EKKA 2018 - WHAT'S THAT?

Being new to Brisbane I'd never heard of the Ekka Royal Show before and was intrigued as to what it was all about. It's a festival that promotes bringing the country to the city and boy did it. There were animals and displays of all different descriptions which is something I've never really done before. In Scotland I would say the equivalent would be the Royal Highland Show but I've never personally been to that before either (I'm terrible for having done nothing in my own country). 

The Ekka was held in the Royal Showgrounds in Bowen Hills of Brisbane for ten days in August. It was a great experience for me to have access to the showgrounds for each of those ten days. There was no rushing around to see things because I knew I had the week to get to see everything. At $35 per adult for entry it's not the cheapest day out - a family pass will set you back $80. This is just to get in to the Ekka and then you have to pay for everything you want to do whilst inside. I think it all depends on what you're interested in though, because there are free things to do inside. From stalls to wander round and competitions and shows to watch, if you don't have the money to spend you don't have to. However some of the food and rides are worth the extra cash.

I spent a few days with my brother getting to do and see everything rather than working most of the day. Naturally bringing the country to the city meant that there were plenty of animals to get to see whilst wandering around. There was a big building filled with cattle, goats and chickens which was something you don't see everyday. The number of chickens that were at the show astounded me - I didn't even know there were that many different breeds of chickens. Baby goats are also one of the cutest and funniest animals. I absolutely loved watching them jump around and play in their pens, with some wearing the cutest little jumpers as well.

There was a big nursery where you could go and feed lambs, calves, pigs and goats if you were there with a child (or just are a big child) as well as horse and dog competitions. As a massive dog lover, I could have stood in the dog pavilion all day to watch the adorable dogs. Apart from the animals there was the agricultural centre, showcasing the baking competition winners, the stalls that support Australian farmers and a photography/art exhibit as well, so there's plenty to wander round for the day.

If you're in to food then you definitely had to make your way over to the Woolworths Pavilion. With food stalls galore there was plenty to sample, to buy for later and have then and there. Some were a bit on the pricey side with burgers (no drink or fries to go with) hitting the $15 minimum mark, you could expect to pay a pretty penny. If you're like me and a vegetarian however, then you would find that your choices were a bit more limited anyway so I went for the food that I had been wanting all week - a cheese toasty. It sounds so basic and it was but it was exactly what I wanted! And at $3 it didn't come close to breaking the bank. There was also an amazing donut stand which had freshly made donut balls covered in cinamon sugar. Honestly, I'm the biggest donut lover and cannot get enough, so at $3 for a cup of fresh donut balls I couldn't say no. They reminded me of a place I used to get fresh donuts when I was little and living in New Zealand.


If you're more of an adrenaline junky and looking at animals all day sounds boring then have no fear - there's sideshow alley. With rides big enough to make my theme park obsessed brother happy, there's something for everyone. I went on the Extreme spinner and honestly wanted to throw up. I've been on big rides before but none that have genuinely made me feel sick, but this spinner was going too many directions all at once. Saying that though, I wouldn't say no to another go on it! Another big thing in Australia is showbags. I'd never really heard of doing showbags before and not to a scale as big as a whole pavilion! There were stalls where you can buy sweets and chocolates, lifestyle items like clothes, make up and kids toys for a discounted rate. A lot of the bags weren't my kind of thing but I was tempted by the perfume bag - if only I wasn't a backpacker and had Mary Poppins bag to travel around with.

The best part of the Ekka though is the nighttime events. It starts at 6pm with a small fireworks display for children, followed by animal and motor sports competitions for the next two hours. At 8pm you get the big adults fireworks displays. The display had so much more than fireworks in it, from a guy with a flamethrower, cars and bikes shooting fire and remote controlled cars with fireworks driving around the field. It was something I'm so glad that I got to see because it was well worth the watch.

The Ekka is an annual event in Brisbane so although it's over for this year, I would recommend hitting it up next year if you're around the city.