The Northern Liberties Night Market that was scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled after organizers said the cost to put on the popular street festival was too high.
The event on N. Second Street between Fairmount Avenue and West Laurel Street features food trucks, music and shopping. While the market has become an anticipated seasonal event in the neighborhood, William Reed — the co-owner of Standard Tap and a co-founder of the Northern Liberties Arts and Commerce Alliance, which organizes the festival — said they “just can’t make this work.”
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City fees for the fesitval, which is held a few times per year, began around $8,000 in 2021 — with money going toward local and traffic police, sanitation, permits, inspections and other assorted costs. The new bill for the festival, which is free to attend and lasts roughly five hours, was more than $24,000, Reed said.
City officials have been “professional” in how they have handled discussions around the cost, Reed said, and organizers have tried to secure more funding from additional sponsors, but the steep increase has made it untenable for now.
The fall iteration of the Northern Liberties Night Market is still scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24, with the alliance remaining hopeful the city can provide some financial relief in the future.
“I feel like the city should be a partner on this,” Reed said, pointing to the family-friendly entertainment, free cost and common goal of revitalizing the neighborhood. “… We don’t want to lose momentum.”
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