The Ekka 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 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". History The first show, held between 22 and 26 August 1876, attracted 17,000 visitors. The centrepiece of 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 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 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 the show, a practice that remains to this