AFL Gather Round 2025 scores major tourism goals

South Australia’s tourism industry is set to be the big winner from AFL Gather Round 2025, culminating in the highly anticipated return of the Norwood Food & Wine Festival on this Sunday, 13 April.

From 11am, over 50 traders will showcase the best of the State’s internationally renowned food and beverage, with offerings from iconic South Australian producers such as Penfolds, arkhé, Gullyview Estate X The Watervale Hotel, Fair Seafood, Bickford’s and more.

Australian rock band Birds of Tokyo will headline a full day of entertainment, with AFL games broadcast on big screens along The Parade and inside participating venues – including a sensory area at Norwood Hoyts.

The Parade, Norwood will be open for business as usual today and tomorrow, so visitors can experience the beloved precinct of the boutique city every day of the festival, not just Sunday.

Over 70,000 people enjoyed the festival last year, which contributed to the more than $17.6 million spent in the City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters during the 2024 AFL Gather Round weekend.

Hoteliers are also scoring big, with more than 10,000 rooms booked on average each night of AFL Gather Round 2025 across greater metropolitan Adelaide.

Latest STR data as at 7 April 2025 showed an average 8% increase on the average occupancy recorded at the same time out in 2024:

(average occupancy for 2025 is at 89% compared to last year’s average occupancy of 81%).

• Thursday 10 April – 94% occupancy, 10,624 room nights occupied (compared to Thursday 4 April 2024 at 84% occupancy)
• Friday the 11 April – 95% occupancy, 10,737 room nights occupied (compared to Friday 5 April 2024 at 85% occupancy)
• Saturday the 12 April - 92% occupancy, 10,398 room nights occupied (compared to Saturday 6 April 2024 at 85% occupancy)
• Sunday the 13 April – 75% occupancy, 8,477 room nights occupied (compared to Sunday 7 April 2024 at 71% occupancy)

From Thursday to Saturday, average occupancy is at 94% each night with an average of more than 10,500 rooms occupied each night.

On average 1,301 extra rooms are booked each night of the footy festival, with a total of 5,203 more rooms booked this year as compared to Gather Round 2024 – with 89 per cent average occupancy each night, up by 8 per cent on last year.

Forward bookings show tonight, Friday 11 April will be the strongest night ever in Adelaide for rooms occupied, with 10,737 rooms booked across greater metropolitan Adelaide - surpassing the current record of 10,662 room nights occupied on 8 March 2025.

Quotes

Attributable to Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison

In South Australia, we host major events like nowhere else – and the tens of thousands of visitors here for AFL Gather Round 2025 are feeling that right now.

The Norwood Food & Wine Festival is another highlight of this year’s footy festivities, as it gives festivalgoers a taste of our hospitality and internationally renowned produce, inspiring visitors to go out into our tourism regions and experience more.

With our Adelaide hotels breaking records across the weekend, it is clear to see why we invest in major events that bring people to our State, drive dollars into our local businesses, and elevate our reputation as a must-visit destination all year round.

The Parade is open as usual today and tomorrow in the lead up to the Festival – so be sure to get a taste of the traders and our South Australian hospitality all weekend.