Tonight: Mt. Airy Night Market
Tonight’s Night Market will be a test for The Food Trust as it puts unprecedented control of the insanely popular street food festival in the hands of its co-sponsoring community organization–in this case, Mt. Airy USA.
As the trust moves to host increasing numbers of events across the city, it’s looking to delegate more responsibility to its non-profit partners whose duties (until now) have generally been limited to corralling neighborhood restaurant owners, shopkeepers, volunteers and residents. But last year’s market in Mt. Airy was so successful that food trust employees are returning tomorrow to conduct a pilot program that has Mt. Airy USA-–the same partner as last year-–handing duties like permitting, security and logistics. Previous Night Markets have drawn upwards of 20,000 people, so it’s a lot to manage, and we wish them luck.
If you’re going to Germantown Ave. between the 6800th and 7200th blocks tomorrow, you’ll get to shop from more craftsmen and women than any prior market and sample food from more than 50 food trucks and hyperlocal restaurants–that’s double the number from last summer. WXPN is providing the music, which includes Grammy-nominated soul rocker Ryan Shaw, and for $35 you get all the free Yards, Penns Woods wines, and Philadelphia Distilling cocktails you can drink and guaranteed seats at Lovett Park. The otherwise free festival runs from 6-10:30, with a rain date of Aug. 23. A sneak peek at the menu is on The Food Trust’s Facebook page.
Mt. Airy Night Market [Official website]
