The AFL is pleased to announce that the 2026 ‘Gather Round ... A Festival of Footy’ will take place from Thursday, 9 April through to Sunday, 12 April, with the fixture to be announced later this year.
The 2026 event will coincide 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. It will also be the round of matches after Easter.
The 2025 Gather Round – which marked the third year of the event – was the biggest yet, with a record crowd and economic growth generated, and saw AFL premiership points played for in the Barossa Valley for the first time.
