Brisbane Showgrounds

The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka). The Brisbane Showgrounds was designed by Claude William Chambers and built by Walls & Juster. It is also referred to as the RNA Showgrounds, Ekka Grounds, National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Exhibition Grounds, Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Exhibition Grounds/Show Grounds, and Royal Queensland Showgrounds. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 July 2003. The Brisbane Showgrounds is owned and operated by The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland. Over 10 days in August, it hosts the Ekka show. Throughout the rest of the year, other events can hire spaces in the Brisbane Showgrounds.

The site of the Brisbane Showgrounds, together with the nearby Victoria Park, was originally utilised by the Indigenous 'Turrbal' or 'Duke of York clan' as a campground. They called this area "Barrambin". During the early colonial period, the British named it "York's Hollow". During the 1840s, up to 400 Turrbal people would reside around the waterholes at York's Hollow. In 1846, police constables dispersed this major campsite killing at least 3 people, while in 1849 British soldiers of the 11th Regiment conducted another dispersal wounding several. Also in 1849, York's Hollow started to be used as a campsite for the influx of newly arrived European immigrants under John Dunmore Lang's immigration scheme. It was also utilised as a site for brick manufacture and by 1860 it appears that Aboriginals were no longer able to reside in the area. In July 1863, the site became part of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society's grounds. This Society, established in 1862 to promote the introduction, acclimatisation, propagation and distribution in Queensland of economically useful plants and animals, was granted of land bounded by Bowen Bridge Road, O'Connell Terrace, Brookes Street and Gregory Terrace. At the northwestern corner of the site, fronting Bowen Bridge Road and O'Connell Terrace, the Society established a public exhibition garden Bowen Park. The remainder of the site was used for experimentation purposes, growing and propagating plants and seeds sent from other parts of Queensland, other colonies and around the world, and raising various introduced animals. The Society played an important role in the beginnings of commercial agriculture in Queensland, introducing or trialling crops and plants such as mango trees, ginger plants, sugar cane, olive trees and choko vines. To avoid clashing with local shows and in order to hold the exhibition during fine weather, before the shearing season, and when good feed would be found along the roads, it was decided to stage the Exhibition in August 1876. The new exhibition building was completed in 1892 and a public holiday was declared for 10 August 1982 to mark the official opening of the Exhibition. Despite the economic depression, 32,000 people attended on the holiday and more than 66,000 over the four day course of the Exhibition. However, the National Association did not escape the effects of the 1890s depression, struggling to repay the government loan on the exhibition building. In 1897 the Queensland Government resumed the building and liquidated the Association's debts. The Exhibition Concert Hall continued to serve as a concert venue but the remainder of the Exhibition Building was refurbished for the Queensland Museum, which moved to the building from William Street in 1899 (now known as the Old Museum Building). At this time the museum grounds were resumed from the National Association's land as a separate reserve. The National Association struggled to maintain the viability of the remaining Exhibition Grounds until 1902–03, when the Queensland Government took control of the Association's assets, leasing the Exhibition Grounds back to the Association at an annual rental. A number of new buildings were erected in the 1960s. In 1962, the RNA moved its offices from the Queensland Primary Producers Association building in Adelaide Street to the Exhibition Grounds and in 1970 a purpose built RNA Administration Building costing $111,584 was opened. In 1963, on land acquired along Constance Street, a double pavilion known as the Agricultural Hall and Douglas Wadley Pavilion was constructed. The Agricultural Hall housed district and junior farmer exhibits. The Douglas Wadley Pavilion, extended in 1968 and again in 1977, housed dogs, and is used regularly for exhibitions in addition to the annual August show. In 1968 the Ring Control and Broadcast building was enlarged. By 1970, the grounds comprised approximately They also played other exhibition matches in 1927 (Bohemians billed as "Czecho Slovakia"), 1937 (England Amateurs), 1941 (Chinese XI), 1949 (Hajduk Split billed as Yugoslavia) and 1975 (Legia Warsaw). The showgrounds also hosted a number of Queensland state matches. Baseball The Australian Baseball League team Brisbane Bandits was based at the ground during the early 1990s. They returned to the ground in 2010 for the first season of the revamped Australian Baseball League. The end of the 2010–11 season was interrupted by the 2010–11 Queensland floods, with many games postponed and cancelled. Cricket 28 first class cricket matches were played between 1893 and 1931, including two Tests and 13 Sheffield Shield matches. The first ever Queensland Sheffield Shield game was played at the ground, with Queensland losing to longtime arch rivals New South Wales. The Test against England in 1928/29 was the first Test played in Brisbane and was the debut of Don Bradman who scored 18 and 1. The Third Test of the series against the West Indies in 1930/31 was the last first class fixture at the ground. Revenue from the two Tests was disappointing, largely because of the numbers who got in for free by using their agricultural society badges, and the Queensland Cricket Association moved down the road to the Gabba. Rugby league Rugby League was played at the Exhibition Grounds before the QRL moved to Lang Park. The Brisbane Exhibition Ground hosted many International, State and club games. At the Exhibition Ground Great Britain won the first Ashes series on Australian soil. Rugby league holds the attendance record for the ground with 40,500 (with a further estimated 10,000 locked out) on 6 July during one of the 1946 Great Britain Lions tour's England v Australia test matches. Tennis In 1895 the first inter colonial tennis match took place with Queensland playing New South Wales. Cycling In 1896 the ground was used for cycling. Rugby union It hosted one of the most controversial rugby union games in 1971 when Australia took on South Africa – the game was switched from Ballymore because it was easier to erect barricades at the Exhibition Ground. Australian rules football It was the primary home of Australian rules football in Queensland from 1905 to 1914, with interstate matches and QFL played there. A VFL exhibition match was played between powerhouse clubs Carlton FC and Richmond FC at the Exhibition Ground in 1930 drew 12,000. The ground hosted the 1950 Interstate Carnival. The ground was also host to a VFL premiership match, Geelong vs Essendon, as part of Round 8, 1952. All VFL matches that week were moved to country and interstate venues in an effort to spread interest in the game. Originally to be played on a Saturday night, the match was rescheduled due to torrential rain. Essendon (23.17) defeated Geelong (12.14) by 69 points the following Monday night in the first official VFL match to be played under floodlights. In 2022, the ground was floated as an option for an alternate home ground for the Brisbane Lions while their usual home ground The Gabba is demolished and rebuilt for the 2032 Summer Olympics. Motorsport Starting in 1926, the Brisbane Showgrounds was home to Dirt track racing in Brisbane. motorcycle speedway, Sprintcars, Super Sedans, and Speedcars headlined many a Saturday night show during the summer months with many famous competitors racing at the track, including Speedcar drivers Jack Brabham, Ray and Howard Revell, George Tattnell, Bob "Two Gun" Tattersall, Blair Shepherd and Ron Wanless. The cars stopped using the venue during the early 1980s in favour of the Archerfield Speedway. Motorcycle speedway The Showgrounds were a significant speedway venue, hosting multiple qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship. Solo riders, Ivan Mauger, John Titman, Steve Regeling, Troy Butler, Billy Sanders, Phil Crump, Jason Crump, Sam Ermolenko, Simon Wigg, Leigh Adams, Craig Boyce and Tony Rickardsson all raced at the venue. The Brisbane Showgrounds continued to host motorcycle racing into the late 1990s including holding events such as the national championship of Australia (held at the Ekka in 1934 (3 lap), 1947 (4 lap), 1949 (4 lap), 1951, 52 and 53 (Champion of Champions), 1974, 1981, 1990, 1993 and 1997). The Showgrounds also hosted the Australian Sidecar Championship in 1961, 1962 and 1992. The venue also hosted rounds of the Australian Speedway Masters Series (also known as the "Series 500") between 1995 and 2000. The Showgrounds traditionally held the Grand Final of the Series 500.