When is Ekka People's Day?
Ekka People's Day is officially the Royal National Agricultural (RNA) Show Day and a public holiday in Brisbane only.
The public holiday takes place on the second or third Friday in August.
Until 2022, Ekka People's Day was held on the Wednesday during the RNA Show period. The RNA Show commences on the first Friday in August, unless the first Friday is prior to August 5th, when it commences on the second Friday of August.
History of Ekka People's Day
The Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) is the largest and most loved annual event in Queensland, attracting on average 400,000 people to the Brisbane Showgrounds over the 10 days of the show.
The show celebrates agriculture in the region and features competitions for animals from cows to cats and for prize vegetables and traditional skills like wood chopping. There is also a popular fun fair with a Ferris wheel. Visitors can be seen snacking on Dagwood Dogs, a corn dog or buying bags of candies and treats called showbags.
The show began back in 1876, which was a public holiday, and has taken place each year since with the exception of 1919 (Spanish Flu) and 1942 (World War II).
The first 'Royal' Show took place in 1921 after the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland was granted the Royal prefix under a warrant from His Majesty King George V.
The name 'Ekka' is a shortened version of the Queensland pronunciation of 'Exhibition'.
The public holiday always takes place on a Wednesday. This is at the request of the RNA who organise the Show Day.
Queensland Show Holidays
Ekka is a public holiday only in Brisbane, which is by far the biggest city in Queensland.
Across Queensland, each city, shire, and community will observe a public holiday on different Show Days. 93 different regions observe Show Holidays on 43 days through the year. Rather than detail all that information on our site, we show the Show Holidays dates for the four largest cities in Queensland after Brisbane below. We recommend visiting the Queensland Government Show Holiday page for full details.
| City | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Coast | June 2nd | May 27th | May 28th | May 29 |
| Townsville | July 3rd | July 4th | July 5th | July 6th |
| Cairns | July 21st | July 15th | July 16th | July 17th |
| Toowoomba | March 31st | March 25th | April 16th | March 26th |
Sources: Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA), Queensland Government
