San Francisco, CA – Public Works announces the continuation of the popular Night Market at United Nations Plaza for 12 more runs, starting Friday, Nov. 7, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Amid the backdrop of a glowing City Hall and twinkling Tivoli string lights, the Night Market has attracted nearby workers, neighborhood residents, students and visitors alike to spend an evening eating, drinking, shopping and listening to music in the historic plaza.

“Having received great feedback from our past eight-week pilot, we’ve made adjustments and are launching a new12-market run,” said San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru

“We did an experiment to see if we could successfully activate UN Plaza at night and it worked!” 

This time around, Public Works continues the collaboration with the Market Street Association, but has added a new partner, the Lefty O'Doul's Foundation for Kids, to manage the market.

Lefty’s has a track record of organizing community events, and proceeds from the beer garden will help provide disadvantaged youth with sports equipment.

Other changes include the addition of more entertainment, more children’s activities, lower-priced drinks and a wider variety of food options. This Friday, a DJ will keep the market energized from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Afterwards, the Voice, a local band featuring Patty Bobo, will take the stage until 9 p.m.

What:   Night Market

Date: Friday, Nov. 7, 2014

Time:  4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Location: United Nations Plaza, Eighth and Market streets

Entertainment: live music by the Voice, dancing, games and kids activities

Food:   six to eight food trucks

Drinks:  beer, wine, soft drinks and cocktails

Vendors:  local Bay Area artists and sellers with gifts for the holidays

Website:  SFFridayNightMarket.com

Night Market sponsors (partial list) include the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, United Playaz, Office of Economic and Workforce Development (Invest in Neighborhoods), Recreation and Parks Department, University of California Hastings, UCSF, Recology, Academy of Art, Budweiser, Bovis Foods, Broadway Grill, Lefty O’Doul’s, Gold Dust Lounge and more.

Market Street Association is a non-profit organization established in 1963 with the mission to promote and encourage the rehabilitation, redevelopment and improvement of Market Street, and the business district along Market Street. Through advocacy, outreach, marketing and networking, the organization promotes and encourages the significant and material improvement of the general economic, commercial and social environment of the Market Street area. 

The Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping baseballs in the hands of today’s youth.  In 1927, in order to stop local baseball great Lefty O’Doul from tossing so many baseballs to children in the left-field bleachers, Seals’ owner Charlie Graham agreed to sponsor a Kids Day, where youngsters were admitted to the ballgame for free. Ten thousand kids filed into the ballpark where O’Doul helped distribute 5,000 miniature bats, thousands of bags of peanuts and a half dozen flour sacks full of baseballs. The Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids continues this spirit by helping underprivileged kids get equipment to play baseball. What started out as a local effort has evolved into a worldwide project that serves more than 10,000 children a year.  

The Night Market is part of the City’s Make Your Market initiative that is inviting a new and vital public life into Market Street’s sidewalks and plazas. In partnership with community based organizations, the City is aiming to make San Francisco’s busiest street into a place where creative and engaged people experiment with how to make a more beautiful, livable and vibrant city. While the City finishes its grand plan for a Better Market Street, Make Your Market will be bringing a wide variety of activities and installations to the sidewalks – Living Innovation Zones, commercial pop-ups, temporary stages, playful street furnishings, moveable tables and chairs and all the inventive, unexpected ideas that people and communities contribute to urban life.

About San Francisco Public Works: The 24/7 City agency cleans and resurfaces streets; plants and nurtures City-maintained street trees; designs, constructs and maintains City-owned facilities; inspects streets and sidewalks; builds curb ramps;     eradicates graffiti; partners with neighborhoods; trains people for jobs; greens the right of way; and educates our communities. For more information, seewww.sfpublicworks.org