AFL Gather Round back at The Parade in 2026

AFL Gather Round will return to The Parade in April 2026 with two matches scheduled for Norwood Oval.

Sydney will take on Gold Coast in a twilight match on Saturday 11 April and Geelong will go to battle against the West Coast Eagles on Sunday 12 April.

Gather Round 2026 will mark the first outing on Norwood Oval for the Swans, West Coast and Geelong, while Gold Coast played Fremantle in 2023.

Mayor Robert Bria says the Council is excited about hosting AFL Gather Round in 2026 and thrilled that three new teams will play on the hallowed turf on The Parade.

“The Council has had been quietly reviewing and planning for Gather Round 2026, which has captured the imagination of footy fans across the country.”

“We’ve developed a very good working relationship with the State Government and AFL over the past three years, and together with the Norwood Football Club we are ready to take our activations and events to the next level.

“We particularly look forward to greeting footy fans from right across the eastern seaboard, some of whom probably don’t come to South Australia as often as Victorians. Hosting three non-Victorian teams at Norwood gives our City great exposure to the rest of the country.”

Mayor Bria says the return of the Norwood Food & Wine Festival has been an “enormous success” with 90,000 patrons ion April 2025, a significant leap from the 70,000 patrons in 2024.

“There is no other suburban ground like Norwood Oval where you step out of the stadium and a massive street party is at your feet,” said Mayor Bria.

^{Image above: 2025 Norwood Food & Wine Festival} 

Mayor Bria’s says the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the 2025 Gather Round resulted in $15.8 million consumer spending in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, of which $1.2 million can be attributed to interstate visitors.

Victorians spent $750,000 while visitors from New South Wales forked out $191,000 and Queenslanders $182,000.

Consumer spending on hospitality during those three days was $4.6 million, with $1.5 million spent on the Sunday when the Norwood Food and Wine Festival was held.

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