Boston Night Market & Happy Place Boston

I wasn't sure if I was going to make this into a post or not but I decided that I might as well! Last month I attended these 2 events so read on for a Boston Night Market review, a Happy Place Boston review, plenty of pictures, and I included a weekend in my life vlog because these events happened within the span of 2 days and I wanted to document the memories!

Boston Night Market 2019

Boston Night Market is a fairly new event, I believe it was started in 2018 and it occurs once or twice a year. I learned about it because I saw a post on Facebook in the events section. The market is based on those that occur in Asia and has many food vendor, some game options, a bit of live entertainment (DJ, dance performances, etc.) and a small section with vendors selling random items such as T-shirts.

The event started on a Saturday at 4pm in Boston City Hall plaza and ended at 11pm. Tickets are sold for the event and it is a good idea to buy them ahead of time because there is only a limited quantity available. It was in an outdoor plaza, however it was sectioned off and there was security and a check in area so that only people who bought tickets were able to walk around the plaza. The ticket covers the entry fee and you pay separately for anything you decide to buy in the market.

 In the plaza when the market was first getting started

My friend and I got to the plaza around 4:30 and there was a huge line that we needed to wait in to check in and get into the market. At first we were worried that it would take a long time but the line actually moved fairly quickly. There was a Vineyard Vines truck parked near the line and there were some people handing out free popsicles and stickers which was fun! This was shortly before the Vineyard Vine collaboration with Target launched and the truck and stickers were promoting that.

 Cute photo opportunity that was set up

As we got to the market shorty after it opened it was not very crowded although the entry line had seemed long. This allowed us to walk around the market easily and check out all of the food options. There were various food trucks as well as vendors with tables and canopies set up.

A view of some of the food trucks at the market

There was a decent variety of food and most of it smelled amazing. Once my friend and I determined what we wanted we made our purchases and found a place to sit and eat. There were no tables or chairs however the plaza had a lot of steps which provided seating. Also there is a built in stage in the plaza and the steps are where the audience sits to view that. There was a "host" hired by the market who was the MC and informed the crowd when the performances would be occurring and the MC tried to engage the crowd but I personally feel like they were not the best choice as they weren't really able to connect with the crowd. There were 2 dance performances and both groups did pretty well! I enjoyed watching them though they did start later than they were supposed to which was a bit frustrating. The other entertainment consisted of a doughnut eating contest (no hands allowed) and a spicy noodle challenge. For both contests the contestants volunteered and were brought on stage. The other entertainment came from the DJ who played music throughout the night however the music choices were very obscure and were usually dubstep or techno songs without lyrics or vocals. I hardly recognized any song and the rest of the crowd did not seem to either. I don't know if they couldn't play any copyrighted music or what but the music choice definitely could have been better. When holding events, it is important to know the demographic of who is attended and cater to them to ensure they have a good time so hopefully the event organizers keep that in mind for the future as well.

Some delicious dumplings I got!

Overall I am glad that I went, however my expectations were set too high. Based on how the event was promoted I thought it would be more lively. There were like 2 game options, and the entertainment i.e. the dances, contests, etc. lasted less than an hour overall (if I add up how long each took). Again the event was from 4 to 11 and 7 hours long so I think that more entertainment would have been reasonable. After walking around the area to purchase food the rest of the time was just spent sitting. My friend and I were able to talk and catch up which was nice but again I was expecting more from the event. It did get more crowded as the night went on and lines for food were longer which took more time but again there wasn't much to do once you got food and sat on the ground (aka the steps to eat it). And it wasn't really like a food festival where you go and taste a variety of things, it's hard to describe it. I may attend the event next year but I hope they make some changes and improvements.

View of the Night Market as we were leaving

Happy Place Boston

Happy Place is a pop up event/exhibit (not sure what to properly classify it as lol) that I believe was first opened in Los Angeles and it is currently in Boston. Basically it is a space with a series of rooms that are all very colorful and decorated with various themes. The place is supposed to be a sensory experience that makes you happy! It is definitely very Instagram-worthy and on the premise it can seem superficial to go there for the sake of taking pictures but the place is actually pretty fun and it makes for a nice outing with friends!

Outside the Happy Place venue

Tickets need to be purchased ahead of time and the tickets have set times throughout the day. The times ensure that the place does not get overcrowded at one time. You do not have a time limit once you are in though which is nice. You don't have to rush through rooms or miss out on stuff.

There is a waiting area when you first go into the venue and after you have your ticket scanned you wait a few minutes for it to be the right time to be let into the actual Happy Place. As I mentioned the rooms and alcoves each have a different theme and color scheme as well as textures and other elements. There was a candy room with prop gumball machines and there were also little cups of complimentary m&ms that were yellow to match the Happy Place logo!

Candy room!

The next room was red & white and had various photo opportunities!

After that there was a hallway with 2 sets of alcoves (on either side) that were set up. One was filled with rubber ducks and a bathtub, another had plastic chains hanging down, and another had reflective walls!  (shown in my vlog)

Following the hallway was a cookie room that had a large fake cookie prop as well as actual complimentary cookies that we were able to have, this room smelled so good!

 

Next was another hallway and the words "Don't worry be" were written on the ceiling and Happy was spelled out under it at the end of the hallway. It was cool because first you just see the word Happy but when you look up you discover the full message! (shown in my vlog)

The next room was setup so it looked like a bedroom but the furniture was attached to the ceiling. When people posed for pictures and flipped them it would look like they were on the ceiling. I didn't take any pictures in this room though. Call me a stickler but even when people turn the photos upside down the "optical illusion" doesn't really work because there hair is going the wrong way due to gravity (this photo opp is still a creative idea though not able to be executed very well).

After that was the flower area, there were tons of pretty flowers hanging from the ceiling however there was barely any light in that area so it was hard to see (definitely a major negative).

Once you walked through the flower room it opened up into one large area with many different backdrops for photos. This area also contained a dome with confetti swirling in it and a large ball pit type structure. There was also a corner with a concession stand where you could purchase snacks and lemonade and the room had a Dunkin Donuts setup with people passing out little samples of new coffee flavors and some munchkins (these were complimentary and sooooo good). I tried a blueberry munchkin and I liked it much more than I initially thought I would.

One part of the large area at Happy Place

Overall I am glad I went! I would not say that it is super, super fun but I did have a really good time and it was fun enough! The tickets are pretty expensive though, around $35 per person. However I justified it because it's such a unique thing to do and it is only in the city for a limited amount of time, as well as it was something nice to do with friends. One of my friends put our thoughts about the price in a concise sentiment "they charged the most they could without losing customers". If the price had been more than what it was, I am sure that a lot of people, myself included would have decided it wasn't worth it. I think that the fact that we got complimentary cookies, candy, and Dunkin goodies helped me feel better about the money I spent although I didn't know about the complimentary snacks when I purchased the ticket (so that was a nice surprise). Regarding the staff throughout the place and the different rooms, they were very nice and helpful! It was very convenient if you wanted a group photo with whoever you were with because the staff members were more than willing to be photographers! I don't have many pictures with my friends because we never have anyone to take them but that was not the case this time so we got a few! The photos provide great reminders of a fun afternoon and it was a memorable experience!

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