Wet weather has wreaked havoc at the Ekka People’s Day with the Grand Parade postponed, rides closed and aerial display canned
Wet weather has wreaked havoc for People’s Day at the Ekka with rides closed and displays canned but 40,000 punters are still expected to lap up the iconic Royal Show.
QLD News
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Tens of thousands of people have filed through the gates at the Ekka on people’s day despite a major downpour in Brisbane overnight and soggy conditions all day.
But for the first time in known history, the People’s Day Grand Parade has been postponed until Saturday, RNA chief executive Brendan Christou confirmed.
“There’s a much better weather forecast (on Saturday),” Mr Christou said, saying 40,000 were expected through the gates today.
“The reason for that is it will chop up the arena, which will make it not so great for the show jumping and a bit dangerous for the next few days.”
Some equestrians were also left disappointed as Wednesday’s Show Jumping program was cancelled
Mr Christou said this People’s Day was one of the wettest in memory.
“This is certainly one of the wettest that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been here a little while now, and you know, you can’t control the weather,” he said.
“The upside is there’s lots of weather across the state, and our farmers will think thank God’s for that. But we look forward to the next, dry, four days.
“There’s some ponchos and umbrellas out, as you said, but there’s still a spirit around too ... the people who have come are very resilient, and it’s great to come and support these exhibitors who have come from the country, a lot of them, and showcase what they do.”
Several of the food stalls lining the showgrounds experienced a quieter People’s Day than expected, with some seeing a decrease in sale numbers.
The Ekka-favourite strawberry sundae saw a dampening sales thanks to the two days of heavy rain, with organisers believing they would not beat their record-breaking sale numbers from last year.
General manager Chloe Nguyen said the sundae stalls had been quieter on Tuesday and Wednesday after an otherwise fantastic start to the show.
“The weather is sort of dampening sales a little bit but we have been watching the Bureau of Meteorology and we’re really confident from tomorrow onwards, when the weather clears, we’ll be in a great position,” Ms Nguyen said.
“Definitely quieter than expected today, but I think a lot of people will be popping out later this week.”
Last year The Common Good sold 22,000 sundaes on People’s Day alone, adding to a spectacular total of 152,000 by the end of the eight days.
While 55,000 strawberry sundaes have been sold over the first four days of this year’s show, Ms Nguyen said they do not expect to beat their record-breaking 2023.
“It has still been a great event, people are enjoying themselves - they’re prepared for the rain and they’re actually still having a good time,” she said.
But with the rain clearing on Thursday and abnormally warm temperatures predicted for the final weekend of the show, Ms Nguyen and the sundae-making team are hoping for a spike in sales.
“We feel really confident, so our focus today is really to stock up all the stores, because we think from tomorrow we’re going to be just running towards the finish line with a really strong weekend.”
With rain causing significant pools of water at Sideshow Alley two rides were forced to close while most show goers braved the wet ride seats to get their thrills.
The Giant Slide was closed again due to wet weather and fan favourite thrill ride The Beast closed due to small flooding in the line up area.
Ride operators were attempting to build a makeshift plank bridge over the water for thrill seekers to walk across.
Many kids enjoying the day off school were not put off by the wet weather, in fact many were all smiles despite being soaked and treading through large puddles.
Evie, 8 and Winnie, 7, were enjoying their day out at the Ekka having already been on the Sky Flyer earlier that morning.
Their mother Caitlyn said they had brought tickets for People’s Day not knowing what the weather was going to be like.
“The rain wasn’t going to stop us, we just put on our ponchos and raincoats it’s been fine,” she said.
“Honestly, I thought it would be slightly less busy today because of it (the rain).”
Caitlyn said despite soaked shoes, the family were still having a fun day out enjoying rides and slide show alley.
“There were puddles of water on the ride, the girls have wet bums but we’re having fun.”
She said they would definitely be grabbing a hot Dagwood Dog to end their day.
However, some events have already been affected by the rain with the first show jumping event set for this morning cancelled due to the wet weather.
An aerial display by the Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes was also cancelled from Wednesday’s Ekka schedule.
“Sadly due to the weather, we won’t be able to conduct our Roulettes display scheduled for 12.15pm at the Ekka today,” a statement from the Air Force Roulettes read.
“We apologise for any disappointment.
“We will be at the Gold Coast Pacific Airshow this weekend. See you Fri-Sun over the beach.”
However, other spectacles including the line dancing, floral bearded men competition and the iconic Grand Parade are still expected to go ahead.
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