Ekka People's Day in Australia in 2024

Ekka People's Day in Australia in 2024
Royal Queensland Show, Brisbane. Image by The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland
  How long until Ekka People's Day?
Ekka People's Day
  Dates of Ekka People's Day in Australia
2025 Queensland Wed, Aug 13 Regional Holiday
2024 Queensland Wed, Aug 14 Regional Holiday
2023 Queensland Wed, Aug 16 Regional Holiday
2022 Queensland Wed, Aug 10 Regional Holiday
2021 Queensland Fri, Oct 29 Regional Holiday
  Summary

The Royal National Agricultural (RNA) Show Day (Brisbane only) is usually held on the second Wednesday in August except when there are five Wednesdays in August when it is held on the third Wednesday.


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 2023202220212020
Sunshine Coast June 2nd

May 27th

May 28thMay 29
Townsville July 3rdJuly 4thJuly 5thJuly 6th
Cairns July 21stJuly 15thJuly 16thJuly 17th
Toowoomba March 31stMarch 25thApril 16thMarch 26th

Sources: Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA), Queensland Government


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