It's back!
Sun Valley community leaders and stakeholders are hosting their second Sun Valley Rising Viaduct Night Market on Saturday. It'll be located at the south end of Empower Field under the Colfax Viaduct west of Raices Brewery and east of the Latino Cultural Arts Center at 2705 W. Colfax Ave.
The 4-10 p.m. market is hosted by the Sun Valley Kitchen + Community Center, along with the West Colfax Business Improvement District and Denver Streets Partnership as part the West Denver Rising Initiative's international marketplace series, which will include five events across west Denver celebrating the area's various cultures.
Surrounded by warehouses and construction, Sun Valley residents have dreamed of using the space underneath the viaduct for several years as a way to bring life to an area that's only really used during football season. Activating the space gives residents a place to showcase their culinary and craft talents, they said, while also inviting Denverites to an area they may not often visit.
This time around, there'll be a few changes. For one, the market will host a school supply drive to support the youth of Sun Valley - and right on time for the start of classes.
Lindsay Miller, the special-projects manager at Sun Valley Kitchen + Community Center, said all supplies are welcomed, including pencils, pens, markers, crayons, notebooks and folders. She added that the community's biggest need is backpacks.
There will be drop off boxes near the Denver Streets Partnership tent. There will also be a QR code at the booth folks can use to donate money.
The drive is, of course, optional.
There will also be some new vendors, such as Umai Express and Girls Inc of Metro Denver- Bold Beans Coffee. Grupo Tlaloc will open the event with performances by Lake Middle School Drumline, Denver DJ School and Neoma.
Some things will be the same. Like the pho eating contest.
This is the third event hosted by the West Denver Rising Initiative's international marketplace series. The next events include the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Far East Center in September and the annual Westwood Chile Fest on Morrison Road, also in September.
