One of Philly’s most popular summer staples is officially back. The Southeast Asian Market is now open every Saturday and Sunday until Saturday, October 26th. Located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, this market offers a wide variety of cultural food, drinks, clothing, and even toys.
Opening weekend for the SEA market, as some call it, always attracts a big crowd. This year was no different despite the rain and cold temperatures. Hundreds flocked to FDR on April 5th and 6th to get their first tastes of the season. Bubble tea, sugar cane juice, coconut balls, and various types of meat skewers are some of the more popular items many market-goers purchase all season long.
Preparing for the market is important, as a large majority of vendors are cash-only, and there is not an ATM anywhere in FDR. There are also limited porta potties sprinkled along the market’s perimeter, and on nice weekends in the summer, the wait can be long. Parking is also an issue, as even on a rainy weekend in April the lots and street spots were almost completely full. The park is located across from the NRG station of the Broad Street Line subway.
Over 70 vendors make up the weekly market, where 72 registered, permanent vendors are accompanied by occasional pop-up vendors that stay for a weekend or two. These vendors represent cultures from Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The mix of cultures is apparent even on a first visit. Mingling languages, smells, and music fill the air in and around the market. Customers from many different ethnic backgrounds combine together in crowds to meander through the roughly laid-out aisles of tents and grills.
And the market is certainly a celebration of cultures. Things now celebrated and anticipated used to face intimidation and resistance. The origins of the market stretch back to the 1980s when refugee and immigrant families from Laos and Cambodia fled genocide and oppression in their home countries. These families had no third spaces to gather and didn’t see their cultures being represented anywhere in the city.
The park became a sanctuary. After word spread of a Couple from Laos grilling chicken wings on skewers and making papaya salad from their van, local Southeast Asian Philadelphia residents gather in FDR to get a taste of home. By the 90’s, a handful of vendors had set up shop.
After long years of pushback and fighting, the Vendors Association of FDR Park was formed, and the market as it is now known was created.
Besides the SEA market, FDR Park offers a ton of activities for guests. Gardens, stand-up grills, and lake-side benches can be found all over the 348-acre park. A skate park, golf course, tennis courts, baseball, and soccer fields are also popular attractions. The various lakes are perhaps what the park is most well known for, and in the summer canoeing and boating classes are held in the biggest of the three main lakes. A few tucked-away benches on lakesides offer beautiful views of the park’s nature. The Anna C. Verna playground opened last summer after years of construction and has the largest swing set in North America.
The Southeast Asian Market’s official hours are 10 AM to 6 PM. However, in the summer months, some vendors tend to stay later than six if the weather permits. The Market is rain or shine and is only canceled due to severe weather like thunderstorms or flooding in the park.
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