National City Night Market at Old Schoolhouse Square

Thaiyo pop-up cafe and Villa Manila launched the National City Night Market in July 2026 at Old Schoolhouse Square (600 East 8th Street), turning the restaurant's long-running Sunday flea market into an evening street market. The August 15 edition ran 6 to 10 p.m. with free admission, per organizer posts on Instagram.

Villa Manila has anchored National City's Filipino dining corridor since the Camanyag family opened on East 8th Street in the 1980s. The restaurant later added Sunday morning flea markets in the Old Schoolhouse Square plaza beside the dining room. Thaiyo founders Raven Woodley and Audi Bunchien partnered with Villa Manila marketing lead James Camanyag to reinvent that flea rhythm as a night market with DJs, mahjong tables, and a wider vendor mix. KPBS covered the July 11 debut as the first National City Night Market, with co-hosts First Gen Scholars and event producer Social Artistry also on the plaza.

The July 11 crowd filled the small plaza late into the evening with lumpia, skewers, Thai-Filipino tea drinks, open-play mahjong with San Diego Mahjong Club, axe throwing, vintage vendors, and cover bands under the Old Schoolhouse Square sign. August 15 added a "Night Market Quest" scavenger game, hula-hoop contests, and DJ sets promoted on Instagram. Admission stayed free and pet-friendly.

San Diego's bigger night-market reference point is still the Convoy District's San Diego Night Market, which drew five-figure crowds before the pandemic era and has not posted a classic Convoy-street edition in recent years. National City's market is the South Bay bet that a plaza-scale night works if the food is local and the programming feels like a block party.

No October 2026 date was posted on Thaiyo's channels as of late August. Watch @thaiyo.cafe before you drive from North County. Street parking around East 8th fills once the sun drops. The plaza is compact and walkable once you find a spot.

Who this is for: South Bay locals, Filipino families, and night-market fans who do not want a ticketed fairgrounds line. Skip it if you need a confirmed future date today; this listing documents the August run and the series intent until organizers post the next night.

Villa Manila's dining room at 500 East 8th Street stays the anchor if you want sisig or lechon before the plaza opens. Thaiyo's pop-up runs Thai-Filipino drinks and snacks that often preview at the market before landing on a fixed menu elsewhere. Together they make East 8th feel like a walkable mini-night-market corridor even when the formal market is between dates.

Our take: this is the South Bay answer when you miss the big Convoy night-market years. If a new date drops, reserve Villa Manila for dinner first, then walk the plaza when the DJs start.

When: August 15, 2026 (6–10 p.m.; series continues on organizer channels)
Where: Old Schoolhouse Square, 600 East 8th Street, National City, CA

Start with the KPBS report, then confirm the next date on @thaiyo.cafe.