Diamonds in the rough: are markets the gems that Auckland City needs?

Coined “The City of Fails”, Auckland has received significant backlash since the Covid-19 pandemic for not being able to recover, yet central markets are beating that narrative.

Both farmers markets and food markets have grown over the recent years, bringing people into the city from all over Auckland to experience different styles and vendors.

A spokesperson for the Britomart Saturday Market, Jeremy Hansen, says that the idea of the city centre being “dead” isn’t reflective of what they’ve seen every week.

“Britomart has been growing really steadily for the past five years and has more and more people coming through.

“We’ve seen really consistent growth . . . we’re happy with where it’s at.”

Heart of the City foot traffic data shows an improvement in popularity in January and February compared to last year.

Hansen says that there have been lots of efforts made by the Britomart group to show that “the precinct [is] vibrant and welcoming”, including their market.

Open Circle Night Markets organiser, Fraser Bray, says that his Victoria Park market was hugely successful over the summer.

He and vendors saw people looking forward to the monthly event.

“The first one we had was special, it was insane and every other one we’ve had there has been ridiculous. It’s amazing.

“Everyone sold out early, we clocked over 4000 people that first day,” he says.

However, numbers have been decreasing as the weather gets colder.

This causes foot traffic to dip again, leading to a below-average showing for April and 2026 as a whole.

The Victoria Park market is now closed since it’s risky to carry on over the colder and wetter months.

“It would be really hard to run it in winter because Auckland gets really up-down, cold and rainy,” Bray says.

Other Open Circle markets have shown mixed popularity, with the Victoria Park one being most successful.

Bray says the city centre was ideal because it was a great central point for everyone in Auckland to meet at, but that his suburban markets typically do better.

“I knew early on I wanted to go somewhere city based because that’s where the most attention would be with people from East, West and South Auckland screaming for it.

“We’re trying to replicate it in Grafton right now but it’s been difficult, mainly because Grafton isn’t suburban focused and there isn’t as much of a community feeling in the city,” he says.

Market organisers remain optimistic as they have continued to see a steady demand and attendance at their Central Auckland sites.

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AI was not used in the creation of this story.