THE AFL will head to the Barossa Valley in 2025, with a game to be played in the famed South Australian wine region as part of the third edition of Gather Round.

The League announced today that the 2025 Gather Round will run from Thursday April 10 to Sunday April 13, which will coincide with school holidays in South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

The traditional Easter round of matches will follow over the long weekend of April 18-21.

While the full Gather Round fixture will be announced later this year, it’s been confirmed that at least one match will be played at Lyndoch Recreation Park in the Barossa Valley, the first time a game for premiership points has been played in the region.

Games during the 2023 and 2024 Gather Rounds were split between Adelaide Oval and Norwood Oval in the city and Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills.

“The timing of the 2025 event and the April school holidays will give fans and families the best opportunity to be able visit South Australia,” AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said on Tuesday.

“It has been a proven strategy over the first two years, especially considering the interstate visitors making up 33 per cent of match attendees.”

Virgin Australia, the AFL’s official airline, will again put on extra flights to Adelaide for the Gather Round weekend.

Lyndoch Recreation Park is currently undergoing an upgrade to get it ready for games next season, with South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas lauding the economic impact Gather Round has had on the state.

“A $91.6 million economic contribution is a significant return, as are the almost 200,000 visitor nights,” he said.

“That represents tens of thousands of interstate visitors filling our hotels, and spending money in our cafes and bars.

“We look forward to making the 2025 event bigger and better again – with the Barossa Valley set to feature for the first time.”