Waterfront Container Village

We’ve taken something that you’ve known and loved – the AREA 506 Vendor Village – and turned it into an amazing experience on the Saint John waterfront.

In June 2022, we premiered the full waterfront experience with a diverse collection of retail shops, a performance space, a Waterfront Container Lounge, food trucks, public art and pop-up activities. All wrapped up in more than 60 shipping containers, celebrating everything that’s cool about being a Port City.

Nearly 40 vendors bring this innovative space to life for six months and create memorable experiences for the close to 500,000 visitors who pass through the gates.

The gates have closed on another incredible season at 85 Water Street in Saint John, but we’re still hard at work. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been up to when the gates reopen in the spring!

- the AREA 506 Team

Container Village Vendors

Some other things you might be asking yourself:

When is the Village open?

Standard hours for the fall season are Wednesday through Saturday from 11AM to 6PM and Sundays from 12 to 5PM with extended hours when a cruise ship is in port. HINT: You’ll find a notification of any special hours posted at the top of the page or check our Google listing.

Is it free to visit the Village?

Of course! It’s always free to visit the vendors in the Container Village. You can shop, grab some lunch at a food truck, a beverage at The Docks Container Lounge and enjoy it from the top level of the viewing deck. (seriously, you have to see the view from up there!)

The only time you’d need a ticket is if there was a special event or a band or whatever on the stage and you wanted to stick around to see the show. And even then, the shopping side would still be free to browse.

Can I bring my pets to the Waterfront Container Village?

We love dogs! Of course, any furry/fluffy/feathered/scaly friends will need to be on a leash and on their best behaviour, but they’re welcome to browse the Vendor Village with you.

The exception is for ticketed events in the stage area, we’d suggest you leave them at home for those.

My business would be a perfect fit here! How can I get more information?

Exciting! We want to hear more — send us some details and tell us a bit about your business. Expressions of interest will be reviewed as they come in.

We’ve focused interest in the Village into a few categories that will help us curate a well-rounded group of vendors and satisfy demand from cruise passengers, local residents and regional tourists:

Local Products
National Retail Brands
Services
Local Gifts & Art
Food & Beverage

Still have questions? email hidden; JavaScript is required and we’ll do our best to answer them!

What are the options for space in the Village?

We have two options:

1. A 40’ container with two retail spaces.

2. A 20’ container with one retail space.

Each retail space will include a garage door and a person-door to ensure retailers have options depending on how beautiful a day it is.

The insides of the containers? Those will look however the individual vendor decides to deck them out and bring the space to life!