AFL Gather Round 2025 fixture announced with Barossa Valley new ...

The fixture for next year's AFL Gather Round has been announced with two matches locked in for one of Australia's premier wine regions.

To be held in South Australia for a third year in a row, the four-day program will start on April 10 with five games at Adelaide Oval, two at Norwood Oval in the eastern suburbs and two in the iconic Barossa Valley.

The new $40 million Barossa Park recreation space at the site of an existing oval at Lyndoch will host North Melbourne and the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday April 12, and Richmond and Fremantle on Sunday April 13.

Peter Malinauskas is excited Gather Round games will be held at Barossa Valley next year. (ABC News)

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said the Barossa Valley had been on the government's "vision board" since Gather Round was first conceived.

"When this game of AFL was played in the Barossa Valley, the rest of the country would know where it's being played, in one of the most beautiful wine regions anywhere in the world," Mr Malinauskas said.

"This [Barossa Park] is a piece of infrastructure ... not just about the AFL game, this is a piece of infrastructure that would service the whole Barossa Valley community for decades to come."

The SA government and the Barossa Council each contributed $20 million to upgrade the Lyndoch Recreation Park into two ovals with a 350-seat event space and clubrooms.

Barossa Council Mayor Bim Lange said work was still underway but would be complete in time for Gather Round.

"We're going have a world-class feature here in the region for the state and we're already talking to various other sporting codes as to how we can fully utilise and keep this whole area functioning 12 months of the year," he said.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon at Lyndoch Recreation Park, which will host two Gather Round games. (ABC News)

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said it was "exciting" to showcase another South Australian regional venue after matches were played in the Adelaide Hills town of Mount Barker for the past two years.

"The two match-ups that we've got here [in the Barossa] would be sell-outs within minutes I think," he said.

"Gather Round is really important, it's one of the cornerstones on which we build the fixture, because for every game you play in the slot there's a flow-on impact for the week before and the week after."

Dillon would not be drawn on where Gather Round would be held in 2027, adding negotiations would take place in "the next few months".

"We'll be starting conversations with the Premier about where Gather Round goes for 2027 and beyond," Dillon said. 

Adelaide Oval will host a double-header — Carlton versus West Coast and Melbourne versus Essendon — on Saturday, with tickets to be sold separately for each game.

Adelaide will play Geelong to open the round on Thursday night at Adelaide Oval, while Port Adelaide and Hawthorn will face off on Sunday night.

Port Cheer Squad's Celine Sao Palmer told ABC Radio Adelaide Port fans were unhappy about the 6:50pm Sunday start.

"Why is it always Port Adelaide and yet the Crows get prime time and we finished ahead of them this year?" she said.

"Really, in South Australia we should be having the two South Australian teams, prime time."

Thursday, April 10

Adelaide v Geelong, Adelaide Oval, 7:10pm

Friday, April 11

Collingwood v Sydney, Adelaide Oval, 7:10pm

Saturday, April 12

North Melbourne v Gold Coast, Barossa Park, 12:05pm

Carlton v West Coast, Adelaide Oval, 12:50pm

Western Bulldogs v Brisbane, Norwood Oval, 3:45pm

Melbourne v Essendon, Adelaide Oval, 7:05pm

Sunday, April 13

Richmond v Fremantle, Barossa Park, 12:05pm

St Kilda v GWS, Norwood Oval, 2:50pm

Port Adelaide v Hawthorn, Adelaide Oval, 6:50pm