There was no sign of Ali Baba, but dozens of colourful characters were among the thousands thronged the Octagon and Bath St for the 31st Thieves' Alley Market on Saturday.
Dunedin City Council community events co ordinator Marilyn Anderson claimed about 30,000 people attended the market with numbers steady throughout the day.
''Thieves' Alley has gone brilliantly well,'' she said.
''We have enjoyed a very good trading day and some of our stallholders sold out by three o'clock.
''It probably peaked about one o'clock and the sun was just starting to peek through, the day warmed up and people came out.''
Acting Senior Sergeant Jared Kirk said the day had passed without incident, although a build up of traffic resulted in jams in George St, Great King St, St Andrew St and Hanover St.
''It was gridlocked for quite a while which caused some issues for people trying to get out of the public car park on Great King St,'' he said.
Millie McNamara (5), of Tapanui, made the trip with her mother just for the market day.
She was happy to try some of the food on offer and have her face painted, but the highlight was ''the big bouncy castles''.
Steampunk enthusiast James Bryan said his presence had attracted attention.
''We have had a large number of people take photographs,'' he said.
Stall holder Ami Wallis was selling hand crafted artworks made from paper butterflies cut from old books.
She had some interest and was enjoying the day.
The inspiration for her work came from her love of literature.
''I just love books and they are so pretty and it's a shame shoving them on shelves all the time so if I make them into [art] it becomes a feature piece,'' she said.
Mrs Anderson said Thieves' Alley Market would return next year on February 13.
