AFL fans, mark your calendars because the dates for the 2026 Gather Round have been announced.
South Australia’s festival of footy will be held from Thursday, 9 April to Sunday, 12 April, with the dates coinciding with the middle weekend of school holidays in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, and the first weekend of school holidays in South Australia and New South Wales.
The announcement coincides with the release of data showing the 2025 edition of Gather Round delivered a record economic contribution of $113.9 million.
The Total Economic Contribution, confirmed by research conducted by market researcher IER, is 24 per cent higher than the contribution of the 2024 event ($91.6 million), and 36 per cent higher than the contribution of the inaugural 2023 event ($83.5 million).
The research also indicated this year’s event created 241,613 visitor nights in South Australia, 26 per cent higher than last year, with visitors spending on average 4.7 nights in SA.
The first ever AFL matches at the new Barossa Park facility helped generate $4.87 million in direct expenditure for the Barossa Valley region.
Barossa Park is set to once again feature at Gather Round in 2026, with the fixture to be confirmed later this year.
Almost 270,000 people attended the nine matches played across Adelaide Oval, Norwood and Barossa Park, with 36 per cent of attendees coming from interstate.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said he was excited by the prospect of the 2026 Gather Round.
“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 accommodation early, especially considering roughly a third of attendees each year have come from interstate,” Mr Dillon said.
“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.”
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