Christchurch people enjoyed the first evening of the Night Noodle Market in Hagley Park. This is a 5- day event: 3 evenings, and both afternoon and evening during the weekend. More than 20 food stalls offered food from many different Asian countries and it was not just noodles. There was a huge variety and it was not expensive. However, there were long queues so a half hour wait was normal. Plastic tables and chairs, mostly under a tent roof, meant that most people could sit down to eat. A warm evening attracted a large crowd and chefs were very busy trying to keep up with the demand. Some stalls ran out of food early in the evening.
The crowds will be even bigger on Saturday evening for the Sparks outdoor concert in Hagley Park. The stage is only about 100m from the Night Noodle Market.
The idea for this market came from Melbourne and Sydney which have hosted a Night Noodle Market for almost 20 years. If it is successful in Christchurch – and the first night was definitely successful – Auckland may host a similar event in the future.
Vocabulary
• queue – pronounced ‘cue’, a long line of people
• stall – usually a tent with a counter in front to serve people
• to keep up with demand – an idiom meaning chefs work fast because more people ask for food
• ran out of – an idiom meaning the food was all gone
• even bigger – an idiom meaning the first event was big but the next one could be much more