AFL Grand Final Parade: New public live site to feature cube stage
A footy fan zone featuring a cube stage is aiming to create a “better viewing and overall event experience” for the AFL Grand Final Parade. Here’s all you need to know.
Victoria
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A huge new public live site with a 360-degree stage will form the centrepiece of this month’s revamped AFL grand final parade.
The AFL will on Thursday confirm a new route – revealed by the Herald Sun last month – that will take the parade off the water as used in 2022 and back on to dry land.
The parade will start from a Melbourne Park field used as Grand Slam Oval during the Australian Open that will become a live site to get fans closer to the action.
The cube stage includes screens on each side, giving fans from all vantage points the opportunity to witness their favourite grand final players.
The new site is expected to create space for up to 15,000 more people to enjoy the parade and will also be used as a live site screening the AFLW Richmond-Fremantle and Carlton-Sydney double-header on grand final eve.
The live site and giant stage could also be used for the AFL grand final.
AFL executive Kylie Rogers said the new live site and parade route would get fans closer to their footy heroes.
“Our goal is to deliver a better experience for fans, families and passers-by who are out and about enjoying the grand final public holiday,’’ she said.
“The extra live site at Melbourne Park oval allows another 10,000-15,000 fans greater access to take part in the parade.”
The parade will start at 10:30am and be broadcast exclusively on Fox Footy.
The first half of the parade will take in the new live site and stop traffic as it proceeds down Batman Ave.
The rebooted route follows the banks of the river to Birrarung Marr, with grand final team members sitting on the back of Toyota utes crossing a walk bridge into the MCG precinct, before finishing at the AFL’s free Footy Festival in Yarra Park
Fans last year complained they could not see grand final stars as they were paraded down the Yarra river on boats.
The grand final parade typically draws crowds of more than 100,000, but those numbers are likely to swell if Collingwood or Carlton are playing – and especially if it is an all-Victorian grand final.
The AFL Footy Festival will run from September 27–30, with player appearances, music, food trucks, bars and premiership cup viewing.
It will run from 9:30am-5pm next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, September 27-29, and from 8am-7pm on grand final day, September 30.
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Originally published as AFL Grand Final Parade: New public live site to feature cube stage
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