“It even smells like the Ekka,” a young girl calls to her mother as she races towards the red food truck.
Brisbane’s annual agricultural show – the Ekka – was cancelled this year for just the third time in its 143-year history. It had been scheduled to begin on Friday.
But while gates to the Brisbane exhibition grounds remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a few small pieces of the show have managed to go on in pockets of the city.
The Ekka’s signature treat – a strawberry sundae – will still be available this year at a number of pop-up stalls throughout Brisbane, including a drive-through setup at the showgrounds at Bowen Hills.
By the roadside at Doolandella, in Brisbane’s south-west suburbs, Jesse McDonald is selling Dagwood dogs and other show staples from a truck on his cousin’s property.
“These are people who go to the show every single year, and they’re really going out of their way to come by now,” McDonald says. “They’re missing out, so we’re putting a bit of joy back on people’s faces.
“They come from the other side of the city sometimes. They’re show people. They’ve been at the Ekka their whole life.
“The show for people is just a little break from normality. I’ve got three kids, and they get sick of going to the park at the weekend. The Ekka gives people that escape and people are really missing that. Especially now when you turn on the TV and see the news at 6 o’clock every night.”
McDonald is a fifth-generation show vendor. For nine months of the year, he travels with the food truck from Melbourne to Cairns, doing local shows along the east coast.
“We haven’t done a show since 6 March and it was starting to get to the point where it was desperate times,” he says.
“We had three months sitting in the house and it was the first time we’ve ever had to be on welfare benefits. I was one of the people on the news when there were over 400 people in the queue. You don’t want to be there but you’ve got a house loan and we can’t keep rolling it over forever.
“One day my cousin said, ‘why not just open up in the driveway’. So here we are, and it’s been really great.
“Ninety per cent of our customers are regulars now. People are really taking it on themselves to support us because of what’s happening. I feel like I’m providing an essential service to them, a bit of the show, in the middle of the pandemic.”
McDonald says he is not sure whether the roadside setup will be allowed to continue beyond next week. The Brisbane City Council has told him to shut the stall due to traffic concerns. The council says it has had complaints and that it has offered McDonald a place in a local park. The truck owner has so far refused.
“I’m just going to keep trading. I could understand if the Ekka was on and I was doing this here. But surely there’s some compassionate grounds.
“I’m not trying to do this full time, but my hands are tied and this is all I’ve got. I don’t want to be a millionaire, I am just trying to sell Dagwood dogs.”
