Sunset Night Market cancellation disappoints San Francisco merchants

San Francisco's popular Sunset Night Market canceled this summer

The cancellation of the Sunset Night Market this summer has left San Francisco merchants disappointed as they lose a key event that brought significant business to the area.

SAN FRANCISCO - The popular Sunset Night Market in San Francisco won’t return this summer due to city reimbursement delays, disappointing many local merchants.

The popular market drew huge crowds and boosted local businesses over the past two years. But this summer, the event will not return, leaving many merchants disappointed and frustrated.

Night Market brings business to Sunset District

Thousands of people packed several blocks of Irving Street during the Sunset Night Market, which first began in 2023.

SF Hole in the Wall Pizza said the events helped drive repeat business and lasting visibility.

"I’m part of the Merchant Association on Irving Street. So when you have an event like that, it puts those merchants on the map. We need it. We need it badly, because at the time when it first started, we were struggling, small businesses still struggling," said Awadalla Awadalla, owner of SF Hole in the Wall Pizza.

The night market also increased foot traffic to nearby businesses, including those without booths like Lomo Libre Cantina on Irving Street.

"It’s just kind of unfortunate that we just found out that it’s being canceled. That’s too bad," said Jose Calvo-Perez, owner of Lomo Libre Cantina. "It brought awareness to the neighborhood, people from all over the Bay Area, people that didn’t know that we were here."

City reimbursement delays halt event return

The organizer, Sunset Night Market Collaborative, said red tape and delayed city reimbursements prevented them from planning another market this year, but they remain committed to bringing back a community-focused event in the future.

It said in a statement to KTVU:

Unfortunately, due to a series of circumstances beyond our control, we weren't reimbursed by the City for the August and September 2024 Sunset Night Markets until May 2025 - 8 months after the last market. With this delay in payment, we did not feel confident planning another night market until we were fully reimbursed for the previous markets.

The Sunset Night Market Collaborative is committed to planning and producing night markets to ensure the continuity of its success. We are working with OEWD to create a night market more in scale with our community, and something the Sunset can be proud to have.

The city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development confirmed that last year’s funding, which amounted to $120,000, was disbursed in full by May.

District Supervisor Joel Engardio, who helped launch the market, said he tried to speed up the payment process but encountered bureaucratic hurdles.

"It’s complicated because there was a new accounting system, and the rules changed midway through, and the producers submitted their receipts, and it was kicked back because they had to redo it again. And so, you know, so there’s just a lot of bureaucracy that got in the way," Engardio said.

He is now focused on bringing the night market back in 2026 at a more manageable scale.

"We were the first to do it in San Francisco, and 10,000 people showed up, and we ran out of food, and then when we did it the next year, 20,000 people showed up, and we expanded it double the size. So how much bigger can it get and be sustainable?" Engardio said.

Sunset native and business owner Albert Chow said delays in reimbursements caused merchants to hesitate.

"Thousands and thousands of dollars were paid out for permits, for renting equipment, for getting all kinds of things set up and not getting paid for that period of time really made people pause," Chow said.

The Outer Sunset Merchants and Professional Association said in a statement to KTVU:

The Sunset Night Market was San Francisco’s first night market born out of a true collaboration between the Sunset community, the City, and a shared desire to create a fun, family-friendly event as we emerged from the pandemic. It was designed to celebrate the diversity, food, and people of the Sunset — and it quickly became a resounding success, drawing enthusiastic support from both local residents and visitors to the Westside.

Its popularity helped inspire the launch of several other night markets across the city and beyond. We’re proud to have played a part in bringing such a large-scale, impactful event to life. As the event grew, it did become more challenging to manage. However, make no mistake: the vast majority of merchants along the Irving corridor found the Sunset Night Market to be a fantastic event and are eager to see its return. We’re currently working closely with fellow merchants, the community, and organizers to explore how we can bring back another amazing night market experience.

Merchants said this year, they are shifting their focus to smaller-scale events like the Sunset Autumn Moon Festival this fall, along with a Holidays on Taraval Street festival.

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