The city of Adelaide is set for one of its busiest weeks of the year as Rundle Mall embraces footy fever for AFL’s Gather Round, with activations, interactive experiences and extended shopping hours.

With more than 40,000 interstate visitors, and hundreds of thousands of locals converging on the city for the footy, Rundle Mall is extending its opening hours until 7pm on Saturday 7 April to provide fans with more opportunity to shop, eat, drink and enjoy the Gather atmosphere.

The festival of football helped increase Rundle Mall foot traffic by 16% across last year’s Gather Round, according to Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) data, with the agency anticipating this year could be bigger again.

As interstate and intrastate visitors continue to plan their trips, hotel occupancy is set to beat last year’s 85% average for the event.

“Hosting AFL’s Gather Round is a boon for South Australia, and AEDA has worked hard to maximise the benefits for businesses across the city and Rundle Mall and to create a memorable experience for visitors,” said Adelaide Economic Development Agency’s Executive Manager, Rundle Mall, Andrew White.

The state’s premier shopping precinct will transform into a Gather Round Live Site from Wednesday 3 April to Sunday 7 April near the Gawler Place Canopy in Rundle Mall.

Rundle Mall’s Live Site will include a digital footy quiz with live leaderboard, personalised souvenir footy cards, player appearances, and games to see how your footy skills stack up against the professionals.

The festival of football helped increase Rundle Mall foot traffic by 16% across last year’s Gather Round

Rundle Mall will also be home to a range of other activities throughout the five-day festival of footy, including:

• A near 10-metre inflatable Sherrin football stationed in front of H&M
• A pop-up AFL Store outside Stephens Place
• The Footy Bar operated by Mollydooker MollyVan serving wine, spirits and beer from Pirate Life Brewing
• All Gather Round games live-streamed on the big screen at the Footy Bar
• Rebel ‘reboot your boots to win’ activation, where visitors can donate their old football boots for the chance to win tickets to the 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final
• MG car activation featuring a pop-up interactive handball challenge located outside Novo Shoes

“The city’s the place to be for footy fans who couldn’t secure tickets to the games or those who want to extend the festivities to before or after the footy,” White said.

“Hundreds of thousands of South Australians and interstate visitors will visit the Mall from Wednesday through Sunday, and no matter their age, there’s something to enjoy.

“Kids will love the souvenir footy cards, featuring a photo of themselves in their favourite team’s colours, while mum and dad will appreciate a cool and comfortable place to watch the action with a drink in hand.

“AEDA has worked closely with the State Government to secure two additional hours of shopping on Saturday so that stores can open till 7pm and capitalise on increased foot traffic and visitor spending.”

Rundle Mall stores opening until 7pm on Saturday include rebel, JD Sports, Apple, Cotton On and Apple, among others.

Elsewhere in the city, Gather Round festivities include:

• Home Base – the ultimate footy fiesta street party in the west-end’s Gilbert Place, offering live music, games on the big screen, food and drinks
• Footy Flashbacks – a pop-up bar and live screening of historic AFL games at Festival Plaza
• Game Day at Home Ground – live DJs, burgers, pizzas and more on the Adelaide Riverbank Promenade
• Ruck & Roll – a program of live music in the streets and in businesses across the city during Gather Round
• Macca’s Footy Festival – SA’s best vendors, food trucks, licensed bars and a 150m long zip line over the River Torrens in Elder Park.