Mobile food vendors have a healthy appetite to open a night market in the Octagon.
But the Dunedin City Council says it is too early to confirm if the market will open in the city.
Dunedin Mobile Trading Association events manager Graham Scott, of coffee van Jump'n Java, said the association was working with the Dunedin City Council to start a night market in the city later this year.
The council needed to be the driving force behind the market because the mobile traders could not afford to promote the event, he said.
The association hoped the market would be held in the Octagon and live entertainment would be provided to ensure people stayed for a social event.
However, having a market in the Octagon could be controversial because of its proximity to restaurants, he said.
He hoped the market would begin this year and anticipated it being a weekly or fortnightly event, possibly between November and March.
"It's too good an idea to not have something happen.''
Council economic development programme manager Fraser Liggett said that a night market was an idea Enterprise Dunedin was exploring.
Enterprise Dunedin staff had met association members and were gathering information to make an "informed decision'' on whether the idea should be advanced.
Enterprise Dunedin could not comment on details, such as when, where and how the market could operate in the city.
The night market could "certainly not'' be confirmed as an event, as it was in the concept phase, he said.
