Biz X Was There – Dresden Night Market 2023
The Dresden Night Market 2023 was created in 2017 by a small group of friends with connections to Dresden. They wanted to bring something to the town that would engage people of all ages but also support local businesses and maybe generate some tourism to the area as well.
Now, in 2023, the Dresden Night Market is a Top 100 event in Ontario and happens twice every year – once in July and once in November. This year it took place on November 25, 2023.
The event is completely outside and features unique entertainers, over 100 handmade vendors, many food trucks, and most of the downtown stores are open late. In Summer, there is a huge Pop-Up Bar in Jackson Park with local breweries and beverage vendors and live music.
During the Christmas Night Market, there is a festive Pop-Up Bar and in addition to everything else, the whole town is decorated for the holidays thanks to a local community group called Dresden Shines. Both events are organized by the same group of friends and who have been friends since high school. Their goal is to highlight the rural parts of Chatham-Kent, help generate more sales for small businesses, encourage local artists and performers to share their talents with guests, and raise awareness for local community groups.
This event was sponsored by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
Organizers Morena McDonald, Tyler Ouellette, and their group of friends are all volunteers. Each one works full time at their day jobs and then work for free on these events in the evenings and weekends as they take months to plan. All proceeds from the event are donated to the Dresden Sidestreets Youth Centre.
There were even several businesses from Windsor selling food and sauces including Zule Eats, Louis’ Slab Sauce, Auntie Aldoo’s Kitchen, Pawsitively A Dog Thing and more.
Dresden is best known as the home of Josiah Henson, an African-Canadian leader and minister whose life story was an inspiration for the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Photos: Darin Reybroek
