Wellington Southeast Asian Night Market

(PR.co.nz) Wellington’s waterfront comes alive this Saturday with all the sights, sounds and spicy smells of a typical Southeast Asian Night Market.

A barge moored in the lagoon near The Boatshed will serve as a giant stage for the Night Market, with food stalls and entertainment from 4pm to 10pm along Frank Kitts Promenade.

The event is made possible by the Wellington City Council, the Asia New Zealand Foundation and communities from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Highlights of the Southeast Asian Night market include the visiting Cynthia Alexander Group band from the Philippines, an open-air Indonesian wayang kulit puppet theatre with gamelan orchestra, Wellington’s Singaporean-trained lion and dragon dancers, Thai kick boxing, and Indonesian jazz band Dimas.

Also on display will be Vietnamese Dong Ho folk woodcut painting, Malaysian dance, a world champion Filipino tap dancer, a Southeast Asian fashion parade and martial arts demonstrations.

Dozens of authentic Southeast Asian stalls include crafts and food, as well as a Southeast Asian Beer tent with favourites such as Beer Chang and Saigon 333. There’ll also be non–alcoholic specialties such as jackfruit shakes and teh tarik or traditional “pulled tea”.

Teh tarik masters in Malaysia pour hot tea made with condensed milk back and forth at speed between two vessels, giving the tea a thick frothy top and stronger flavour.

Media Release 18 March 2010 from Asia New Zealand.
Email jking@asianz.org.nz