VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The International Night Market, which aims to highlight different cultures from around the world, held its first event Friday night in the ViBe District.
The event is scheduled for the first Friday of every month, and for the first event, organizers spotlighted Latin America.
The market was a collaboration between the City of Virginia Beach, Ricardo Romero of Jesy's Taqueria, and Victor Leite, owner of Dwell Properties on 20th Street, where the event was held.
“We will be representing Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Central America and Brazil,” Leite said. “It’s all going to be expressed in the food experience here.”
Before the event began, he told 10 On Your Side that while the food is great, it's not the only thing people can look forward to.
“We’re going to have non-food vendors bring in arts and artisan crafts,” he said. He's going to build a bouncy house, he's going to do some face painting, and there's going to be a clown. ”
He said the city needs this event.
“While a hodgepodge of events have been held for some time, there has never been a central hub to reach out to the 757’s diverse community and invite them to come to a place where they feel welcome and comforted.” he said. There is a place to listen to music and entertainment, taste food, collaborate with each other, and businesses can network. ”
Jessy's Taqueria was one of 10 vendors participating in the event.
As one of the event organizers, Romero said he wanted to create a community gathering similar to what he remembers growing up in Mexico City.
“In Mexico City, they just shut down the street from one end to the other and put a DJ in the middle, and it turned into a huge block party,” Romero said. “We want to create something that has that feel to provide an opportunity to showcase the diversity within the community.”
The next International Night Market is scheduled for June 7th.
Leite said he is still looking for vendors to determine what culture will be spotlighted that night.
Vendors looking to showcase their culture should message Vibe District on social media.
