Night Market reopens for art symposium

You wouldn’t normally consider waffles smothered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce to be an evening meal, but the visitor carrying his plate through the Punanga Nui market Tuesday evening was practically salivating in anticipation of digging in.
The night-time version of the cultural market returned this week and continues tonight (Wednesday) and Thursday. The lights only go on in Avatiu to mark special occasions – this time it’s the fact that 200-plus visitors are on the island for the Pacific Arts Association symposium.
It’s the second time there has been a Night Market in 2010, following the hoopla surrounding the arrival of the fleet of voyaging vakas. The Pacific Mini Games was the last time there was cause to resurrect a mid-week version of the traditional Saturday experience.
“Most of the people here tonight are the Saturday market vendors,” said market manager Elmah McBirney. “Maybe we’ll have a few extra people but the majority will be from Saturday.”
McBirney said the vendors appreciate the added opportunity to sell their wares – plates of food were, literally, the hot item Tuesday – and visitors enjoy seeing another side of island life, but things are quite as rosy behind the scenes.
“I have to look at the budget and the funding for it,” she said. “Staff is working from five o’clock to 10 o’clock, and maybe after 10, and are they going to get paid? I don’t know. And then we have the lights, which we have to go and borrow from everybody else because we don’t have any.”
If staff schedules can be sorted and the market could purchase its own lights, McBirney said she’d love to see a Night Market held twice a month.
“It is a success,” she said. “It’s great for the visitors and the vendors.”
The Night Market runs from 5-10pm.

By John Ireland

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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