Harlem Summer Nights is dishing out an unforgettable experience during this year’s Harlem Week.
Harlem Summer Nights is a seven-week-long experience celebrating all that Harlem has to offer, focusing on the “three C’s”: cuisine, community and culture.
The series is a reinvention of the former Uptown Night Market, according to Marco Shalma, CEO of We Eat Here and organizer of the event. The Uptown Night Market was one of New York’s largest and most successful street festivals. After running the market for five years, Shalma decided it was time to tweak the format and focus more on its connection to the community.
“Harlem Summer Nights is the biggest celebration of culture, cuisine and community in New York City,” Shalma said. “When I say the largest celebration of culture and cuisine, it’s because everything that we’ve done is geared towards the community that lives over here. The real neighborhood, the vendors, the music, the style. It is a glorious, elaborate block party that we created and really reinvented.”
Over 60 vendors partnered with Harlem Summer Nights for this year’s festivities; of these, 80 percent are women or minority operated. To Shalma, this festival series gives him a way to uplift and provide opportunities for marginalized communities.
“When I started the Bronx Night Market 10 years ago, one of the reasons is because a lot of the businesses and food entrepreneurs that we work with could not get into the downtown festivals,” said Shalma. “So we opened the door for them. We created that space for them to do that.”
Harlem Summer Nights spans every Friday from July 10 to Aug. 21 under the arches on 12th Ave. and W 135th St. Admission is free for all attendees, with different activations available throughout.
“We have programming out the wazoo,” Shalma said. “[It’s] something really incredible and really a format that has been very, very successful through the Uptown Night Market, but we took it and pushed even further for this year.”
The festival is collaborating with West Harlem Arts Alliance for an open-air gallery, featuring a different Harlem-based artist each week, according to Shalma. Every Friday will feature live music performances, all beginning with an open-mic dedicated to up-and-coming neighborhood artists, followed by group City Love NYC and various DJs. Free giveaways are coordinated every week by the Harlem Summer Nights’ team.
While the series is centered around cuisine, Harlem Summer Nights embodies all aspects of the neighborhood’s culture. If someone is interested in seeing the “real” Harlem, Shalma recommends attending one of the parties.
“The entire New York can come and visit and see what Uptown and Harlem has to offer,” Shalma said. “It’s a zoom in from [the] global perspective to a local perspective…Want to see real food? Want to see a real vibe? Want to see a real party going on? It’s a different way to do an event…This is not a night market or a foodie event. This is like a night out in the best possible way.”
For more information, visit harlemsummernights.com.
