Houston Gets Its Own Night Market at White Oak: This Isn’t Just Another Farmers Market

Open up those money belts urbanites and get ready for a night time shopping experience like none other in Houston with the newly-opened Little White Oak Night Market. Every Saturday from 4 to 8 pm, the rocking Sideout Volleybar welcomes a host of artists, musicians, farmers and vendors proffering everything from organic foods to handmade crafts.

The first installment of the night market earlier this month revealed a lineup of must-have items and services ranging from custom T-shirts, to eyewear, metal figurines, urban ceramics, and even pet chauffeurs.

The early evening market is the first of its kind in Houston. “Everything we do, we like to be different,” co-founder Sean Jaehne tells PaperCity.

Host of the weekly arts/crafts/music confab, Sideout Volleybar at 2623 Keene has a 1980s vibe, sand volleyball courts and a fenced dog park. With 60 American craft beers on hand to fuel the shopping, Jaehne says Sideout owner Matthew Richard shares his “vision of creating culture.”

The White Oak Night Market tents are set against the backdrop of White Oak Music Hall and Little White Oak Bayou. Just north of downtown, the location is central, key to creating “a city destination point,” Jaehne says.

The market, he hopes, can also help ease any lingering tension between the music hall and the neighborhood after the well publicized legal battles over noise.

The concept is as much for the vendors as it is for the customers, says market operations manager Constance Hughes.

“What we’re doing is just gathering a bunch of farmers and crafts people, whoever wants to establish local businesses . . .This is their playground,” Hughes says. “They can choose whatever Saturdays they want.”

With that open-ended participation, organizers expect no less than 30 vendors each week.

Houston’s Night Market In Action

On a recent Saturday, alternative clothing company Diverscity turned out offering distinctive, city-centric tees designed for a cross-section of clientele both Houstonians and visitors.We checked them out and other merchants including those below.

Fernando Martinez sweetened the early evening shopping experience with goods from his Nando’s Honey Bee Farm including  wildflower honey, Chinese tallow honey, bee pollen and flavored honey straws.

On a spicier note, Chilesquiles offered handcrafted sauces, produced in small batches out of their kitchen in Tomball. Most are cooking sauces or marinades, inspired by traditional Sunday morning breakfasts of chilaquiles in Mexico.

A few examples: Homemade Chipotle is a shoe-in for everyday dip. Enchiladas cry out for Signature Red sauce. Grill Brava brings out the best in seafood and shrimp, and Green Tomatillo makes for perfect chilaquiles.

Others included Pacari chocolates, the Humanitè Fashion Truck, Texas Icon Gift Gallery with its steam punk masks. The market website is chock full of useful info on vendors and events.

And as the site notes, “Our city, being a collection of neighborhoods separated by major freeways needs a centralized location to fin d the best of what we Houstonians can offer. We bring together local farmers, craft merchandisers and artists from paint to performance.”

In short, it’s an innovative way to start your Saturday night as well as play a role in Jaehne’ concept of “creating culture.”