AFL Gather Round | Festival of Footy in SA | 9-12 Apr 2026
Dates and fixture confirmed for the AFL’s 2026 Gather Round Festival of Footy in South Australia.
The 2026 Gather Round will coincide with the middle weekend of school holidays in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia the first weekend of school holidays in South Australia and New South Wales. It will also be the round of matches after Easter.
The 2025 Gather Round saw a total of 269,506 fans attend the nine matches played across Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval and Barossa Park and all three venues will host games again in 2026.
The Adelaide Crows will open the round on Thursday night playing Carlton at the Adelaide Oval and the final Gather Round fixture on Sunday evening will see Port Adelaide take on St Kilda.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said he was excited to return to South Australia for Gather Round next April.
“The timing of the event, in line with school holidays, has worked well the past three years and announcing the dates for next year’s Gather Round now will allow fans to organise their travel and accommodation early, especially considering roughly a third of attendees each year have come from interstate.
“Planning for 2026 Gather Round and how we can make it even bigger and better is already underway, and we look forward to being able to share more details, including the fixture, later in the year.”
2026 GATHER ROUND FIXTURE
The fixture for Gather Round…A Festival of Footy in Round 5 of the 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership Season:
Thursday 9 April 2026
- Adelaide v Carlton, Adelaide Oval at 7.10pm ACST
Friday 10 April 2026
- Collingwood v Fremantle, Adelaide Oval at 7.10pm ACST
Saturday 11 April 2026
- North Melbourne v Brisbane, Barossa Park at 12.05pm ACST
- Essendon v Melbourne, Adelaide Oval at 12.45pm ACST
- Sydney v Gold Coast, Norwood Oval at 3.45pm ACST
- Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs, Adelaide Oval at 7.05pm ACST
Sunday 12 April 2025
- Geelong v West Coast, Norwood Oval at 12pm ACST
- Greater Western Sydney v Richmond, Barossa Park at 2.45pm ACST
- Port Adelaide v St Kilda, Adelaide Oval at 6.45pm ACST
2026 GATHER ROUND EVENTS:
Gather Round in Rundle Mall | Adelaide | 8-12 Apr 2026
Macca’s Footy Festival | Elder Park Adelaide | 9-12 Apr 2026
Sunrise Brekky Party Live Broadcast | Adelaide | 10 Apr 2026
Barossa Food & Wine Village | Tanunda | 11 Apr 2026
Norwood Food & Wine Festival | 12 Apr 2026
Gather Round at the Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market | 12 Apr 2026
BOOKINGS TO VISIT SOUTH AUSTRALIA FOR GATHER ROUND
Premium hospitality and experiences can be booked through the AFL’s official provider, the AFL Event Office.
As the official airline of the AFL & Gather Round, Virgin Australia will again be adding extra flights to help transport fans to the event.
Documentary Inside Gather Round: A Festival of Footy takes viewers inside the AFL’s inaugural Gather Round and showcasing South Australia in a four-day Festival of Footy.
For more information and all enquiries please visit the AFL website or follow their Facebook page for updates.
What: AFL GATHER ROUND
When: Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 April 2026
Where: North Adelaide, Norwood and Barossa Valley, South Australia (see fixture above)
Who: Everyone
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
Image Source: AFL Media / Play & Go
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