This Year's Ekka Public Holiday Has Been Postponed and Will Be Moved to Sometime Later in 2021
Instead of scoring next Wednesday off work, you'll now get to sleep in on another day; however, a new date hasn't yet been announced.
Brisbanites have been through more than a few COVID-19 outbreaks now, and the lockdowns and restrictions that come with them. So, when they happen, we now know what to expect. In 2020, we saw what occurred when the Ekka was affected by the pandemic, for instance — and now all of those same things are happening again, including cancelling the event and scrapping the usual midweek public holiday.
Last year, this exact chain of events also occurred; however, the public holiday was rescheduled to the Friday of the same week, all so Brisbanites could still enjoy a day off at that time of year and also score a long weekend. This time, the Queensland Government has announced that the public holiday will no longer proceed on Wednesday, August 11 as planned, but just when it'll be moved to won't be known until at least the end of the month.
So, that day off you were looking forward to next week? That midweek sleep-in? That lazy day, even if the city was still in lockdown? Sadly, it's no longer happening. But, in terms of looking on the bright side, you will nab a public holiday at a later date in 2021 — and likely when Brisbane isn't under stay-at-home conditions. The new date is likely to give everyone a long weekend as well.
Announcing the news at Queensland's daily COVID-19 press conference today, Wednesday, August 4, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said that "with the Ekka cancelled and the likelihood that we will still see some restrictions in Brisbane next week, we have made the decision to cancel the Brisbane Ekka public holiday on Wednesday. It will be rescheduled to some time later in the year. We have not yet determined when."
He continued: "last year, when we delayed the public holiday to create a new special long weekend, we saw Queenslanders flock
to tourist destinations, spending money in our hospitality businesses — and so we'd hope to create a similar opportunity again for Queenslanders to support our local tourism operators and local hospitality businesses. We'll have more to say about that as that decision is being made. We can cancel the holiday by regulation, so we have gone ahead and done that. To create the new rescheduled holiday, we need to go to Parliament and pass legislation. That won't be able to happen until the end of August at the earliest."
The change of date will only apply to Brisbane council areas that receive the Brisbane Show Holiday; however, other councils may similarly change their show holidays to a later date due to COVID-19.
Queensland reported 17 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours to 6am today, Wednesday, August 4, with 100 cases now active across the state.
Brisbane's 'People's Day' public holiday will no longer take place on Wednesday, August 11, and will be rescheduled to some point later in 2021. We'll update you when a new date is announced.
For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. More details about the lockdown and associated restrictions can also be found on the Queensland Health website.
