Max Futcher: Can the Ekka defy the pandemic?

As reliable and familiar as the westerlies in August, Brisbane needs the Ekka to revive our positivity and gives us a chance to party, writes Max Futcher.

As events are crippled by snap lockdowns, can the Ekka defy the pandemic?

The temperature’s dropping and soon the westerly winds will start whipping through the suburbs. In Brisbane, we know those westerlies blow through about the same time as the Ekka, as sure as check shirts in the Cattleman’s Bar.

Except last year, of course, when the pandemic reduced our beloved RNA Show to drive-through strawberry sundaes and a one-off fireworks display.

Julia and Margot Strong enjoy the last Ekka in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

There was no ferris wheel, no dodgem cars or sideshow games. For only the third time in 143 years, the Ekka was cancelled, but this year, it’s back.

“It’s really exciting,” said RNA chief executive Brendan Christou. “It was devastating for everyone last year, and we were surprised by the public sentiment. There was positivity towards the Ekka, and I think there really is pent-up demand for the Ekka to be back.”

There will be changes. Tickets purchased online must specify which day you’ll attend, and you’ll have to provide contact-tracing details. Once inside the gates, crowd numbers entering the pavilions will operate under a traffic-light system. “We’re going to have camera-based counting systems in place for major pavilions, that’ll be counting people in real-time,” said Mr Christou.

“Someone can see if the Showbag Pavilion is in Orange, which means it’s getting busier but not quite Red, they might go to another pavilion which is only in the Green zone.”

Ekka crowds like this may become a distant memory. Picture: AAP Image/Jono Searle

The “comeback” Ekka is a brave move by the RNA. Even now the pandemic is strangling the world. Other events have suffered in the past week, as Queensland’s lockdown caused the postponement or cancellation of events like The Abbey Medieval Festival and the Brisbane Air Show.

But for the Ekka, it’s full steam ahead.

“It’s certainly a challenge, and I guess we’re not alone in that regard. For us it’s a big deal because we’re the biggest event in the state,” said the show boss.

It’s estimated the Ekka has a $200m impact on the Queensland economy across its nine days, with 45,000 people filing through each day, getting their annual fix of dagwood dogs and fairy floss.

That’s a lot of people coming together for a good time. Sideshow alley will be shoulder-to-shoulder – with kids on Dads’ shoulders – and does anyone expect social distancing in that bottleneck tunnel near the train station? Show-goers have always half-joked about the chance of catching illness here, and every second person claims to have caught the mythical Ekka Flu, but what if a real pandemic came through the gates on Gregory Terrace?

The RNA ensure contingencies are in place for Ekka 2021. Picture: AAP Image/Jono Searle

The RNA says contingencies are in place. “Heaven forbid there’s a lockdown during the event. We’ve got people that live on site with their animals and it’s not as easy as saying, okay, go home,” said Mr Christou.

The risk is real, but the show will go on, for the kids, the farmers, and for a city which has earned a party.

It might not be the latest, shiny thing, and it’s probably not cool, but the Ekka is part of who we are as a city. Some of my earliest memories are of strawberry sundaes in Sideshow Alley. Later, as a 14 year old, I’d be granted early freedom from my parents to roam the Ekka grounds with my mates. These days, I take my own kids to do those same things that I enjoyed

As reliable and familiar as the westerlies in August, RNA boss Brendan Christou says right now, Brisbane needs the Ekka.

“There’s that less tangible thing, and that is connecting the city and the country, and celebrating agriculture, and in times like this, it’s more important than ever.”