On Saturday, the pan-Asian Red Lantern City Night Market returns to Saigon Cafe for its third year in the Central West End, and it’s aiming to top last year’s massive turnout. In 2024, nearly 12,000 people flocked to North Euclid Avenue in St. Louis, where visitors of all ages enjoyed two blocks of vendors with food and artisan goods, Japanese drumming, lion dancing and an energized buzz.
Red Lantern founder and Taberu STL chef/owner Heidi Hamamura is confident – and ready to top that visitor count. “I’ve tripled my prep,” she said. “And we told our vendors to double what they brought last year.”
Since launching in 2021, the event has grown. Hamamura describes it as “part carnival, part bazaar, part block party.”
For Saigon Cafe owner Mike Ly, a longtime friend of Hamamura, the night market’s potential was clear from the start. He attended the inaugural Red Lantern indoors at a gallery in Soulard.
“I've been overseas and that whole vibe, we weren't really getting that,” Ly recalled. “I was just thinking, ‘Wow, this is such a great idea.…’ And in the back of my head, I [was] just thinking that [it] could really take off.”
Ly had visions of what a street night market in St. Louis could be, the same sort that inspired Hamamura to start Red Lantern. Drawing on funds from the Central West End Improvement District earmarked for Saigon Cafe’s 20th anniversary celebration postponed by the pandemic, he pitched Hamamura the idea of holding the night market on the half block right in front of his restaurant.
In 2023, the market’s first time in the Central West End, the event drew six to seven times as many visitors as its first iteration just two years prior.
A major factor in that uptick has been the street-setting vibe. “The energy of the crowd, and what the vendors and entertainment bring … everybody’s together, they’re happy, they’re enjoying themselves,” said Dorrie Meyer, who’s organized the Red Lantern City Night Market four of its five years.
The night market’s success can also be attributed to working with a mix of vendors who represent different Asian cultures. That includes established vendors and entrepreneurs alongside folks who are making their small-business debut. A total of 45 vendors will offer food and drink, handmade goods, original art and onsite temporary tattoos. Several vendors will dedicate a portion of their proceeds to a St. Louis tornado relief fund, and earnings from a live auction of Japanese calligraphy will go entirely to the cause. Japanese drumming and lion dancing will return — and a roving magician will be among the throng.
Hamamura said she loves how Red Lantern, created to benefit the nonprofit Japan America Society of St. Louis during a time of financial crisis amid COVID, has developed in scale and cultural scope. But despite that growth, she said it’s important to stay small enough so that the annual night market maintains its community-oriented and celebratory vibe.
"I personally know almost every vendor,” Hamamura said. “It’s like a big party.”
Related event:
What: Red Lantern City Night Market
Where: Saigon Cafe, 10 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108
When: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. July 19
To hear the full conversation, including notes about the Asian cultures represented at the Red Lantern City Night Market (and its international draw), listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The production intern is Darrious Varner. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
