The history of the Ekka: memories, controversies and celebrity guests
Matt Damon’s Ekka appearance in 2023 added to the list of big names who have fronted the iconic event over the years. SEE THE LIST
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“Many things that I hoped to see today will be as great novelties, and as much a surprise to myself as to anyone here present.”
Governor of Queensland, Sir William Cairns, in 1876 captured his expectation as the inaugural “Ekka” came to life.
More than 140 years later the iconic event still leaves patrons surprised and delighted in equal measure.
In 2023 Hollywood star Matt Damon returned, adding to the list of celebrities who have attended over the years - SEE THE LIST BELOW >>>
From early years to recent battles, from smiling children to reminiscing adults, this is the history and all the photos of the Ekka.
■ Ultimate guide to Ekka Royal Show, Qld public holiday 2024
EARLY YEARS
The ambition was simple: “celebrate and champion the essential role agriculture plays in the everyday lives of Queenslanders”.
The Brisbane Show Grounds’ official website outlines why the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) established the Ekka in 1876.
The RNA Council, with pastoralists and merchants among its 35 members, was presided over by Governor Sir William Cairns.
Bowen Park was chosen as the host site, with the first show running from August 22 to 26 (a public holiday was declared for the first day).
With more than 15,000 people attending – of a Brisbane population of about 22,000 – chaos hit the turnstiles as mounted troopers were called to drive back the crowd.
“The morning opened beautifully fine, a royal salute being fired from cannons at dawn,” reported the Sydney Evening News.
First termed the Intercolonial Exhibition of 1876, the event grew to earn the prefix “Royal” from King George V in 1921.
Since then the show has commonly been known as the “Ekka”.
By the second edition of the show in 1877 the first ride was introduced in Sideshow Alley – a merry-go-round.
GROWING THE EKKA
By 1894 the first fireworks were introduced, with the main arena show since becoming a tradition.
After the visit of Edward, Prince of Wales in 1920, the show’s growth in the following years included the Queensland Country Women’s Association making its first appearance in 1926.
By the 1950s the Ekka’s great food traditions had arrived: fairy floss, butter board sandwiches, Strawberry Sundaes and dagwood dogs.
Visits from Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 and Princess Alexandria (1959) ensured the event was entrenched as a must-do each year.
HOW DOES THE EKKA RUN?
Governed by 21 elected councillors, the Ekka features a variety of competitions as well as hosting more than 250 events each year including exhibitions, conferences, banquets and music festivals.
It runs for nine days traditionally across August and remains at its birthplace of the Brisbane Showgrounds.
See our photo gallery of 90 years of the Ekka
There have only been four shows not held; in 1919 due to the Spanish influenza epidemic; in 1942 during World War II; and in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.
There are more than 20,000 entries each year in a range of competitions, with about 10,000 animals also involved.
Queensland’s largest annual event attracts an average of 400,000 patrons across nine days.
WHAT FAMOUS FACES HAVE GONE TO THE EKKA?
1920: Edward, Prince of Wales, visited the Ekka
1954: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the Ekka. Queen Elizabeth was 28 years old, and the pair of royals had been married for seven years. This was also 10 years before the first animal nursery was introduced.
1959: Princess Alexandra of Kent visited the Ekka
1988: Wally Lewis and Gene Miles may have been Broncos and Maroons stars but they fronted the Ekka to try the sprintcars, both completing laps of the showground.
1993: Celebrity vet Harry Cooper gave his wet-nosed little friend Chimere Lil Gold Fire - a pomeranian puppy - a bird’s-eye view at the Ekka. Dr Cooper was visiting from Tasmania. is a pure bred competing at the show.
2009: Pop princess Katy Perry attended as part of a B105 promotion on the main stage. Ms Perry was desperate to take a detour through Sideshow Alley and hit the rides, but it’s understood the security of logistics were too hard.
2012: Academy Award Winner and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush attended the opening day of the Ekka and tested his skills at shearing sheep.
2013: Miranda Kerr popped into the Ekka after a whirlwind trip to Brisbane.
“I’ve actually never been to the Ekka but I always wanted to go. It was fun,’’ she said.
2014: The cast of the popular British sitcom The Inbetweeners, Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas, headed to the Ekka on People’s Day and visited the animal nurseries.
2022:Hollywood star Matt Damon was spotted taking in the sights and showbags at the Ekka.
2023: The Hemsworth family enjoyed a day out while Damon was back again in 2023.
BIZARRE STORIES
■ At the first show in 1876 a competition was held for the best sample of five tonne of manure.
■ The first ever showbag was a bag of coal.
■ In the 1920s a flock of 90 sheep were used to maintain the lawns.
■ There was no Sideshow Alley in 1876, just a lone individual known as the ‘lightning calculator,’ whose facility with numbers amazed the crowds.
CONTROVERSIES AND BATTLES
Ekka eve protest
Queensland farmers marched through Brisbane city on Ekka eve in August 2016 in protest against the State Government’s controversial vegetation management laws.
About 300 people travelled from country Queensland, some farmers driving over eight hours, to be part of the rally.
Carrying signs reading “No Farmers, No Food” and “Fair Laws For Farmers”, the march started at Queens Park and the chanting crowd passed a handful of environmental activists along George St who were holding signs in favour of the laws.
The protest was timed to coincide with the Royal Brisbane Show because of the number of farmers and their families visiting Brisbane.
Then Environment Minister Steven Miles called out AgForce for “politicising” the Ekka and organising the rally one day before the Royal Show’s official opening.
Public holiday concern
Restaurant owners in August 2021 said shifting the Ekka public holiday was “catastrophic” for the Brisbane hospitality industry.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the holiday would now fall on Friday, October 29 which restaurateurs described as another blow to trade following snap Covid lockdowns.
Restaurant and Catering Australia CEO Wes Lambert said the association had reached out to the state government as soon as the Ekka was cancelled to express industry views that the public holiday should not be moved to a usually-busy trading day.
“We offered an alternative to have the public holiday be on a Monday which would still allow for a three-day weekend and as the recent announcement shows, that request was ignored,” Mr Lambert said.
No risk with Ekka ride
Ekka show goers in July 2017 were being reassured that extreme ride ‘Freak Out’ was not the same type of machine that broke apart in the United States, killing one and injuring seven others.
RNA chief executive Brendan Christou said the Freak Out was not part of the global recall and would remain at the Ekka.
“The Freak Out ride is not the Fire Ball ride, it is a different ride, a different model to the Fire Ball and is not part of the recall. KMG has notified us that the recall does not involve the Freak Out Ride,” he said.
Eighteen-year-old Tyler Jarrell was killed at the Ohio State Fair on July 27 when one of the passenger-carrying gondolas of the “Fire Ball” detached, throwing him from the ride. He landed 15m away according to officials.
End of line for favourite
The Grand Carousel, an antique merry-go-round that had thrilled thousands of youngsters for more than half a century, was in August 2008 barred from the Ekka over fears children might be crushed under the hooves of its timber horses.
Even though it was considered safe in other states, the objections of a Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspector led to the Grand Carousel’s 57-year link with the show being severed.
John Short, whose father Lesley first brought the Grand Carousel to the Ekka in 1951, was forced to leave his “flagship” operating on the banks of Melbourne’s Yarra, where it enjoys the approval of Victorian WorkSafe inspectors.
It is understood the Queensland inspector’s concerns were triggered in 2007 when he observed a primary school-aged child who appeared “unsteady” in the saddle.
He concluded a child who fell off could be crushed under the rising and falling horse or roll off the carousel platform and hit their heads.
Brian Bradley, an engineer who carries out inspections for amusement ride operators, said the inspector had “concocted a potential hazard”.
Pigs dodge swine flu
The Royal Queensland Show in 2009 banned pigs from the Brisbane Ekka grounds to protect the animals from catching human swine flu.
The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries advised organisers to exclude pigs from the showgrounds in Brisbane’s inner north.
Biosecurity Queensland’s chief vet Ron Glanville said the ban was prompted by an outbreak of H1N1 human swine flu at a piggery in the central west of New South Wales.
“We have emphasised with the pig industry to not let people with influenza to be in contact with pigs,” Mr Glanville said.
“It is a precautionary measure.”
He said about 23 local pigs were going to be part of the children’s animal nursery but the event organisers agreed to keep them away.
The show’s president Dr Vivien Edwards said: “We have had safety checks, hygiene checks and have been getting advice from experts right across the board three weeks before the show.
“Now two days before the Ekka we have been made aware there could be some concerns for the pigs so they are being removed.
“The sows and piglets would have been available for the kids to look at and watch.”
Covid chaos hits hard
Cattle farmers were left hanging up their hats in defeat as they headed home following the “heartbreaking” announcement Ekka 2021 would be cancelled.
Heads hung low and boots were scuffed as farmers, producers and their families began packing up at the usually buzzing Brisbane Showgrounds.
Cattle exhibitor Jim Christensen, of Kilcoy, said the annual agricultural extravaganza was “the biggest event on our calendar” and had organised 83 of their own cattle for display.
Mr Christensen was one of the many farmers who would suffer financially from the cancellation of Brisbane’s most popular event for the second year in a row and fourth time ever.
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