Destination Brisbane: Ekka Royal Queensland Show

The annual Ekka Royal Queensland Show returns to Brisbane from 8 to 17 August 2014 making it a great time to visit Brisbane, Australia with the family or as a group with your close friends. This year’s Ekka is the 137th edition and is Queensland’s largest annual event where more than 400,000 people come together in Brisbane to see the best of Queensland with over 10,000 animals, 23,000 competition entries and gourmandise on a smorgasbord of award-wining food and wine with hours of free family entertainment.

There will be some 2,500 dogs, 300 cats, 200 fish, 150 alpacas and 2,500 cattle at the show. At the Animal Boulevard, Kids get to interact with the animals such as cuddle a lamb, watch a chick hatch, feed a calf, or milk a cow. Here, the Animal Nursery houses farm animals such as goats, lambs, calves, turkeys, ducks and chickens. Perfect for the cute selfie and instagram moment.

18 breeds of horses will be showcased at the Horse Breeds Expo. Here you can learn about these creatures and get a better understanding of man’s other best friend.

And if you prefer eating your beef over petting them as cute little creatures, then head on to the Beef Pavillion and chat with real farmers as they share stories of life on the land and also advise you on how to choose the best cuts of beef for cooking. Watch where you walk. You don’t walk to end up in shit, literally.

The annual show spans 10 days and also features 11,200 classes across 42 sections. Competitions ranging from film to cattle, music, dance, cakes, vegetables, fish, cheese and ducks are judged.

Passes ranging from A$29 for an adult day pass to bundled packages can be purchased online from Ekka Royal Queensland Show’s official website.

Last year, I visited the Ekka Royal Queensland Show and regretted not allocating more days only to realise the show was huge when I reached the event site. With only a few hours to check out the show armed with my DSLR Camera and curious mind, I managed to quickly check out the outdoor fun fair area, shared a beer and some lunch with a friend who was also visiting from Singapore and also visited and fed some of the animals.

I heard so much about showbags and how people went crazy over them but didn’t get the time to go check them out. Showbags are an Australian invention since the early 1900s and first started out as sample bags for visitors to try something for free. These showbags are now sold at Ekka Royal Queensland Show to help susbidise the cost of producing these bags. They contain a variety of items such as candy, chocolates and other munchies to soft toys which comes as a bonus surprise when you purchase them. There can be up to 500 different types of show bags being sold at anyone time.

I was fascinated by the poultry at the Poultry, Pigeons, Birds and Eggs Pavilion. There were sure some strange breeds of poultry. Nevertheless, the caged birds were still fascinating.

Etihad Airways offers competitively priced daily red eye flights on EY470 departing Singapore Changi Airport at 11.50pm and arrives in Brisbane at 9.35 am the next day giving you ample time to leave your luggage at the hotel before heading off to Ekka for a good time, lunch and a day of exploration. Return flights from Brisbane departs on EY473 at 12.45 in the afternoon and lands in Singapore at 7.05pm the same day.

Adrian

Middle aged curious individual trying to find a balance in keeping healthy and finding joy keeping fit. Because trying new food and drink is part of the work.

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