Tarentum Night Market to kick off 4th season with more than 40 vendors

Mild weather and a sold-out venue with more than 40 vendors will mark the kickoff of the Tarentum Night Market on Thursday.

Back for its fourth season, the outdoor shopping event features food, music and special promotions at many borough businesses.

Hosted from 5 to 8 p.m., the market is scheduled the second Thursday of each month through November.

“It’s exciting,” said business owner and Councilman Brian Snyder. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Snyder opened his skate shop, Dry Bones, nearly five years ago along East Sixth Avenue. He said the Night Market has proved successful in showcasing the small businesses that dot Corbet Street, along with East Fifth and Sixth avenues.

“It’s great for the town,” he said. “It brings shoppers and revenue into Tarentum. We have people who come in and say they didn’t know the borough had so much going on.”

The Night Market started in 2020 as a means to attract visitors during weeknights when the local businesses agreed to stay open late and offer dining specials or other promotions.

With temperatures expected to climb into the upper 70s, Snyder expects a huge crowd to mingle, eat and dance the night away.

Olivia Grace, owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics and OliviaGrace & Co. Boutique along Corbet Street, serves as president of the Night Market committee.

“We anticipate that this season will be bigger than previous years,” she said. “We look forward to bringing more people to Tarentum.”

Vendors will be showing wares from comic books and crystals to wine and wreaths. There will be crepes and candles, craft vodka and therapy dogs.

“We’re gonna have perfect weather and so many vendors,” said committee member Brian DeFelice, co-owner of The Manos Gallery.

“The feedback so far has been phenomenal, and we keep working to build on the excitement and bring even more.”

New this year will be a seating area outside DeFelice’s Fifth Avenue art space for people to relax and take in the sights and sounds.

There are two food trucks scheduled, and vendor maps will be distributed, he said.

“We’re organizing the vendors into categories this year, and we have a lot more businesses in town that said they plan to participate,” DeFelice said.

“We’re super excited.”