| rev:text
| - 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.
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