Wichita’s new Asian Night Market will be filled with food, drink, fun

One of Wichita’s favorite annual events is the Wichita Asian Festival, which every October fills Century II with cultural performances and dozens and dozens of food vendors.

Now, several local Asian American organizations are banding together to put on an open-air springtime version of that event.

Saturday’s Asian Night Market, scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. at Naftzger Park, 601 E. Douglas, will feature 24 vendors, and most of them will be selling Asian food. Among the local restaurants that will be participating: Headz & Tailz, Himali Eats, Mi No Bakery, Pho KC, Paradise Biryani and Komugi Japanese Bakery.

Four food trucks also will be there, including Noble House, MKM Thai Food Truck, Thai Riffic Food Truck and Travieso’s, and four of the city’s popular boba tea shops also will be serving: Feng Cha, Kung Fu Tea, ICTea and Joy Tea.

The event also will include vendors selling clothing and other cultural items.

The groups organizing the event were looking for a way to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which is in May, said Taben Azad, a member both the Wichita Asian Association and the National Association of Asian American Professionals. They wanted to put on an event that mirrored the grand Asian Night Markets regularly put on in big cities across the country, including on the east and west coasts.

“Those cities have bigger populations of Asian Americans, but we have a sizable population that is growing here in Wichita, and we wanted to bring that to the community,” he said.

The event will have the same vibe as the Asian Festival but won’t have the pageants or cultural performances, Azad said. It will include family friendly events like face painting and balloon animals.

The organizers hope that the Asian Night Market will become an annual activity in Wichita.

“We don’t want this to be a one-and-done event,” he said.

Admission is free, but people are encouraged to bring cash to buy food and drink.

Asian Night Market vendors

This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 11:56 AM.

Denise Neil

The Wichita Eagle

316-268-6327

Denise Neil has covered restaurants and entertainment since 1997. Her Dining with Denise Facebook page is the go-to place for diners to get information about local restaurants. She’s a regular judge at local food competitions and speaks to groups all over Wichita about dining.