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One of Markham's landmark summer events, Night It Up! Night Market will not return for summer 2023. In what would have been its 21st year, GTA's longest-running night market showcases a variety of iconic Asian street food and innovative eats. The outdoor festival styled in the vein of night markets across Asia is complemented by performances by local talent and never-before-seen programming for all ages. Most importantly, it is proudly hosted by Power Unit Youth Organization, a volunteer-led group comprised of youth and young adults. Power Unit Youth Organization strives to create opportunities for its youth members to pitch, strategize, plan and execute programs for the larger public community. Successful events such as Night It Up! Night Market, The E3 Challenge case competition, and Level Up Career Conference, are the successful byproduct of PUYO's hardworking youth members, who are driven to learn key soft skills and build up their professional experiences. "Our goal as an organization has always been to promote youth development and empowerment through various philanthropic initiatives. To ensure we can continue this moving forward, we are pausing our flagship project in 2023 to shift our focus towards supporting our members, who have lost out on significant learning and developmental experiences of their youth due to COVID-19," states PUYO Board of Directors representatives, Kenneth Lo and Sally Woo. The organization is hopeful that the night market will return in the future, but until then, they hope to continue impacting the community through new philanthropic initiatives. "We are so thankful for all the support Night It Up! has received over the past 20 years, and we appreciate the continued support of our organization moving forward."
Night It Up! is an outdoor festival showcasing a mosaic of delicious Asian street foods complemented by local talents' nightly performances, styled in the vein of night markets from Taiwan, Hong Kong and across Asia. Organized by Power Unit Youth Organization, Night It Up! is unique in our mission to encourage youth development while maintaining our commitment towards the community. Through donating our profits to a beneficiary, we hope to set a precedent in youth to learn, grow, and share.
Each year, passionate youth of Power Unit Youth Organization vote on a charitable initiative to support throughout the year. All on-site proceeds go towards a selected beneficiary charity. To date, Night It Up! and Power Unit Youth Organization has contributed over $143,000 to various charitable initiatives in the GTA.
Photo credits by Ziyaad Haniff.
Q: I am interested in participating in a future Night It Up! What can I do now? A: That's great! Let us know a bit more about you, and provide your contact details by emailing info@power-unit.org and we'll be in touch when the time comes. Q: What is happening in place of Night It Up! this year (2023)? A: We are not hosting a large-scale community event in 2023. Q: What activities do you have planned for your members/youth? A: We strive to deliver learning experiences catered to our members, and we encourage our members to vocalise their needs. Activities that have happened in the past include workshops (Photoshop, marketing, Excel/finance, resume writing, etc.), leadership retreats, social team-building events, and team volunteer events with local charities.
info@power-unit.org