The last time you heard about Hawkers Market was probably back in 2016, when its organizers were working on something called Hawkers Wharf in North Vancouver.

It was going to be a massive open-air food market made up of shipping containers, with a plan to feature local food vendors and a grocery market. Ultimately, that vision didn’t work out and the entire concept was put on hold.

“It was tough for us. We put in almost three years’ time into it, and we really wanted it to open. The temporary rezoning of the site just didn’t live up to the expectations of what we could do,” Chris Jerome, founder of Hawkers Market, explained to the Straight in a phone interview. “We felt that the Hawkers Wharf site was a little too large scale for the City of North Van, and it really just wouldn’t have been the ultimate vision of what we had planned due to some logistical challenges mostly related to traffic.”

After taking some time off to refresh, Jerome and his team have come up with a new event: Hawkers Market—a one-day food and music festival that will take place next month (November 17) at the Rocky Mountaineer Station (1755 Cottrell Street).

“We’re really coming back with our commitment to Hawkers as an incredible food festival that backs local and innovative food and beverage businesses,” said Jerome. “Hawkers Market started in 2013 as an underground market for a number of years all over Vancouver, which really preceded our work with Hawkers Wharf. Now we’re going back to our roots and scaling that up quite significantly.”

Guests can expect an array of hawker-style food and beverage options at the fête, which include dishes like Asian soup noodles, giant paellas, and gourmet meats. Alex Chen from downtown Vancouver’s popular Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar will be serving up Malaysian style eats, while Street Meat L.A.’s Geoff Rogers will be creating some tasty bites like hot dogs dressed up with cool toppings.

Sweet tooths will be happy to know that desserts will also be on offer from businesses such as Butter Mere, Perverted Ice Cream, Prebak, and Say Hello Sweets.

Complementing the food are beverages from a variety of local craft breweries (including 33 Acres, Four Winds, and Andina), cideries (such as Orchard and the Sea, Scenic Road, and Nomad), distilleries (like Long Table Distillery and Phillips Fermentorium), wineries (City Side Winery), and more.

An essential part of the Hawkers Market experience is its cashless system. Ticketholders won’t have to worry about carrying change or tokens inside the event to purchase food and drink—each guest will have a radio-frequency-identification (RFID) wristband that contains credits, which can be tapped at each vendor to buy an item. Each ticket includes eight food experiences and two full-size drinks (or four tasters).

The other aspect of Hawkers Market is its musical line-up. Talents from Stones Throw Records will be performing, including Peanut Butter Wolf, J Rocc, and Novena Carmel.

“We’re working with Stone’s Throw Record, which is an independent record label out of Los Angeles. They are innovators in the hip-hop and experimental areas of music,” said Jerome. “There will be more musical acts announced leading up to the event.”

You may think it’s ambitious for a hawker-style event to make such a large-scale comeback after taking an extended break, but Jerome has never stopped planning and thinking about what he could do next after scrapping his previous project.

“In our minds, as soon as the end of Hawkers Wharf, we had thought about this,” added Jerome. “The Hawkers Market festival will feel very eclectic. We’ve been working on it all year long, [and] the intent is to have it repeat every year as an annual festival.”

Tickets ($65 to $125 per person, plus taxes and fees) for entry at 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. are available for purchase online. Hawkers Market is only open to guests over the age of 19.