Enjoy the Ultimate Festival of Footy when the AFL Comes to The Parade

Norwood Oval is the most developed suburban footy ground in the State and features a great canteen area, an electronic scoreboard, energy-efficient LED digital boundary displays and new light towers. So when the AFL announced that the Gather Round would be held in Adelaide from April 13-16, it was natural that the home of the reigning SANFL premiers would host several matches.

The atmosphere will be electric when Norwood Oval welcomes the Fremantle Dockers and Gold Coast Suns for a twilight game on Friday April 14, before the Greater Western Sydney Giants and Hawthorn Hawks battle it out on Sunday afternoon.

But the festival of footy isn’t restricted to the Oval – here’s everything you need to know about the celebrations taking place along the rest of The Parade all weekend long.

Norwood Memorial Gardens

The gardens in front of Norwood Oval will have something for everyone, with activations by the Norwood Football Club and AFL Auskick before both games along with live music, food trucks and stands from members of the Eastside Wine & Ale Trail.

On Friday you can enjoy Enfes Delight gozleme, Deja Brew coffee and drinks from Reform Distilling and The Suburban Brew while you listen to Brad Lee performing before the game and the Sam Brittain Band playing afterwards. Reform and Suburban Brew will return on Sunday, when The Happy Leonards and Jack Wood provide the soundtrack alongside Sugar Coated coffee and a food truck.

Local Pubs

The Bath Hotel will have food and drink specials including $9 pints of selected beers and $17 pizzas from 12:00-2:30pm on Friday and Sunday, as well as footy on the big screens and live entertainment. And on Sunday, Queen Street will be partially closed for a massive street party with outdoor dining and tunes from Zkye and Damo to add to the festive atmosphere.

The Colonist will host a Laneway Pop-Up Party in the car park with happy hours from 4-6pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bottomless brunch from 11am on Saturday and Sunday and free oysters from 4-5pm on Friday night. You can also expect footy on the screens and local musicians each evening, with Substance Duo playing on Friday, Germein Duo on Saturday and Tyson Pedro on Sunday.

Norwood Hotel will celebrate Friday night with Monster Mash providing live music from 6-8pm in Finn’s Bar followed by Acoustic Fix in the Osmond Terrace Function Centre until midnight. There’s also going to be live music from 12-8pm on Sunday, with Live n Loud Footy on the big screens both days and a free cap when you buy a round of Matso’s Ginger Beer.

Restaurants

If you’re looking for a feed before or after the footy, head to one of the local restaurants offering fantastic discounts for game day ticket holders. These include 10% off at Café Saba, 25% off at Crust Pizza Norwood, free snack-sized chips with any burger sold at Grill’d Norwood, 20% off your bill (up to $30) at Rain Modern Asian Bistro, $5 beers with any meal purchase at Zambrero Norwood and for $18 get a Betty’s Classic Burger, fries and a standard soft drink from Betty’s Burgers.

For the full list of what is happening across the City, visit theparadenorwood.com/afl