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28-410: (Redirected from EKKA ) Ekka is the annual show of Queensland , Australia . Ekka or EKKA may also refer to Ekka (surname) National and Social Liberation (Greek: Εθνική και Κοινωνική Απελευθέρωσις , Ethniki kai Koinoniki Apeleftherosis , also known by its initials EKKA ), a Greek resistance group during World War II Ekka (carriage) ,

56-573: A David Hasselhoff -themed showbag offered for sale. The physical showbag itself is similar to a shopping bag and is usually made from plastic or heavy paper, and is printed with graphics promoting the theme or brand. Sometimes a backpack or tote bag may be used to hold the items instead, especially if such a bag is part of the showbag's contents. Major showbag companies operating today include Bensons Trading and Hunter Leisure as well as other smaller companies. Modern showbag companies seek out or are approached by established brands or vendors to create

84-722: A $ 10,000 "showbag" containing a freezer of beef and a fridge with 100 bottles of beer was offered at the Royal Melbourne Show . The rising cost of showbags is often identified as a major negative aspect of shows. Despite this, it is generally assumed that the total retail value of the individual contents of a showbag will exceed the price charged for the package. Most showbags are marketed towards children, containing toys , sweets and chocolate . Other common showbag items include clothing such as hats, socks and T-shirts, backpacks, drinking cups and mugs, posters and stationery. Comic books were frequently included in showbags in

112-413: A branded showbag, or come up with a generic theme independently. The company then sources the contents of the showbag on its own, sometimes designing the included merchandise themselves. Assembly of the showbag is often done by a third party before final distribution to the show or event, where they are usually sold directly to the consumer by the showbag company. Before sale to the public, the contents of

140-698: A night program. The Ekka features a sideshow alley , showbag pavilion, and nightly fireworks displays. The significance of the first exhibition held in 1876 was described by locals as the most important event since the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Ekka was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as an "event and festival". The first show, held between 22 and 26 August 1876, attracted 17,000 visitors. The centrepiece of

168-437: A nominal price in order to promote brand awareness. The first "showbag", a bag of coal , was given away for free to all visitors at the inaugural Brisbane Ekka in 1876; however, only from 1902 were stallholders allowed to start giving out samples. An IXL sample bag from 1933 contained tomato sauce, canned fruits, baked beans or spaghetti in a can and a ruler, all for 9 pence ($ 3.90 in 2020); this allowed families during

196-639: A one-horse carriage used in India. EKKA, the ICAO-code for Midtjyllands Airport . National and Social Liberation ( Ethniki Kai Koinoniki Apeleftherosis or EKKA), the Greek Resistance movement founded by Colonel Dimitrios Psarros. Ekka Raja Rani , a 1994 Bollywood comedy drama film Ekka Saka , a 2015 Indian Tulu-language film Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

224-563: A showbag come under the scrutiny of state government product safety inspectors, who review the contents of the bag and remove potentially dangerous items such as those that could cause eye injury or have small parts that could pose a choking hazard to children. In 1971 the Sydney Royal Easter Show offered a selection of only around 30 different showbags; in 2012 there were 342 varieties for sale. A major showbag company could expect to sell up to 500,000 showbags each year at

252-528: A whole strawberry. At Ekka 2014, around 117,000 strawberry sundaes were consumed. The stud beef competition is the largest annual showing of stud beef in the southern hemisphere. The Ekka, due to its large attendance, raises a large amount of revenue. Estimates of this number average around the $ 100 million mark, yet this amount may fluctuate with weather in Brisbane at the time (a particularly wet August may reduce attendance significantly). Because of

280-858: Is the annual agricultural show of Queensland , Australia . Its formal title is the Royal Queensland Show , and it is held at the Brisbane Showgrounds . It was originally called the Brisbane Exhibition , but it is more commonly known as the Ekka , short for "exhibition". It is run by The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA). The Ekka is Queensland's largest annual event, which welcomes an average of 400,000 visitors each August. The show welcomes 21,000 competition entries, 10,000 animals, and hours of free family entertainment, including

308-664: The Brisbane Olympics . The Ekka is held in Queensland's capital city, Brisbane , for 10 days each August at the Brisbane Showgrounds in the suburb of Bowen Hills . The Ekka is run by the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA). The Ekka is Brisbane's most popular event of any sort, with around 400,000 visitors attending the show in recent years. The showgrounds covers an area of 22 hectares. During Ekka,

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336-690: The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851. A new grandstand designed by Claude William Chambers was open for the 1906 show. It was later named the John Macdonald stand in recognition of a long-serving member of the Royal National Association. In 1920, the show was visited by the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII ) who was asked and gave permission for the name of the association to change to

364-539: The Exhibition railway line is operational with special trains (some of them historic steam trains) carrying passengers to the Exhibition railway station in the middle of the Brisbane Showgrounds. Attractions at the Ekka include fairground rides , a Side Show Alley , animal parades, woodchopping competitions, agricultural displays and equestrian events. Showbags are also an integral part of

392-492: The Great Depression to fill up their pantries for very little. Visitors at the 1954 Sydney Royal Easter Show could buy a Planters sample bag containing potato chips , potato straws, peanuts, toffee, honeycomb and a lollipop for 3 shillings ($ 5.36 in 2020). Toys would sometimes be included in the sample bags, but often they would be secondary to the product samples. By the 1970s, the sample bag had evolved into

420-636: The 1970s and 1980s, but the practice has declined since. A number of showbags are marketed to the adult consumer, with themes including cosmetics, fashion, fitness and health, premium confectionery and gourmet food, and even adult toys . Showbags themed around movies such as Ghostbusters , Top Gun , or Back to the Future , or television shows such as The Simpsons , The Big Bang Theory , Friends or The Office are generally targeted at adult fans of those properties. An adult marketed showbag may also include discount vouchers that can be redeemed at

448-508: The Ekka experience. Usually containing food items (such as confectionery and novelty items), showbags are sold in the Showbag Pavilion. The contents of the showbags are tested to ensure they comply with safety standards. In 2015, there were 362 different showbags available for visitors to spend their money on and enjoy samples of products. Showbags range from $ 1, $ 2 (the famous Bertie Beetle Bag) and up to $ 108, providing companies

476-489: The Royal Melbourne Show alone. At the 2017 Brisbane Ekka, more than 250,000 Bertie Beetle showbags were sold. Showbags were typically only available to people attending the shows, which in most places were only held once a year; however in the late-2010s showbags began to be sold online by showbag companies throughout the year and can be delivered directly to a customer's home, even internationally. Due to

504-457: The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland. During a time when the Ekka was still young, the main purpose of the agricultural show, as its name suggests, was to show off many agricultural and industrial exhibits. It was a chance for people to show off newly invented agricultural and industrial devices such as ultra modern ploughing, sowing and harvesting artefacts. Cattle and other farm animals were also exhibited during

532-471: The confectionary and merchandise-filled showbags known today. Compared to the practice of giving away sample bags for free or at very low cost in the past, showbags in the late-2010s were commonly priced in the $ 5 to $ 30 range, up from a typical maximum of $ 20 during the previous decade. A showbag containing premium products can cost a hundred dollars or more, while the classic Bertie Beetle showbag has been sold for $ 2 for more than three decades. In 2008,

560-605: The cultural significance of the Ekka, the City of Brisbane holds a Wednesday public holiday known as "People's Day". The Ekka starts on the first Friday in August, except if the first Friday is before 5 August, in which case it starts on the second Friday of August. People's Day is then the Wednesday after the Ekka commences. To avoid overcrowding, some surrounding regions have the public holiday on alternative days. Frequently, in

588-491: The grounds was the timber exhibition building which housed 1,700 individual exhibits in total. One of the first popular attractions was a timber bridge built by saw-miller William Pettigrew. All visitors to the show were given a free bag of coal; this is considered the first example of what would become the showbag . The show was a spin-off from the famous International Exhibitions being held in Britain and worldwide dating from

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616-444: The opportunity to offer their merchandise to the public at discounted prices. Competitions remain at the heart of the Ekka. Since the very first show in 1876, the Ekka has been rewarding and recognising those dedicated to producing the best of the best. The competitions include agricultural products such as livestock, fruit and vegetables, and skills in areas as diverse as farriery and cake decorating . The Ekka strawberry sundae

644-527: The show has been cancelled four times, first in 1919 throughout the time of the Spanish flu pandemic, where the grounds were employed as temporary hospital wards for the sick, then in 1942, due to World War II . During the COVID-19 pandemic shows were cancelled in 2020 due to health concerns and again in 2021 as South East Queensland was then in lockdown . It is also planned to be cancelled in 2032 due to

672-627: The show, a practice that remains to this day. The Animal Nursery, which has been running since 1964, features around 500 baby farmyard animals for visitors to meet and greet. Every Ekka has been opened by the Governor of Queensland or the Governor-General with vice-regal involvement present throughout the whole event. This is a long tradition, with the first president of the RNA in 1875 being Governor Sir William Cairns . Since its opening,

700-458: The title Ekka . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ekka_(disambiguation)&oldid=1164373882 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ekka The Ekka

728-950: The vendor's business at a later date. Showbags often contain exclusive merchandise and items; Nestlé 's Bertie Beetle chocolate bar was generally only available to the public in a showbag from the 1970s to 2018. Common themes for showbags include confectionery brands such as Cadbury or Chupa Chups , children's toy brands such as Barbie or Hot Wheels , and licensed properties such as Disney , Star Wars , Pokémon , Harry Potter , or DC and Marvel Comics superheroes. Broad areas of children's play interest such as fairies , dinosaurs or pirates are also common subjects for showbag themes, as well as international and domestic sporting teams. Showbags may also be created to cash in on current fads and trends, as well as to promote recently released movies or television series. Others take on vague generic themes such as extreme sports , teen culture or practical jokes. The 2008 Royal Melbourne Show had

756-527: The week leading up to the Ekka, the chilly Ekka winds descend on Brisbane . These are westerly winds caused by high pressure systems in the Great Australian Bight . Showbag Showbags were once known as "sample bags" as they originally contained product samples of household goods such as soap or canned foods, produced by a single vendor or a group of vendors. Such sample bags were originally given away free of charge or carried only

784-490: Was introduced in 1950 by Paul's dairy company . In 1989, the sale of the strawberry sundaes became a joint initiative between the RNA and the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation , with sale proceeds going to the latter to fund medical research. The sundae consists of a cup ice cream cone filled with vanilla ice cream, chopped strawberries and strawberry ice cream, topped with whipped cream and

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