Area 506 Waterfront Container Village celebrates opening weekend in Saint John

Vendors open at Saint John Area 506 The Saint John Area 506 waterfront container village kicked off its second season over the holiday weekend.

The Area 506 Waterfront Container Village in Saint John, N.B., kicked off its second season over the Victoria Day holiday weekend, with thousands of people pouring into the harbour hub for the unofficial start of summer.

“It was fantastic,” says Area 506 president, Ray Gracewood. “It exceed our expectations.”

Gracewood says the crowds were plentiful from Friday to Sunday, with the container village opening nearly three weeks earlier then last year.

“We opened up with a screening of a ‘July Talk’ movie which was great,” he says. “We had the place packed for ‘Pretty in Pink’ on Saturday night, and we thousands and thousands of people through the daytime come through to enjoy all the food and the vendors.”

There are nearly 40 different vendors inside the village grounds, with Gracewood noting the group is excited to create a community for residents to enjoy each weekend.

As with any opening, there were some kinks to be ironed out.

“Small little operational tunes and tweaks, but for the most part it was pretty seamless,” according to Gracewood. “There wasn’t any kind of big changes we made mid-stream, but I think as we go along we will continue to tune and tweak.”

The container village is open all summer -- Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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