Night Market coming to Peterborough this summer

By MEGHAN PIERCE

Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

Published: 07-25-2019 1:08 PM

Downtown Peterborough will light up next month with its first-ever Night Market.

“We have a great downtown in Peterborough, but nothing ever happens at night, why don’t we try to create a night market here,” said Roy Schlieben, executive director of MAxT Makerspace in Peterborough.

The Peterborough Night Market was dreamed up by Schlieben as a way of creating a venue for makerspace members to sell their wares.

“When I started the makerspace four years ago one of the things our members talked to me about was starting some sort of event where they could sell whatever they were making at the makerspace,” Schlieben said. “People are always looking for more opportunities.”

Schlieben said he was trying to think of an event the makerspace could sponsor when he had one of those “eureka moments” of inspiration to recreate the “awesome night markets” he experienced while living in Thailand. And it just hit him in that moment that he could recreate one of his favorite things about living in Thailand, have the makerspace sponsor the event and that the event would be an opportunity for the artists, musicians, food vendors and artisans of the area to bring what they do to the community.

“The origin of the Night Market was, before I moved back to Peterborough, I lived in Thailand and one of the things I loved about Thailand is the night market scene, where you have lights and vendors selling what they have made and food and sort of a kaleidoscope of things going, including a pop-up live music venue and street performers,” Schlieben said.

Schlieben said he started reaching out and immediately had several people on board with the idea helping him, including Pelagia Vincent, who works to coordinate and promote Depot Square businesses and events, Jessica Gelter, executive director of Monadnock Arts Alive!, and Peterborough library director Corinne Chronopoulos.

“People liked the idea people and are getting excited about the idea,” Schlieben said. “They were really excited about it. Then I talked to Corrine at the library about it. She was excited and helped with the music portion of the event. … All of a sudden we had a good team and started planning and got excited about how big it could be and the number of cool things we could do.”

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The format is flexible and if all goes well it could become a regular event, he said.

“We’re going to try it for one night and see how it goes. If there is a good response we hope to replicate it in the future,” Schlieben said. “I can foresee having a Christmas Night Market or a monthly market throughout the year on a small scale.”

Schlieben said the Night Market will be held in the heart of downtown Peterborough with food stalls, including barbecue from Roy’s, Mexican street corn from Mike Diaz, as well as offerings from Peterborough restaurants Cooper’s Hill Public House and Aesop’s Tables.

Electronic and dance musicians Moderately Supreme and Pine Grove and VJ Decor are set to play in front of the Peterborough Community Theatre parking lot.

Also in the theater parking lot will be 25 local artisans selling everything from fine art, to jewelry to skateboards.

There will be street performances by the Flying Gravity Circus and the human statue Lori Golding as well as art installations, a special movie for teens at the theater, a scavenger hunt and more.

“We’re hoping it’s going to be family-friendly. That it’s going to have something for everyone. We’ll have jugglers. We’ll have roaming performers coming through, interactive displays and events. There’s something for everyone,” Schlieben said.

The Peterborough Night Market is planned to take place Saturday, Aug. 10 from 7 to 11 p.m. The rain date is the following day. This event is free and open to the public.

To get involved go online to www.maxtmakerspace.org/nightmarket.

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