INCLUDES FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO | Here’s how one evening event turns a college campus into a vibrant crossroads of cultures …
By late afternoon, many people are visiting the 10th Jade International Night Market, packing the PCC Southeast Campus for outer East Portland’s signature community celebration.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
What a lovely evening it was for one of East Portland’s largest public events. Warm, dry weather greeted visitors as they streamed onto the Portland Community College Southeast Campus for the 10th Jade International Night Market (JINM). The savory scent of meat roasting over open fire, delicacies cooking on grills, and a wide variety of Asian foods being freshly prepared drifted across the grounds, filling the air with a mouth-watering aroma.
Looking over the sea of attendees at the PCC Southeast Campus, organizer Alisa Kajikawa, APANO’s Community Development Manager, says she’s elated to see so many guests turn out for this 10th milestone market.
“Milestone year” for the Jade International Night Market
The 2026 version of the Market was a major occasion for organizers. “It is our 10th event, and the first one was in 2014, but we had a hiatus during the COVID pandemic,” explained Alisa Kajikawa, APANO’s Community Development Manager for the Jade District Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative program.
“This is a momentous occasion, as we successfully celebrate the 10th night market,” she enthused.
See highlights of this year’s Jade International Night Market here in our exclusive video:
Looking over the sea of attendees, Kajikawa reflected on the scale of the Night Market: “There’s so many people around us already. I think there’s thousands and thousands of people here.”
The community fair, organized by APANO and partners, transformed the campus into a bustling evening marketplace – with lights, music, and vendor tents lining the walkways.
Many of these shoppers are taking advantage of the “Jade Dollars” voucher program, an expanded effort to assist families and vendors which proved to be so popular that it ran out within two hours.
Helping vendors – and neighbors – enjoy the market
While food and entertainment drew the crowds, organizers also focused on making the event accessible for families facing rising costs. “This time we expanded our ‘Jade Dollar’ voucher program, and actually ran out of them within two hours,” Kajikawa reported. Those showing proof of public benefit received $10 in food vouchers, while attendees completing a demographic survey received $5 in retail vouchers.
Kajikawa emphasized the program’s dual purpose: “It’s just a little way of helping out our vendors, as well as bringing a little bit more people to their booth, and then helping out our community to be able to offset some of the costs because, as we all know, things are expensive right now.”
The scent of cooking food draws visitors to the market grounds, where meat roasting over open fires and delicacies cooking on grills filled the evening air.
Hungry guests line up for Anh Em’s Oysters, served hot off the grill in the shell – just one of many popular food stands lining the walkways.
Booths across the campus represented cuisines and businesses from throughout the Jade District and beyond. “We have about 37 food vendors,” Kajikawa detailed, “and close to 80 like retail vendors and some community partners, like nonprofits.”
Visitors enjoy food, performances and a spectacular Lion Dance
At those booths, visitors lined up for everything from grilled skewers and noodles to sweet treats and specialty drinks.
Between bites, they browsed merchandise, crafts, and information tables staffed by local organizations rooted in East Portland.
This audience holds their breath as acrobatic Lion Dance performers from the White Lotus Foundation leap and prance high in the air, captivating spectators gathered at the PCC Southeast Campus.
Although the crowd grew dense at times, attendees swirled happily among the vendor stalls and food stands. Main-stage live entertainment kept spectators enthralled throughout the evening.
The crowd was captivated by a spectacular aerial Lion Dance performed by members of the White Lotus Foundation’s troupe.
Strolling through the grounds after their performance, members of Nattasinh Lao PDX – a Portland-based Lao dance team – greets visitors with “Sabaidee!” as they celebrated sharing the beautiful art of classical, traditional Lao dance at the Jade International Night Market.
A place where cultures meet
For Kajikawa, who had organized this, her fourth market, the most rewarding aspect was watching cross-cultural connections unfold. “It really is being able to sit back and see the amount of people that come out and see the diversities in cultures and backgrounds,” she reflected. “And everyone’s really happy.”
When asked about the impact of bringing diverse communities together, she didn’t hesitate. “It breaks down barriers,” Kajikawa responded. “People can understand each other a little bit more on an individual level, but also on kind of a group level.”
She observed that sharing food, performances, and cultural expressions in a shared space helps challenge assumptions. “With this, perhaps we’ll not be so quick to put stereotypes on people when they witness another’s cultural expressions,” she noted. “I think it just brings us together.”
There’s still lots of activity as evening falls at the PCC Southeast Campus – as lights, music, and vendor tents line the walkways for East Portland’s signature community celebration.
Night market as neighborhood anchor
The Jade International Night Market has grown over the years into one of East Portland’s signature community events. For many families, it offers a once-a-year opportunity to experience a broad range of Asian and Pacific Islander cultures in one place. For neighborhood businesses and nonprofits, it provides visibility and a chance to connect directly with the community.
By evening’s end, organizers estimated that as many as 20,000 visitors had come through the market. On this 10th anniversary evening, those roles were clearly on display as visitors packed the campus late into the night, celebrating the Jade District’s diversity.
To learn more about the Jade District, see their official website: CLICK HERE.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
