The Summer Night Market is over, and if you’re Wednesday nights are feeling strangely empty, don’t worry. The Hawker 88 Night Market is returning to Melbourne. Feel transported to the energetic streets of Asia with sizzling dishes, refreshing cocktails, cultural performances and more at Queen Victoria Market. This vibrant event will take place over five weeks, whisking you around the region every Wednesday night from April 9 to May 7.
Hawker 88 Night Market
Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Asia at Queen Victoria Market. There will be a different theme each night across the five week event, starting with the Pan-Asia Night on April 9.
Arrive hungry, because there will be so many delicious ways to treat yourself. Feast on laksa, dumplings, freshly-made noodles, sizzling meat skewers, Filipino barbeque, Thai fried chicken and more. Then, wash it down with bubble tea, or some of last year’s viral cocktails like the Flaming Mandarin Sunset (sake, mandarin, grenadine and 151 Rum) and Frozen Watermelon Shochu (shochu, watermelon, lime and mint).
On top of the food stalls, there will also plenty of music, cultural performances and entertainment for the whole family. Look forward to something exciting each week, such as Taiko drummers, a Squid Game-inspired DJ set, Bollywood dances and more.
Here are the different themes for each night:
- Pan-Asia Night – April 9: The season will kick off with Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese and East Malaysian dance performances, as well as an electrifying K-pop dance crew, a lion dance procession and an Asian fusion band to end the night.
- Bali to Bangkok Night – April 16: Feel whisked away to Southeast Asia with Malaysian and Filipino traditional dancing, Indonesian gamelan drumming, a Thai music band and martial arts displays.
- Rising Sun Night – April 23: Look forward to K-pop dancers, Chinese traditional performances, Japanese Taiko drumming and a Filipino live band. There will also be roving geishas and Korean costume parades.
- Bollywood Night – April 30: Lose yourself in the rhythm of Bollywood with dance performances and a Bollywood dance-off workshop. There will also be Sikh dancing, henna mural making and a curry-eating competition.
- Yin and Yang Night – May 7: Say goodbye to the night market with Chinese and K-pop dancing, a traditional Chinese costume parade and even a DJ set inspired by Squid Game.
Entry to the market is free, and it will run from 5pm to 10pm.