Gather Round fixture revealed as three venues prepare for 2027 AFL festival

Adelaide Oval will host five matches during the 2027 AFL Gather Round, with Norwood Oval and Barossa Park each staging two games under the fixture released today.

All 18 clubs will play in South Australia from Thursday 8 April to Sunday 11 April, with the festival forming Round 4 of the season and coinciding with school holidays across the country.

Adelaide will open the round against reigning premiers Brisbane on Thursday night, before Collingwood meets Sydney at Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Saturday’s four-game schedule begins with Gold Coast and GWS Giants at Barossa Park, followed by Carlton against Melbourne at Adelaide Oval and Richmond against West Coast at Norwood Oval. Fremantle and Hawthorn will then meet under lights at Adelaide Oval in a rematch of their 2026 qualifying final.

Essendon and North Melbourne open Sunday’s program at Norwood Oval, with Geelong facing St Kilda in the Barossa before Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs close the round in Adelaide.

The final match will see Bulldogs recruit Zak Butters face his former Port Adelaide teammates, adding another attraction to a schedule featuring three rematches from the 2026 finals series.

A new Players Parade will also take place on Friday, bringing together players from all 18 clubs ahead of the evening match.

Adelaide Oval remains the centrepiece of Gather Round, accommodating the Thursday and Friday night fixtures, two separate Saturday matches and Sunday’s closing game.

The 53,500-capacity stadium offers a contrasting experience to the two smaller grounds, which have become established parts of the event.

Norwood Oval will again bring AFL football to The Parade, with its historic grandstands and surrounding terraces providing an intimate suburban setting.

At Lyndoch, Barossa Park returns for its third Gather Round. Temporary grandstands and event facilities increased its capacity to 10,000 for its AFL debut in 2025, rising to 12,000 in 2026.

This year’s Gather Round attracted a record 270,018 spectators across nine matches. Adelaide’s opening match against Carlton drew 49,184, while Norwood Oval welcomed 9,434 for Geelong against West Coast and Barossa Park attracted 10,613 for North Melbourne against Brisbane.

South Australia has secured Gather Round through to at least 2029.

Tickets for the 2027 event will go on sale in December, with the first club and AFL member priority window opening at 10am Adelaide time on Wednesday 9 December.

A second member priority window will run from 10am to 1pm on Thursday 10 December, followed by general public sales at 3pm. Those opening times are 10:30am and 3:30pm respectively in Melbourne and Sydney.

Today’s announcement comes ahead of the full 2027 AFL fixture release, expected in November.

Several broader scheduling changes have already been confirmed, including the removal of Opening Round, with all 18 clubs instead participating in a traditional nine-match Round 1.

The season will begin on either 17 or 18 March, following the MCG’s hosting of the 150th anniversary Test between Australia and England from 11–15 March. The cricket commitment leaves a tight turnaround for preparing the ground for football and has prompted a review of the usual opening-week arrangements.

The Grand Final has been confirmed for Saturday 2 October at the MCG.

Venue availability is also influencing other parts of the draw. GWS has been in discussions about potentially playing at Accor Stadium because of Engie Stadium’s unavailability around the Sydney Royal Easter Show, although that arrangement has not been confirmed.

The AFL has also explored earlier Friday night starts around 6pm to accommodate double-headers, with North Melbourne expressing interest in participating. Those proposals remain subject to the final fixture.

South Australia’s football calendar will begin earlier, with its representative side facing Western Australia at Optus Stadium on Saturday 27 February in the next AFL Origin match.

2027 Gather Round fixture

All times below are local South Australian time.

Match listings do not confirm home-team allocations. The AFL says these will be determined through a random selection process, with Adelaide and Port Adelaide retaining home-team status.