Thousands attend Mesa's Asian District Night Market, bucking unfounded coronavirus fears

A line packed with thousands of excited and hungry customers wrapped around the block outside Mesa's Asian District on Saturday night for the Asian District Night Market.

Unique smells from more than 60 different food vendors filled the parking lot of the AZ International Marketplace near Broadway and Dobson roads, and many had a smile on their face despite the backlash event organizers received from community members concerned about the coronavirus.

© Ryan Vlahovich/The Republic One of the many venders selling fresh food at the market

Organizers faced a challenge as the event approached: Tweets, emails and angry phone calls urged them to cancel the event due to fears of the novel coronavirus making an unwanted appearance at the Asian-inspired festival.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

MORE: Coronavirus is spreading. And so is anti-Chinese sentiment and xenophobia.

SEE ALSO: How Asian food festival organizers are responding to coronavirus fears

"The fear is that somebody is going to come and be around an Asian, and get coronavirus," Ryan Winkle, chair of the Asian Chamber of Commerce, said. "For us here, it really is just a positive to educate."

When coronavirus entered Arizona, Mesa's Asian District took a hit. Businesses suffered for a week, but Winkle wasn't concerned with what the future holds for the area.

© Ryan Vlahovich/The Republic "I Love Mesa"

"This is the largest scale we've ever done in any of the night markets so far," Winkle said. "It hasn't put us back other than in a fear way."

Vicente Reid, who heads the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce, and also is an organizer for the event, told The Republic that he was getting four to five calls and messages a week requesting that he cancel the night market.

In one phone call he took at the time, Reid said, the caller asked if people from Wuhan, China, would be at the event.

But on Saturday, people lined up at the night market for the tasty food. 

Vendors served food items such as fresh dumplings with fried rice and Asian beverages. Randy Chenoweth was proud to showcase his award-winning "Hiro Sake."

"We love being here, we love doing this" Chenoweth said. "This is by far the nicest (of all the night markets so far)."

Chenoweth donates all the money he makes from the night market to the organization. He predicted he will have raised nearly $15,000 by the night's end.

"We're trying to help the Asian community," Chenoweth said. "We do work with the Japanese friendship gardens, we do work with Matsuri, and we do work with Asian night market."

The market drew crowds and stage performers from all walks of life. Bob Anderson drove all the way from Cochise County to spend the weekend in Phoenix, and he said he was pleasantly surprised after he decided to stop by.

"It's nice to see that the Asian community in Phoenix can come together and put on an event," Anderson said. "We could use more diversity in foods and things like that."

The organization also will host an Anime Spring Fest from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 14 at 1945 E. Indian School Road in Phoenix.

Reach Ryan at ryan.vlahovich@arizonarepublic.com or follow him on Twitter @vlahovichryan

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral today. 

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Thousands attend Mesa's Asian District Night Market, bucking unfounded coronavirus fears