Bundaberg Annual Show 2026

The Bundaberg show holiday fell on Thursday 28 May 2026 for postcodes 4660, 4670 and 4673. Postcode 4671 is carved out and took the Royal Queensland Show holiday on Monday 10 August instead.

Most recent date: Thursday, 28 May 2026. Applies to Bundaberg region, postcodes 4660, 4670 and 4673. The 2026 date has already passed. The date above is the most recent confirmed occurrence.

Confirmed dates

This region does not have one show holiday. Queensland appoints show holidays by district, and 2 separate days are appointed here. Find the row that matches the district your workplace sits in.

ShowDistrict2026 date
Bundaberg Annual Show
Bundaberg region: within the post codes of 4660, 4670 and 4673Thursday 28 May
Already passed
Royal Queensland Show
Takes the Ekka day instead
Bundaberg region: within the postcode of 4671Monday 10 August
Future dates are not yet set. The 2027 date is not yet appointed. Queensland appoints show holidays one year at a time, and the postcode list itself can change between years, as the addition of 4673 for 2026 shows. Check the postcodes as well as the date when the 2027 appointment is published.

When it has fallen before

With no appointed future date, the run of past appointments is the best guide available. This is evidence of a pattern, not a forecast, and the pattern has broken before.

YearDayDate appointed
2023
Thursday1 June
2024
Thursday30 May
2025
Thursday29 May
2026
Thursday28 May
Dates and scope verified against Queensland Government, Show holiday dates (Queensland Government), checked 7 August 2026.

Who actually gets the day off

This is a regional public holiday, so it does not cover the whole of Queensland. The gazetted scope is:

Bundaberg region: within the post codes of 4660, 4670 and 4673

Bundaberg is the clearest example of Queensland appointing a show holiday by postcode rather than by council area. The Bundaberg Regional Council area spans several postcodes and they do not all take the same day: 4660, 4670 and 4673 take the Bundaberg Show in May, while 4671 is appointed the Royal Queensland Show and takes it in August. Postcode 4673 was added to the Bundaberg district for 2026, having not appeared in the 2025 appointment.

Your postcode decides this one, which is unusual and easy to get wrong. Check the postcode of the workplace, not the home address and not the council. A grower in 4671 and a packing shed in 4670 are in the same council area, minutes apart, and are owed different public holidays two and a half months apart.

If you are outside that area, your normal Queensland public holiday calendar applies instead, and this day is an ordinary working day for you.

What you are paid

If you do not work the day and it is a day you would ordinarily work, you are paid your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked. That obligation sits in the National Employment Standards, not your award, so it applies whether or not an award covers you.

Fair Work Act 2009, section 116: an employer must pay an employee at the employee's base rate of pay for the ordinary hours the employee would have worked had the day not been a public holiday. Section 114 gives the right to be absent, subject to a reasonable request to work.

If you do work it, the penalty rate comes from your award or enterprise agreement rather than the NES. Customer-facing awards commonly set public holiday rates between 200% and 250% of the base rate. Work out what a specific day is worth with the public holiday pay calculator, and check your own award on the modern award pay pages.

Casual employees are the common exception. A casual has no ordinary hours, so there is nothing to be paid for on a day not worked. A casual who does work the day gets the public holiday penalty rate in the award, usually on top of casual loading. The casual versus permanent guide sets out how the two interact.

If it falls during your annual leave

You keep the day. A public holiday that falls inside a period of paid annual leave is not deducted from your balance, so a week of leave containing this holiday costs you four days of leave rather than five.

Fair Work Act 2009, section 89: if a period of paid annual leave includes a day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on that day.

That phrase, "the place where the employee is based for work purposes", is what makes a regional holiday like this one worth checking. It is your work base that decides the entitlement, not your home address. Model the effect on a balance with the annual leave calculator.

Other Queensland show holidays

Queensland appoints 98 district show holidays a year, more than every other state combined, and none of them is statewide. If you work across more than one district, or you are running payroll for sites in several, the Queensland show holidays directory lists every appointed date and district for 2026.

The most commonly confused day is the Royal Queensland Show, the Ekka. It is not Brisbane only: the City of Brisbane takes it on the Wednesday and 15 further districts take it on the Monday. Districts with their own show, including this one, take that instead and get no Ekka day at all.

For the full Queensland calendar including every statewide date, see public holidays in Queensland, or start from the Queensland leave calculator for annual leave, long service leave and final pay under QLD rules. For every state at once, see the public holidays hub and public holidays 2027. If you are planning leave around it, the long weekends page shows which dates fall next to a weekend, and a public holiday inside a booked break does not consume your balance: check it on the annual leave calculator.

Q & A

Bundaberg Annual Show questions.

The entitlement questions people ask most about this day.

When is Bundaberg show holiday in 2026?
There is no single date. 2 separate show holidays are appointed across this region: Bundaberg Annual Show, Thursday, 28 May 2026, for Bundaberg region: within the post codes of 4660, 4670 and 4673. Royal Queensland Show, Monday, 10 August 2026, for Bundaberg region: within the postcode of 4671. Which one you get depends on the district your workplace sits in.
Who gets Bundaberg Annual Show as a public holiday?
It depends which district you work in, because this region has more than one appointed show holiday: Bundaberg Annual Show, Thursday, 28 May 2026, for Bundaberg region: within the post codes of 4660, 4670 and 4673. Royal Queensland Show, Monday, 10 August 2026, for Bundaberg region: within the postcode of 4671. Under the Fair Work Act the test is the place where you are based for work purposes, not where you live.
Do I get paid if I do not work on Bundaberg Annual Show?
Yes, if it is a day you would ordinarily work. Section 116 of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires payment at your base rate of pay for the ordinary hours you would have worked. Casuals are not paid for a public holiday they do not work, because they have no ordinary hours.
What am I paid if I work on Bundaberg Annual Show?
Public holiday penalty rates come from your award or agreement, not the National Employment Standards. Rates commonly run between 200% and 250% of the base rate in customer-facing awards. Check your specific award, because the NES sets no penalty rate of its own.
What if Bundaberg Annual Show falls during my annual leave?
You do not lose the day. Section 89 of the Fair Work Act says that if a public holiday falls inside a period of paid annual leave, you are taken not to be on annual leave that day, so it is paid as a public holiday and not deducted from your leave balance.
Can my employer make me work on Bundaberg Annual Show?
Only if the request is reasonable. Section 114 of the Fair Work Act gives you the right to be absent on a public holiday, but an employer may make a reasonable request for you to work, and you may refuse if that request is unreasonable or your refusal is reasonable. The Act lists the factors, including the nature of the work, your personal circumstances and how much notice you were given.