Gather Round a windfall at The Parade
The AFL’s Gather Round 2024 generated $3 million more local spending during the Norwood event than last year, with the return of a food and wine festival also proving popular.
Spending at Norwood during Gather Round set a new record in 2024. Photo: Alex Pedlar Photography
New economic data reveals more than $17.6 million was spent in the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters during the 2024 AFL Gather Round weekend – up from $14.2 million the year prior.
Mayor Robert Bria said the weekend was “an incredible financial boost for the City”, with major events taking place on and around the Parade over the weekend.
This included the Brisbane Lions v North Melbourne match on Friday 5 April, the Richmond v St Kilda game on Sunday 7 April, and the Norwood Food and Wine Festival – also on the Sunday.
Bria said the Spendmapp data showed attendees spent big at hospitality venues.
“City-wide spend in the dining and hospitality category was $6.6 million this year compared to $4.45 million in 2023 – representing a 48 per cent increase – which is a phenomenal result,” Bria said.
“This included almost $1.1 million more spent on the Sunday compared to the Sunday last year.
“Of the $6.6 million spent, $5.7 million (83 per cent) was visitor spend, which is residents and businesses outside of the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters.”
More than half of that spend was in the suburb of Norwood, with $3.7 million spent on dining and hospitality in 2024, compared to $2.2 million in 2023. Of the $3.7 million, 88 per cent was spent by visitors to Norwood.
Further, $1.1 million of the nearly $4 million was spent on the Sunday alone – up from 2023 when $800,000 was spent on the last day of Gather Round.
Bria attributed the increase to the success of the Norwood Food and Wine Festival, which made a comeback this year after a 12-year hiatus.
“The massive increase in spending this year is testament to the momentum of the Gather Round and of course the popularity of the Norwood Food & Wine Festival,” Bria said.
“The high percentage of spending coming from visitors (rather than locals) reinforces the success of the Gather Round attracting people from interstate to Norwood.
“In fact, almost one quarter of the spend in Norwood came from Victorian visitors, which is a great result and demonstrates the popularity of the Norwood Food & Wine Festival.”
Bria said the Council has expressed its interest with the AFL and the state government to once again host AFL matches at Norwood Oval during Gather Round next year.
