chicken or Octopus ball form or whatver patty is frying at that time. Lots of activities and tons of goodness for the entire family. read more

This weekend was my first time at 'Night It Up' and I had such a great time! Wishing I found out about this event before, because now I feel like I've been missing out for yeaaaaaaaars :( Like in any asian market expect huge crowds, long line ups and delicious food. I tried the pork belly gua bao, all the musubis, chicken/lamb skewers, ramen fries, and my absolute favourite japanese raindrop cakes! My piece of advice is to arrive a little earlier to avoid long line ups, bring cash, wear comfortable shoes and clothes you don't mind smelling like smoke. read more

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My friends and I go to this event annually. It's Asian food festival, supposed to mimic the night food stand in Asia. There are many food stands (predominantly asian): bubble tea, desserts, BBQ skewers & squid, stinky tofu, fried chicken. The new one this year is Poke bowls from Pokito. It was worth a try. Overall, it was a fun night out with tons of sodium loaded food. We got to try things that we typically can't get at regular restaurants. read more

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This is one event you don't want to miss. This place is full of Asians and well food! You get to try many different yummy food for decent priced. There are a lot of events that's going on as well, such as dances, belly dancing, singing, marital arts, volleyball and basketball. You would want to come early since this place do get really packed. My favourite time to come is during the day!! If you come at night, you are looking at around 30-45 wait for your food. Not very pleasant if you ask me! So I like to come either right at the start time at 6:45 or at noon time when there's not a lot of people. Different days have different events, so you can definitely come more than once! Plus you can to try all the other yummy food! Have fun! read more

Night It Up! - Mango shaved ice cream - Street Vendors Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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I love it and I hate it. There are always new vendors with something new and creative. I enjoy looking through the little goods that the vendors are selling aside from the food. They don't sell as many things as they used to years ago, like turtles! Someone let me know if they see the turtles again. You will find the crowd are mostly young folks and it is very crowded, but then again, it is a weekend. The shows are fun to watch - it's great seeing the community come together to showcase their talents. I can't leave this place without the Thai Iced Tea! read more

NIU is an annual thing for me to go to. Aside from food and games to win prizes (money goes to a charity), there's a live show. I actually sat there for a a while to watch people sing and dance. They were great! My favourite part is of course the food! There's a ton of food and drink stands for you to try. My first thing to go look for would be karage (japanese fried chicken mmm). Might be a little annoying to find parking though.. so go early! read more

Best Night It Up yet. Embrace the stinky tofu! There will be lots of food very little parking and huge lines but it's all worth it if you get there a little early and try the right foods. Duck poutine from Me n U food truck are great! The squid tentacles are to die for. Especially the Honey butter ones! The fish balls from Andy BB are huge compared to normal fish balls, and the curry is spicy but delicious. Oyster pancakes from fried oyster pancakes are one of my favorites. There's some good takoyaki and Poke Wraps in the mix as well. There's a stage with performances and drone light shows towards the end of the night. There is a fundraising event held by students of western where they try to raise money for charity and let you play some games too. read more

This is my 4th year visiting Night It Up! and I must say it never disappoints! All the classic vendors were back (BBQ meat and squid skewers, stinky tofu, baos, grilled clams, boba tea, etc) and some new trendy vendors that were a great addition. My personal favs this year was the Thai Iced Tea ice cream in bear-shaped Taiyaki cones, and the Matcha Shaved Ice with Mochi. This year Night It Up! even had a celebrity basketball game with many fan favorites. The only downside to this event is how crowded it is, in previous years it has never been this bad- but with this event gaining more popularity every year, it would be a good decision to find a larger venue in 2020. read more

Every year, night market continues to be more and more crowded and the vendor food also becomes more expensive. I suppose I would have expected this by now since this will be about my third or fourth time going. Overall the experience was good in terms of the atmosphere however what I don't understand is when people seem to also bring their dogs. Unfortunately in such a crowd, you can't even see the dog and I'm always afraid someone will be stepping on their feet or trampling over them. Same thing with people who bring their strollers into the crowd - all the smoke that is generated from the cooking is definitely not good for their health so I would highly recommend not bringing your little ones or dogs to the event because it is simply not the event for them. I had the oyster omelette - wasn't too bad. I think it could've had a little more oysters to justify the cost. All the items were around $10 ballpark. My friends had also tried the stinky tofu and the BBQ squid which was good as well. I would say to come once to try it out but it is hard to say that I would enjoy going it every year. The last I went to night market was most likely about two years back since it does become repetitive after awhile. read more

Asian central as all I can say! ;-) Great for people watching as the crowds brings the casual to the overly dressed (or not dressed) to this event. Seriously, do girls need to cake on heavy make up to go to a night market? What's up with that? Between the smelly tofu and the heavy long line ups, some of it is worth it and some of it is not. The best part is that there's always more choices than time. This event is a staple for the summer crowd in Markham and it's been highly successful so expect more to come in the following years! Tips: - bring cash and lots of it as the ATMs on site charges a hefty service fee - come early to avoid line ups, the worst is if you arrive after 7pm and onwards. - there are more than enough skewers and smelly tofu vendors, try them all to see which ones you like better - dress light, this isn't a formal or the club, you will smell of BBQ smoke and sweat, guaranteed - great place to stock up on freebies, like Trojan condoms. (I walked away with more than a dozen!) There's a joke in here somewhere.... ;) read more

Like any street festival with food. There are line ups and a million people and just complete chaos. But if you don't mind that atmosphere and used to being aggressive in crowds, lining up should be no problem - if you knew where it begins. This year Night It Up moved to a bigger Parking lot but it's still not big enough. Food stalls line the place serving stinky tofu, BBQ squid and lamb, takoyaki balls, Taiwanese style desserts. This year the trend was $5 for half opened pineapple with juice or watermelon. And deep fried potato chips for $4 on a stick, and Angry Bird paraphernalia (haha funny word) I found that there was less variety in foods this year and a lot more folks repeating popular dishes. You need to take a look at their operations before getting line. I don't know why I waited for over 40 mins for tako yaki. They could not make them fast enough and only had two ball makers. You round the corner and this place has at least ten going at staggered pace. Also couldn't understand how some places have no line up and can give ou food in seconds. While some just couldn't keep up. The price point is around $5 for 2 skewers or serving. Not bad but it adds up. They also have booths selling basically anything you can get in Dealextreme and other pacific mall type things like iPad covers and phone dongles. There are also some home hade canival games for fundraising One good thing with the new location is Here is ample parking almost everywhere in to industrial buildings. It was also super difficult to find people. All the stalls served similar food and looked the same. Getting to the stage was difficult in a crowd of people. When my friend said, the stall with the balloons across from the pineapple, I swore I was in the right place. But I was on the opposite side from where she was. i think the best place to meet is the Dan-Di-pak stall with the flags. Would i go again? Maybe not. They need wider lanes and a larger area. And some sort of crowd control. read more

First time at Night it Up I've been to the T&T event on Cherry St. over the past couple years, and I'd say it's a pretty similar experience. Rows upon rows of mainly food vendors. Off to the side, there's a stage setup for entertainment/announcements, a basketball/volleyball court for the sporty, but be warned! The smell of the stinky tofu permeates the air; this literally triggers for me a head ache. I should open up shop next door and sell carbon masks. They have paramedics on stand by if you pass out. lol This year they invited some food trucks vendors saw an; Italian Meatball truck (cool sliders), Buster Seacove, and a Chip Truck. It's a mad house by the evening. People are streaming in from the surrounding areas; neighborhood condos/town houses, drop off zones and regional buses. People coming from everywhere! Food: There are some good things to eat here that make it worth the visit. Some things I enjoyed were 3 tacos for $10 (fish taco, chicken satay, and beef taco) from Tacocat, Mango and Melon shaved ice milk so smooth and creamy $4, $3 for refills. Really popular with the crowd were Oyster pancakes, freshly shucked Oysters, BBQ quail eggs, Octopus anything and Lamb Skewers. I didn't try them as I'm not fanatical about Oysters, Octopus, or Lamb but you might like them. At night by the grass field, they have a neat outdoor theatre setup where they were playing the Chinese version of the movie of "What Women Want" starring Andy Lau (w English subs). Was really funny movie but we had to leave half way through it because the mosquitoes were going for the kill. Next time though, we'll come prepared with a chair/or a blanket. We made do with some ghetto fab Canada Dry bags to sit on because you can't rock grass bare wearing khakis. :p I'm going to pop in today to have a Lobster & Shrimp poutine at the Asian poutine booth, and some and Pork skewers (tocino style) at the Filipino BBQ booth. If you want to eat I suggest to go early during the day; if you want to socialize go at night. read more

Street eats are the best!!! I love attending these street festivals and always eating way too much with my eye than my stomach can hold (this actually makes more sense in Cantonese LOL). I can easily spend $50 at one of these places all to my self and this year is no different. I don't even know where to begin... there is just too many things to write about. My goal is to always support the booth that looks a bit bored LoL... I just feel bad for them and will always give them my business. I will always support innovative creations as well. So, you will always find me eating things that are new and different. I tend to stay away from the typical beef/fish balls stands or BBQ meat skewers (which is getting a little boring). With that being said, I didn't really see anything that was a major innovative idea. Most of the new stands were just variations of something that was there already. Not that they were bad or anything like that, but was hoping to see something new and exciting. I will probably visit this event again trm night, maybe I will bump into something that I might have missed earlier today and will definitely update this review if I see something. Again, I can't stress how I love these types of events that go on. Just wish that it will happen more often. In my opinion, they should have something like this every weekend in the summer. But than again, the waist line will become an issue. read more

I only quickly got to see Night It Up for a few minutes just as it was opening, and being my first time seeing the festival for myself it was pretty incredible. A massive volleyball tournament was taking place all morning, and the skill level of all the team both young and old seemed to be top shelf. I did notice that all the teams were of asian heritage, so I wasn't sure if this was exclusive or not, that said, if there was an opportunity to jump on a team next year I totally would. Night It Up! is held at the Markham Civic Centre (the parking lots in front of the Flato Markham Theatre to be precise). There did appear to be a ton of food vendors there and my only regret was that being there as early as I was to set up as a vendor meant that none of the food was available quite yet. That said, I've not marked off squid lollypops and a few other items for my food-bucketlist next year when I go. As I understand it, the festival is cash only and it does get crowded so best to go prepared and go early to help avoid the crazy line-ups. Looking forward to giving NIU another try next year and eating all the food (then I can give a much more specific review of my experiences). Also of note, while this festival does occur in a giant parking lot, it does take up essentially all the parking, so good luck in finding a spot even if you're a vendor. Pro-tip, take a cab here if you can swing it Eatcrest Out! read more

Tonight i attended Night It Up for the first time.. I was surprised to see the amount of booth and food options available.. I didn't get to try anything because the line up's were unreal, we arrived shortly after it opened at 7pm and only stayed an hour. The reason we cut our trip to this event short was because of the locations of a certain type of booth, the "SMELLY TOFU" booth had an odour I just couldn't bare.. there were at least 4 of this type of booth and they were situated what seemed to be on every corner of the main food section.. every time I wanted to line up to order something that looked appealing, I couldn't because I felt as tough I was going to throw up.. I managed to order a Watermelon Drink in a Watermelon from Juicy Melons, It was extremely tasty and if attending this event I would suggest it as a must!! This was my first time attending an Asian Food Event and next time I will think twice before making plans to go.. I liked the fact this event was close to home and the cost was free to entre.. I think because of the live stage and the other events throughout the market I would have stayed much longer if it wasn't for that extremely awful odour.. I wish they had put the "Smelly Tofu" booths in one location so I could have avoided it and continued my experience.. I most likely will not be attending this event again read more

Night It Up! presented by Power Generation, is the annual push and shove your way to the end of the line, so you can get food and push and shove your way to find your friends. It used to be located at the secondary parking lot next to Metro Square, but this year moved the Markham Civic Centre over at Warden and Highway 7, a stone throw away from First Markham Place, Gal Sushi and Hilton Suites on 7. As typical of any GTA street(parking lot) fest, it's crowded to the point of insanity. I got there a half hour after the thing started @ 6pm and it was hard to manoeuvre. Thank goodness for my friends for their visitor parking, and the fact they lived right across the street, so I didn't have to be bussed in from the industrial parking lots that are way way too far to walk from. This year was a bit different for me, because I went with two young families, babies, grandparents and strollers and all. This is NOT recommended, due to the crowds, although I'll free admit that the stroller is great for creating space between people so the group could get through together. On the skip list this year, was the stinky tofu, lamb skewers, and the oyster omelettes. The lamb skewers and the stinky tofu are there every year, but to be honest with you; the fact that Mei Neung Noodle House @ FMP serves Stinky Tofu year-round and the lamb skewers you can find upstairs @ P-mall isn't enough to entice me to line up for them anymore. The oyster Omelette line was just crazy, I think my friend's mother waited like an hour for it. It doesn't help that you can't tell where which line belongs to which. The only line that was clear was the takoyaki line for takoyaki booth, begin run by the takoyaki guys from T&T Middlefield location food court. They did seem to have fair amount of repetition of some foods, like the tornado potato, which is basically a spud spiralled out and deep fried and flavoured. I did end up getting my annual treat of takoyaki, but I didn't line up for it. I think these one were the pre-packaged ones, but it doesn't really matter too much in the long run. I topped it off with the spicy mayo , added on it. Also this year, there was Asian style poutine, best part no line up on it. for $5.00, I got an decent, but slightly salty shrimp/lobster poutine. Located in the third row between fruit juice stand and the Taiwanese pork belly rice sandwich things. There is an improvement, in the sense that I saw a few booth workers dressed in the same t-shirts, and at least two of those had order slips, and taking in money, and working the line. I agree that the event is larger than past years, but they need to expand even more and some sort of line thing that lets us what line is what and where to go line up. Maybe the Markham Fairgrounds or something just as larger? It will be interesting to see how this one stacks up to the T & T one downtown coming up this week. Night It Up is a cash ONLY event. read more

Decent if you wanna try a bunch of asian street food all in one place. However it's cheaper and more comfortable to visit the restaurant itself. Hit it up early to avoid the crowds. This place gets packed af. Definitely has the smells and taste of Asia if your craving that experience. Would recommend if you've never been. read more

Been coming to this event for a few years now. As per usual, food is always ridiculously expensive and I've found that many stores undercook their food to deal with the long lineups.. which is totally unsafe and uncool. However, I still tend to find myself coming back for the "experience" of squishing among sweaty bodies and inhaling the questionable odours of stinky tofu. They never fail to provide this free game called "avoid the lava" aka dodging littered skewers, tissues, and fallen foods on the floor and let's just talk about how when the wind blows, all the fumes, dust, and burnt charcoal pieces cause an outbreak of coughing fits. Now that all the cons are out in the open, I can reveal the reason why I'm still motivated to come back every year. It's because my inner-foodie just can't resist checking out the annual showcase of innovative food ideas, even if I can't afford to try them all! Progressively coming out with better, more modern, and more interesting gimmicks, the vendors are changing with the times and have really stepped up their game this year. Having just come back from a trip to Hong Kong, I liked that there were a lot of snacks resembling what's currently popular over there (eg: ice cream egg waffles, matcha flavoured options, a surplus of bubbletea options, etc.). So even though I knowingly get ripped off whenever I make a purchase from this event, I still feel compelled to come. And realistically, I probably will come again next year. read more

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I go almost every year, and every year is the same - stinky tofu is a must get from wei's lol. Except, this year I was too lazy to line up at Wei's so went to Mama Bear. Although, this year was a little different because everyone was catching Pokemon at the night market!! I also enjoy going because there's always free swag to get ;) Make sure to wear a hat or have your hair tied up because you will smell like a mix of bbq and stinky tofu. read more

Yesterday night was a hot mess. Line ups were ridiculous. Some vendors didn't have a proper line up system and you don't know where the line goes. Went to try the ramen burger and the deep fried squid. Lines were too much to handle, and place was jam packed. Gotta get outta there quick. Ramen burger was alright. Would have been better if the ramen was crispy...but the noodles were falling apart. Wish they took their time to fry the ramen noodles. The deep fried squid was also alright. I should have gotten the grilled squid from last time...but I noticed that the grilled squid got smaller this year. Not worth the time to line up. It's good to experience it at night but I still would rather go early in the afternoon to avoid ridiculous lines and loud people everywhere. read more

Came here on the Friday night at around 8pm, the place was jam packed with people. The lines were long but expected (15-20 minutes) we lined up for the whole squid skewer, the oyster pancake, takoyaki and egg rolls with ice cream, all with separate booths. No complaints about the food, the quality was good especially the oyster pancake booth. However if you come, it's recommended you come having already ate just because it is not worth it to try and get full here, all the items are about $10 so it is very easy to end up spending more than you intended. As well, if you want to avoid the lines, come in the afternoon on the Saturday or Sunday that this event is hosted. Overall experience was decent but I would only come again in the afternoon. read more

Night It Up! - Squid tentacles! - Street Vendors Near Me - Markham, Ontario

If you're looking for asian street food, this is one of those places to head to. If you get lost finding the place, just follow the smell of stinky tofu! There's a ton of different foods from different Asian countries. You'll find takoyaki, BBQ skewers, bubble tea, tons of different desserts. It can get a little expensive so it's best to go in a group so you can share the food and sample more things. Also, be prepared to go home smelling like BBQ smoke. You clothes will definitely be soaked in that smell. read more

Night It Up has been a staple event for me in the summer for many years, as it brings back memories and gives me the chance at some delicious food. However, it has gotten way to crazy and busy over the years, that I'm starting to find that it isn't worth it. The event itself is quite awesome, stalls for food, games, and little toys/trinkets, along with a huge area for a volleyball tournament. There is also a stage for performances, but they are really not that good. This year when I went, it was more packed than any other year I had been. They had all my favs like the stinky tofu and takoyaki, but it wasn't quite worth the wait. Everything took more than 20min waiting in line at the minimum. There were a couple things that we ended up just giving up and going elsewhere. As fun as it has been for me over the years, I gotta say this will probably be my last year. It isn't really worth it when you have to wait in line for everything, and get knocked around constantly by people trying to get through/around. It was fun when I was younger, but no more. I will just go to the respective stores for something I want in the future. read more

I've been to Night It Up! 2013 and 2014. It's the perfect event for Markham, full of Asian food! There are tons of vendors selling delicious food and drinks, ranging from Canadian favourites like Beavertails to oyster omelettes that take me right back to Taiwan. I think the star of the event is the Stinky Tofu. Oh man, does it stink up the whole area, but I love it! There were two tofu vendors this year, each with a distinct taste and smell. My other favourites from 2014 were the Thai iced tea and the grilled squid on a stick. Prices are high for what you get (this isn't the affordable Taiwanese night market you might expect it to be) and the crowds are huge, but it's a great summertime event in Markham, a place that I consider to typically lack a community feel, despite its big population. Come out and see what our city has to offer for your tastebuds! For those on a tight budget, check out the event near the end on the last day. The prices get slashed to clear inventory. The biggest discount I found was $8 coconuts (with juice inside) being sold for $2, then later $1 right before closing. A tip for the organizers: don't yell at visitors to leave the venue because the event is over for the night. How about you get the vendors to stop selling instead? The megaphone was very off-putting and obviously had no effect since the crowds still stayed until the vendors closed up. Also, the sinks by the portapotties were out of water hours before the event was over. That's pretty gross at a food event. read more

Went there around 9.30pm, after dinner, with the kids. We decided to park at the No Frills Plaza, across the road. You aren't supposed to park there, there's big signs saying you'll get a ticket or be towed. I can understand that during the daytime but I think they let it slide at night. When we walked up, we could already smell the stinky tofu, absolutely disgusting. There were loads of people already there. This year seemed busier than last, as the event gets more and more popular. There are lots of food and drink stalls, basically. Food seems a bit cheaper, lots of items starting from $4/$5. I remember things starting from $7/8. Nothing that's really great, what do you expect from a make shift street stall?? There are a few stalls selling overpriced toys, facial products, cuddly toys etc I would recommend people go to experience the atmosphere but it's a disaster waiting to happen. Too many people, if anything went wrong there would be loads of injuries. People are either stood in a long line up for foods or just stood around. You can't manouve to get around anywhere. Luckily, I'm not your typical 90lb, 5 ft Asian woman, and can muscle a way through the crowds. We went around the stalls once, everybody got some food and drinks, from non-busy vendors, and we left. Not too confident about leading 3 kids to safety, should anything happen here. read more

It was too small a space with lots and lots of people, long lines and sub par food. I grew up in Vancouver on Richmond and Chinatown Night Market- they had a variety of food, vendors selling wares, and events. This night market in comparison is almost exclusively food, with some stalls with high school carnival styled games. There were unreasonably long lines for food that really wasn't anything more spectacular than what you get in Pacific Mall or Toronto's Chinatown. In fact it seems that there are only a handful of vendors with multiple stalls- so it makes it seem bigger than it actually is. It seems more of a social event to meet up with friends and family, and hardly had the authentic feel of any asian night market. read more

Everyone covered most of the areas that need to be reviewed like the mass of crowds and extremely pungent aroma of stinky tofu. What needs to be improved is the water stations for washing your hands. There was no water in all of them. That is not acceptable. Its 2015 not 1915. I bet eve in 1915 they had water available for hand washing in their festivals. 1 star off for no water. That stinky tofu....Im pretty use to it as I been coming to this festival for years but it still burns the nostrils. 1 star off for smelly air. 3 stars *** Best thing I ate was the matcha cookie with ice cream. It needed way more ice cream but the matcha cookie was delicious. Lamb sticks are always a solid choice. Dont get the taiwanese oyster omlette. TOTAL RIP OFF. Its mixed with starch and taste like eating gooey globs of goo. read more